I've been putting my guys out on nice sunny days and bringing them back in in the evening when the temps drop. I plan on putting them out full time about mid month depending on what the overnight temps look like. Like you I am very eager to get them outside.

Do you have warm tolerant cyms or the regular cool growing kind? I have been eyeing them lately and am wondering how well they grow here in NJ? Have you gotten yours to flower?

Larissa

Though I do have a sizable garden, I live in an apartment, and lugging everything in and out from the second and third floors is not doable. I'd much rather take 'em out and leave 'em.

As for the cyms, I have two - one is a noid from home depot (a gift from my husband), and the other is a Golden Elf x Cym iridifolium cross. The noid I treat as a cool grower - that is to say I leave it out in the fall well past the time I take everything else in to help initiate the spikes. It bloomed in January with 5 spikes. The other I treat as a warm grower and it blooms late August. It comes in earlier than the other cym.

When they first go outside, I site them where they only get morning sun for the first couple of weeks, then I gradually move the noid out to full sun and the other to mostly full sun (afternoon dappled light). Once in full sun, they get watered generously.

Too soon in NY to put them out full-time. I moved my cool growers to an unheated sunroom. We've gone down in the low 30's. This past week has been cold and damp. Perfect 'rot' weather.

Jane

This is an interesting thread. I still consider myself an orchid newbie... I've only been doing this 5 months and now have 3 phals and 1 dendro. I've wanted a cym, but had read on this site that you need to give it much more humidity then the phal and dendro and thus, i've shyed away from getting one. (I also live in an apt here in NJ and can't get a greenhouse!)

It sounds like you've been successful with cyms in apts, maloria. Can you tell me more? And I didn't realize you can get a cym at HD. I've only seen dendro and phals there. I'll keep looking!

Debbie

And do all of you put your phals and dendros outside during the summer as well? I was planning on keeping them indoors. Let me know!

Absolutely my phals and dendrobiums go outside for summer. The only plants that didn't go out last summer were my psycopsis (sp?) and my phrags. Both were in bloom and there was too much risk to the spikes out there, from wind.

Susan

Everybody goes outside. I have two areas - a shady little courtyard and the main growing area. The courtyard stays cool so the jewels and masdies go there. The main growing area has three 8 foot x 18 in. benches I made out of 1x4s and hardware cloth. These are tiered beneath the small trees in the back. I usually have them on cinder blocks, but my husband decided he didnÂt like that and is making me stands out of aluminum. I added pictures so you can see for yourself. These pictures were taken about 11:30 this morning so you can get an idea about the light.

1. Looking west in the back garden. The benches are on the ground beneath the trees, waiting for their new stands.

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2. The grow area from another angle.

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3. The garden looking back.

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4. The courtyard. The cool/shady growers go to the left near the clivia.

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5. The other side of the courtyard. The only time this area gets sun is when the sun is directly overhead.

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I dropped the photo resolution down quite a bit so these would load quickly, so they're a little fuzzy. Sorry about that.

Hmmmm.... interesting.

I live in an apt so my choices are limited. My balcony faces west. It gets a bit of morning and late afternoon sun. But mostly bright indirect light. I guess that would be a good place for my phals and dendro. Should they even go out if they are in bloom? I may wait for them to lose their blooms and then put them outside. It can get a bit breezy on my balcony.

Any thoughts about growing cymbidiums indoors in the winter? Can I sustain the kind of light/humidity they need without a humidifier?

Debbie, I think it really depends on your particular environment. I know it doesn't sound much like help, but knowing your environment is key to determining what you can grow.

My building was probably built in the 1800s. I have huge bay windows in the living room and in one of the bedrooms on the third floor. They face E/SE and get great light in the morning and *reflected* light from the buildings across the street in the afternoon. I keep the cymbies here in the winter. I have other windows that face directly south and west. I never use a humidifier because, as this is an old building, it has large cast iron hot water radiators in every room. I group as many orchids as I can together (I have around 80 and most are on humidity trays), so that helps a tiny bit to keep the humidity higher. Not much, but it helps. If I had forced air, I would probably consider it necessary to use a humidifier.

So, even though I'm in an apartment as you are, my conditions may be very different from yours. Keep in mind that what works for me, may not work for you. Does this make sense?

If you put your orchids outside and you're afraid they may be getting too much sun, feel the leaves. If they feel warm, drop the plant back to a lower light location. Dens and catts can take several hours of direct sun. Phals can take a few hours of early morning sun.

Thanks for the insight Maloria and Orchid126.

I wonderful if my local HD will get any cyms :-) so I can try this out!

Debbie,
Do you have a room that stays cooler in winter? I'm in Milwaukee and have had very good luck with my intermediate cym, outside from mid-May through October and then in a very cool room in the Winter. It is a cool growing cym.

This room is only heated in the evening when we are in it. During the day the temps run from 55-60 (heat does come in through the open doorway to the kitchen) but probably even cooler in the corner with the plant. That corner is the East/NorthEast corner of the room and has windows on both walls. There are cool growing cyms and warmer growing cyms. Which do you want to grow?

I also have a cym golden elf, which is considered a mini although it's not that small and is a warmer growing plant. It sits on my dresser, right in front of a southwest window in Winter and held up very well this Winter and has now put out 7 new growths. Soon, it will go outside too, when all of my plants go out.

These are probably my favorite orchids, although they are larger and so I am very limited with how many I can have.

But when they bloom.....what a show! That intermediate bloomed from Thanksgiving until after New Years. Eight huge spikes!

Susan

The cold growing cyms seem to be a no-go for me. No cold rooms. Perhaps the warmer cym that you mentioned. What kind of cyms are warm growing? My apt stays around 70 year around and it can go outside in the spring/summer/fall.

I found that cyms take up an awful lot of room. I got rid of them and put three catts in the place of each one. Make sure you have the room.

Cold growing Cymbidiums??????. If this was true the places that are Cymbidium paradise would not be California or Southern Australia.

Sure they need it cool in winter to allow the flowering spikes to develop normally but outside here is not very cold. It has never snowed in living memory.

The MUST is average night temperatures below about 20C in Summer.

If you live somewhere with warm summer nights seek out the "warmth" tolerant ones that were developed in Florida to get past this 20C summer night temperature hurdle.

They do take up a lot of room so if you are cramped for space seek out the mini ones with smaller foliage and flowers. Some with mini flowers have maxi foliage.

Check out Carter & Holmes for a warmth tolerant Cym. I got their Cym. Sensation 'Sweetheart' a couple of years ago and it bloomed this year. It is also considered a mini.

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Blooms last quite a while and the foliage is not massive.

It grows next to my mini catts and gets whatever sun they get and the temps never go below 60 at night.

Brooke

hello, Maloria, thanks for inviting us to your backyard. I like to see how other orchids live. hello, Brooke, as usual - beautiful flowers. I just bought a standard cym from walmart here: golden yellow with a dark red lip and a surprise: spicy honey fragrance. the tag says mighty cariga geyserland. it is from a grower in california. don't really have the room for another standard cym but i could not resist the colour.
sue

We have had a few days of great weather, but it's still too cold to take my orchids out. I'm very close to NYC so Jane and I have the same weather. I'm anxious to get them out, maybe in two weeks. We'll see how the weather turns.

On a side note...I just purchased a maxillaria tenuifolia from Waldor Orchids. Should I take let it out too? All my orchids go out in my East Facing Courtyard.