Hi freki,

Honestly, there are so many answers I could give you here, but with orchids, you will learn that the answer is often "it depends".

First, potting. (P.S. Don't worry about pot depth, Cymbidiums love deep pots.) Personally, I pot most of my orchids, Cymbidiums included, in a mixture of small orchid bark, New Zealand sphagnum moss and horticultural perlite, with a dash of charcoal. However, I'm in the Ottawa area, where summers are warm and very humid, winters are long and cold, and my orchids spend most of the year inside under lights to supplement what natural light they get. With this mix, in my conditions, I water once a week in winter and two or three times in summer depending on the size of the pot, and I repot every 12 to 18 months. If you're in the West, for example, your conditions will be very different. This is the ultimate advantage of joining an orchid society - you can talk to growers who have similar conditions to you and find out what works for them. You can also take a look at the medium it's trying to grow out of. If it's that vigorous with it, maybe try for something similar.

As for growing conditions. One of the reasons you may be finding so many contradictions is that there are different types of Cymbidiums each with different cultural requirements. Standard Cymbidiums need as much light as you can possibly give them and night temps down to pretty much freezing in the fall. Chinese Cymbidiums are more forgiving, and will bloom with about the same amount of light as Oncidiums (more than Phals, less than Cattleyas) and a moderate cool down in the fall. And then there are hybrids between the two, with breeders wanting the amazing flowers of standard Cyms with the easy growing habits of Chinese Cyms. A good rule of thumb, though, is to give your Cymbidium as much light as it can stand (experiment by gradually putting it in more light, and see when the leaves start feeling hot to the touch, which means pull it back a little). As well, give it more water when it is actively growing (water it just as it us starting to be completely dry and be diligent about fertilizer) than when you don't (at those times, water when it's dry and fertilize very lightly if at all). I have not found that they are very particular about humidity most of the time, only when it's flowering.

If your Cymbidium is putting out new growths and each of those growths is larger than the previous one, you're doing very well, just be patient. My first Cymbidium produced many new growths for almost two years without a single flower. I was thinking real hard about getting rid of it when the bloody thing put out ten spikes. So keep on going, and welcome to the wonderful and sometimes frustrating world of orchids.

Julie

Thanks... I'm in southern Ontario (Golden Horseshoe, not Toronto), I think this is a regular cymbidium... no species ID on the pot and it's a second hand orchid (original owner decided it was too big). What is the ratio of bark/moss/perlite that you use? That'll give me an idea of how light to make my mix.

I have a deep porch that gives good open shade, but mid-summer tends to hot and humid, too. How hot before I take beastie indoors? I'm not really a houseplant type of person, so a lot of this is new to me.

Thanks for the tips, if this guy works out my SO wants a Venus Flytrap...

Hi freki,

If it was deemed too big by it's original owner, then, yeah, I'd say odds are it's a standard Cymbidium, which means gradually get it out of the shady part and leave it outside, in the sun, all summer. The heat won't hurt it. Then be sure to leave it out until the first, real overnight frost this fall, at which point you would want to bring it in and put it somewhere where it will get the maximum amount of light and the coolest nights you can possibly give it. As for potting, for these guys, I tend to go about 60% bark, 30% NZ sphag and 10% perlite, with a very small handful of horticultural charcoal to sweeten the mix.

Good luck. We may make a houseplant guy out of you yet.

Julie

Thanks.. I have a partially heated west facing room for winter, hopefully that is enough light. I'll try 60% cedar mulch, 30% reptile bark and 10% pea gravel and screenings.

I have no good south facing, an unheated west facing and one good east facing window. Only low light beasties indoors for me!

That partially heated west facing room should be wonderful for Cymbidiums this winter! Enjoy.

Julie

Just de-potted. There is no medium left, everything is roots, and some white fuzzy mold in the airspaces. How severly can I cut back the roots, because untangling this will be impossible. What should I do about the mold?

Soak the roots - it'll help you untangle them a bit so that you can be sure to cut all the dead ones. I'm not much on trimming any healthy roots. Be sure to hose away any leftover bits of medium. Then repot with fresh media and water with a fungicide (e.g. Funginex for roses, available from any Canadian Tire or Rona).

Julie

Thanks again, I hate being a pest.