Cymbidium Care

Light

Make sure good light levels all the year round, particularly in winter. Shade it from midday sun, If the plant is kept outdoors in summer.

Temperature

Cymbidium likes cooler growing environments more than some other tender indoor orchids. Provide winter growing temperatures between 10-14°C (50-57°F). Keep the temperatures below 30°C (86°F) in summer to prevent plants from damage.

Plants can be kept outdoors from mid- to late summer (often June to September). Nevertheless, gradually make the plants become used to outdoor conditions in order to prevent leaf from being dry and damage caused by cold temperatures or direct sun.

Flowering

Flower spike initiation takes place in mid- to late summer, when plants need good light and a clearly different drop between day and night temperatures. Putting the plants outside helps to provide such conditions.

To stop bud-drop from happening, keep the temperature below 15°C (59°F) during flower spike development. Wait till the flowers have opened before taking the plant into a warmer environment for display purposes.

Support developing flower spikes with a bamboo cane. Flowers usually continue for six to eight weeks. Once the blooms have faded away, cut down the flowered stem to the base.

Watering

Cymbidium needs moderate watering during spring and summer, relying on the conditions. Water from above, ensure that excess of water can drain away. Do not allow the plant to sit in water. Let the compost become completely dry a little before the next watering. Plants placed outdoors or in the greenhouse may need more often watering in hot weather. Outdoor plants may only need occasional watering if the weather is wet. Cut watering to weekly or fortnightly in winter.

Feeding

Use half-strength general liquid fertilizer every third watering in spring and change to a high potassium specialist orchid fertilizer in summer. Stop feeding altogether, or feed only sometimes(not regularly and not often) in winter, using half-strength general liquid fertilizer.

Repotting your orchid needn’t be a difficult task and can help ensure it grows healthily and flowers well. Cymbidiums are best repotted in spring just after flowering. Below are some useful advices to remember;

1. Clear pots are not necessary for cymbidiums because their roots do not seek out the light. They can be useful in enabling you to see if the compost is still moist below the surface however, and so avoid watering too much.
2. It is time to repot your cymbidium immediately it has become too small for its pot or when it has been in the same compost for 2 years.
3. Cymbidiums should be repotted after flowering and before the new growths become bigger.
4. Remove the plant from its pot and if it has made a large clump of pseudobulbs, separate them by sawing through the center of the clump and the rootball with an old breadknife. The pieces should have no fewer than 5 pseudobulbs otherwise flowering will be not good as it should be.
5. separating the roots using your fingers and try removing all the old compost.
6. cut off any diseased or dead roots with sterilised scissors or secateurs. These are brown, soft, shrivelled or hollow in appearance.
7. Shorten the remaining healthy roots, that should be white and firm, back to around 15-20cm (6-8in).
8. Choose a pot that has enough room for two years’ growth (about an extra 10cm/4in in diameter). Avoid using a larger pot unnecessarily, as the compost will stay wet for too long, making the roots to rot.
9. Always use a proprietary orchid compost when repotting.
10. Hold the plant at the correct level in the pot and fill in the spaces around the roots with fresh compost, gently firming in as you go and making sure the compost is pressed down firmly around the perimeter of the pot, so that finally, when the plant is lifted by its stem or foliages, the pot and compost is lifted with it and does not drop off. Not firmly attached compost will make the plant to be unstable and damage the new root tips, stopping them from growing.
11. eventually, give the plant a thorough watering ensuring all the rootball is slightly wet. Drain the plant thoroughly and do not allow it to sit in water.

Separate plants at re-potting if they have become too large, or if some of the pseudobulbs (swellings at the base) have died and turned brown. Select divisions with three healthy pseudobulbs, throwing away older or shrivelled material. Divisions will take around two to three years to bloom again.

New hybrids are produced every year, but most of these are sold unnamed. Only specialist orchid nurseries give named species and hybrids. New introductions tend to be easier to grow, but for the keen grower, below are some species to try:

Cymbidium erythrostylum: Compact with white flowers and red lip.
C. tracyanum: Tall, arching stems of yellow-green flowers boldly striped brown.
C. tigrinum: Compact with hanging clusters of olive-green to yellow flowers with purple-marked lips.

Cymbidium can be affected the same problems as other orchids, such as mealybug, red spider mite, aphids, and slug and snail damage (if kept outdoors).