Hello! I had bought some orchids real cheap without a tag, now that they are flowering... can someone help me with what type of Orchids they are? Thanks!!!
Orchids flowering, ID needed
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Very good! The first three are Phalaenopsis and the last is a Cymbidium. The two types require different care so look up culture tips. Phalaenopsis is an epiphyte, requires warmth and likes dappled shade. The leaves should be a rich green color. The Cymbidium is terrestrial and can handle very high light. They prefer the cooler months. I wouldn't go so far as to say full sun on the Cym. in your location. Mine get around four hours a day here. Acclimate the plant slowly, so as not to burn it, until the leaves are a pale green. Good luck!
Thanks!
The Cymbidium currently has what I would describe as darker green leaves rather than pale... is this bad? It gets good light but I wouldn't say that it gets much direct sunlight, should I move it in the sun in my screened porch? Also, when I purchased it from a local nursery, it was pretty root bound in the pot it was in and I even had a hard time removing it! I thought I had read somewhere not to disturb the roots so I didn't really, I just repotted into a larger pot. Was this ok or what would you recommend?
PurePlants, I know Laurel is busy right now , so until she chimes in, I'll give you my 2Cents worth. Cyms love to be rootbound! they need good light, but not noonday sun in the south. Morning or late afternoon sun is great. They also need a marked change between day and night temps in the fall to induce blooms. In Hawaii they haul them up the mountain every night, but In So. Cal we just grow them outside. They aren't picky about water, but they are heavy feeders. Dont let the medium get soggy and feed a balanced fertilizer about once a month. In about Oct.you can give them a bloom fertilizer and more sun to induce blooms. As far as not disturbing the roots...I'm going after my 50something year old one with a hatchet next time I have to devide it! They are tough! When you devide/repot you should only give it about two inches larger than the root mass, that will hold it for about two years.
If you type in Cymbidium care, you should find tons of info on the internet. From what I read on Dg and Cubits.org, the biggest problem in the southern states is lack of cold nights, but they're some of the newer varieties that arent as particular.
Good luck with your orchids. Carol
Beautiful, Carol. Which one is that? I agree with your advice. There are lots of ways to grow Cyms.. I do a few things differently. Yes to the light, yes to the temp., yes to the no soggy medium and yes to being heavy feeders. I plant mine in almost 50% hardwood leaves, 25% composted manure and 25% mix of potting soil, perlite, old bark from otherwise healthy orchids or potted plants (in other words junk). Much cheaper than some of the exotic recipes suggested. I don't let my roots get so tight that the plant looks strangled when its unpotted. Still, the plant fills the pot. I feed full strength Miracle Gro plant food twice a month but skip when temps are hovering close to ninety. That's to not stress the plant in high temps.. I've started repotting and here's when I think it's time for the roots to have some breathing space. Note the difference between a plant being full in the pot, as the shape of this one suggests, and roots being too crowded.
Laurel
So here's a 30% divide of the parent plant that's been sent off to a DG friend. If you can tip your computer screen here and there on this photo, and the last, you may catch a view of the new, green root tips. Some people trim the long roots down but I wind them, spaghetti style, into the pot. :) I'll be able to show photos of the potting process when I compress. When I repot the bottom of the pot is stuffed with leaves. That's about 1/4 to 1/3 of the overall pot space. Sounds like a lot of leaves (air) and no substance, but that's why the roots on my Cyms. are not tangled at the bottom of the pot and don't rot.
Oh, and BTW, I use a chop stick to pick out the soil and loosen the roots. See it? Chopsticks are my favorite tool for all kinds of gardening. Always ask for some with the takeout! Whatever you do, don't just plop it in another pot! This pertains to all orchids, terrestrial or epiphytes grown in pots. Here's the chopstick in the plant photo. I poke around the plant, rotate it, and shake it holding the upper leaves. Don't hold it by the base, which is intuitive, because you'll be grabbing the newer, more Fragile growth.
Grief, where did that chopstick photo go. lol I'll have to hunt it. Trust me here on the chopstick method.
Thanks for all the info!!! The roots were so root bound that when I finally cut the plastic pot away from it all I could see was roots, no media to be seen!!! Thanks for the pics and those pinkies are gorgeous too!!!
The easiest way to remove a Cym. from a plastic pot is to turn it on its side and step on the pot several times as you rotate the pot. It should slide right out. Now you know for next time. If the pot is rigid, slide a knife around the edge.
Laurel, That is a NOID Cym that was a gift 50 some years ago. It has been divided many times over the years. I grow my Cyms in strait bark (large).
So Carol, there you go, they are flexible plants. I was telling Boojum that I'd heard of a prize winning Cym. grower who grows in horse manure (not composted). You'd think hot manure would burn the plants, but several people who know the grower swear it's true. I'd never recommend that but I've used composted cow manure (Black Kow) on orchids forever.
Carol- why are the flowers on your cymbidium different colours? do they change with age or something?
I use a bark/perlite mix and still trim rotted root off each repot on my cymbids. No way i could use leaves,manue or anything else thats water holding. hehe!
Yes Breeindy, as they age they change color. Makes it like two different plants for awhile.
I agree with you on the medium. Mine are in 10 inch pots ,and only get repotted every 2 or 3 years. By then I always have to trim a lot of roots.
This one turns deep red as it ages
Wonderful information, thank you so much for sharing.
Hello everyone, my Cym's not looking so hot an a lot of the leaves are turning brown. It gets high light but I am wondering since it was mentioned above that they like the cooler months that perhaps it is just too hot outside? Should I bring it indoors???
PurePlants, what do you mean by "alot"? They do shed some of the old leaves. Can you post a photo?
Carol
Here is a photo taken in June...
And here is a sad photo from today. =( It gets watered once a week... too little for this hot weather? The rest of my orchids seem fine but this is the only cym.
Well..the general color looks good, and as I said, they do loose the leaves on the old pseudo bulbs. Are you getting new growth? Is it planted in a coarse, fast draining medium? I water mine about once a week, but when temps get into the triple digits, I give them a bit more shade and mist them often. If you can, poke your finger in the mix to check for moisture. If you can't stick your finger in, tip the pot and see if there is moisture on the bottom, around the drainage hole. If there is, you should be fine They'll survive under watering alot better than over watering. It looks like you have moss on the top of the medium in that photo. If that is what I'm seeing, you should remove it. The pseudo bulbs need to be dry, and get the light. That also makes a great hiding place/ breeding ground for scale insects and mealybugs.
I suppose it wouldn't hurt it to put it inside till the heat lets up some, IF you can still give it the light it needs, and if the change isn't too drastic for it to aclimate. Mine live outside year round and will take night temps in the 30s for brief periods of time, but the large cyms do sulk a bit with long hot summers. Our summer has been way cooler than normal this year, but the hottest/ dryest months are yet to come.
Anything that can live 50 years under my care is tough, so relax and repeat after me " Gardening is fun!, gardening is relaxing!"
Carol
That is a sad Cymbidium. The problem is not temp related IMO, but appears water/medium/pot related. The plant looks too wet. Cymbidiums like a weekly hosing and a good dose of fertilizer fairly often, but then like to be left alone. Is that sphagnum at the top of the pot? What is the medium this Cymbidium is growing in? I'd pull it immediately, remove whatever medium is around the roots and let it air out. Water the bare roots a couple of times a week and repot. The easiest potting medium for a beginner is to use half to two thirds commercial bark mix and half enriched potting medium (like Jungle or Miracle Grow) if you are not able to follow or obtain the mediums advised by me and others. What kind of pot is it growing in? Is it one with a single drainage hole at the bottom? That will not do. Watering once a week is usually fine for Cymbidiums but if they are potted in a medium that is not open enough to run through like a sieve it's not an appropriate medium.
Carol's original thought was that your Cym was losing old leaves from the older backbulbs and, as she suggested, that would be normal at this time of year. However, that is not the case. The plant is waterlogged.
Laurel
Carol, you and I cross posted here. I'm not liking the leaning PB's on the left or the color of the plant at all. It's too dark for this time of year and in a sunny FL location the new growth looks weak. I've never misted a Cymbidium or brought one indoors in our triple digits (which we've had plenty of these past weeks). As you and I both mentioned, there is that moss on the top and the question of the medium. I also question the pot. I don't think it would be a good idea to bring the plant inside because it needs the light now and through Fall to make good bloom this winter. Better to pull the plant from the pot and repot now in a porous medium and continue to add sun. In fact, the leaves that look good on this plant still look like they could handle more sun. They should be light green here in the south at this time of year.
Laurel
It has a large drainage hole in the bottom, it gets watered every Saturday during this hot time. It was very root bound and had been repotted into the pot it is in now a few months ago in April. I used a very barky orchid mix, very fast draining (faster draining than what it looked like it was potted in). I will remove the moss and see about repotting, perhaps that is the culprit. Thanks, hope I can save it.
Well...
I pulled out the moss, and I do believe there was too much moisture. I think that being by the screened area it may have been getting more moisture from the rain we've had recently than I thought.. probably hadn't needed the last two Saturday waterings. Some of the new growth had rotted off AND... there were ants, and snails. I took it outside and removed it from the pot and cleaned off the damaged parts. There were not just ants... there was a huge nest.
I am letting the plant dry out and will repot into a free(er) draining pot and ensure it doesn't get too much water. Do you have any suggestions on what to treat the plant with to ensure that I get rid of the ant/snail infestation? I have a few things on hand but I don't want to damage the poor thing any farther than it already has been! Thanks.
id use a different pot with alot more than one drainage hole.
I agree with Bree. A one hole pot is not enough drainage. If you've cleaned the plant up and washed the bare roots well you've eliminated most snails. You can chose a metaldehyde bait or an iron phosphate one. The first is not organic but very effective the later is organic and not as effective. The ants are, IMO, not as big a problem as the snails. The later eat the roots and add to your problem of a plant that's growing in too much medium with no roots. Don't plant your Cym. in the same pot Use a smaller pot; one that has only an inch or so more space than the plant. Water when you plant and then don't water again for a week to ten days. You don't need to mist in your humidity at this time of year. The medium should be dry at the top and barely damp at the bottom. Put it in a pot that has enough holes on the bottom that you can see how wet it is. Don't fertilize during the recovery period. Move the plant to a sheltered area with part sun and no rain. Move it into more light in a few weeks when it's perking up. Progress the plant to more light over the next few months. You can put the plant and its pot in a more decorative container when in bloom, but consider the needs of the plant during the rest of the year.
This response is long, but I would like to add a note as to how tough Cyms are. I repotted my collection a few months ago and had back bulbs that were brown and leafless. I threw them on top of the container of old medium with the intention of disposing of the container later. I ignored the mess in the corner of the deck and a month later, when I went to clean up, Cyms were sprouting from the bases of the plants. But more interestingly, you know those horizontal seams that run up the plant, they were sprouting new leads along those seams as well.
Laurel
Laurel, I bow to your green thumb! The only thing I disagree with is the ant problem. I lost one plant (not an orchid), due to the ants gardening their fungi that completely blocked the drain hole. I use Bayer Ant Control in my pots now.
I had wondered about the rain they have been getting, but that looked like a covered porch. Summer rain doesn't happen here! All but one division of my cyms are in 12" clay pots, which only have one drainage hole, and they do fine, but again, we don't get rain in the summer.
Congratulations on your back bulbs sprouting! I've never tried it, as I don't need any more of what I've got.
Miss your input on the other site.
Carol
The fungi as you mentioned from the ants was evident in the pot. Blast!
Thanks for all of the advice. The pot that it was in really was only an inch or two larger than the original root ball (as I mentioned way above, was very root bound) but I still want to put it in a different pot that had more drainage as you mentioned.