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When is the best time to divide Cymbs?

15 years ago

Hi all,

I have been lurking here for a week now looking for the answers on my own, but decided to come out of stealth mode anyway. I usually hang out at the HP or Hoya forums, because my orchid growing skills are minimal to say the least. I just bungle with them and sometimes luck out and get a bloom spike. Anyway I just got a whole bunch of cymbs from a flower farm cleaning their greenhouses, and they are in desperate need of division. Some are starting to spike and one has buds. I have them outside in my driveway at the moment, I hear they like some cold in order to bloom. Instead of going through the whole story of how I got them all home, I'll post a link to my blog which tells the whole story for anyone interested. Needless to say, I am the proud owner of 19 very rootbound cymbs with numerous back bulbs. When I posted this question on the HP forum, I got a bunch of statements about the amount of plants I got and none really telling how to care for them.

Some questions I have are:

If by dividing a plant I accidentally cut into a back bulb will it still produce if it has a bit of the rhyzome left or should I toss it out? (I really hate destroying any viable plant material.)

When is the best time to divide them? They really need it now.

How large of a division do I take?

Where is the best place to get Cymb soil and what is the best, yet cheapest way to go? Did I mention there are 19 plants in 2-10 gallon pots which are extremely root bound? What is a good soil for cymbs? They are in a straight shredded coconut fiber. I did experiment with one plant already, but hope I didn't kill it.

How do I clean the leaves without burning them?

Thanks all.

Here is a link that might be useful: Orchid post on blog

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Comments (3)

arthurm
15 years ago
Some backbulbs will grow a new lead and roots, others will not. People place them base down into damp sand or fine Cymbidium potting material to see what happens. Some growers throw them away unless they are dealing with a valuable plant.

Divisions should be a minimum of the newest lead and 4 growths back from that lead.

Optimum time for repotting, division is spring.

I use a mixture of treated pine bark and coconut chunks plus a small amount of Diatomite. There are a zillion Cymbidium potting mixture recipes, perhaps you can buy some ready made up potting mixture in CA.

I clean leaves with Eco oil and water which is a concoction of Canola oil, plus eucalyptus oil. Something similar is certainly available in the USA.
richardol
15 years ago
{{gwi:146248}}If the leaves are just dirty, take a weak solution of dish soap and sponge them off then hose them down well.

I my neighborhood we do Cym divisions of the winter blooming hybrids in the period from Mother's Day to the 4th of July. After dormancy and before the summer growth period.

When you do divide them, unpot and cut the bottom 1/3 of the rootball off with a machete or chain saw (just kidding, but they are tough) Divide into a lead with 3 to 5 pseudobulbs. You will have lots of those.

If you actually cut into a backbulb, toss it. However an undamaged backbulb can be started. put all the individual backbulbs in a box and put them in the garage. After a month or two you will see sprouts.
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Mentha
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks so much for the help! I was hoping to give some as gifts so I'll have to see which ones look better and clean them up. A chain saw may be needed, I may also have to get out the maverick pick ax to separate those p'bulbs. (I already bent my best knife)

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