How to Bloom Chinese Cymbidiums

[Dulcinea]

What is the best care to give a Chinese cymbidium to bring it into bloom? I have sinense and ensifolium. They are all in the tall cymbidium containers. Lows of 55°, highs of 65°+ from now until they go outside in May. They sit to the side of the grow lights because of their height. Watered about twice a week, fertilized with MSU fertilizer weekly. Outside all summer in partial sun.

[Roberta]

Sounds to me like you have it right. They certainly don't need cold to bloom... those two are much less tolerant of cold than the bigger Cyms, and also don't need nearly as much light so having them at the edge of the grow light area should be fine.

[Dulcinea]

It’s unusual for me to get a bloom. Most years I don’t get any. I have about 8 plants. This year 1 bloomed. That's so disappointing. I want them for the scent. No blooms, no scent. Thanks for your reply. I’ll keep doing what I’ve been doing.

[Roberta]

Maybe try keeping them a little warmer... closer to a Phalaenopsis temperature range. They'll tolerate more cold than a Phal, but they don't particularly like it, certainly don't need it. A completely different animal than their larger cousins.

[Dulcinea]

Do you think they’d like it in the house? Michigan in winter would be low humidity but a more even temp.

[Roberta]

House should be fine. I don't think they're particularly sensitive to humidity, with those big fat roots. If it's really dry, maybe just water a bit more often.

[Dulcinea]

Thanks Roberta!

[papayj]

Originally Posted by Dulcinea

What is the best care to give a Chinese cymbidium to bring it into bloom? I have sinense and ensifolium. They are all in the tall cymbidium containers. Lows of 55°, highs of 65°+ from now until they go outside in May. They sit to the side of the grow lights because of their height. Watered about twice a week, fertilized with MSU fertilizer weekly. Outside all summer in partial sun.

In case of ensifoliums they do not need particular temperature treatment as they will bloom whenever they feel pleased. Hence, the chinese nickname of four seasons orchid (四季兰).

However, goeringii, kanran and sinense are definitely seasonal and they need change of the season to maintain their life cycle. In case of goeringii, they need hot summer to properly initiate the formation of flower buds (the flower buds of the goeringii begin to develop in the late summer, after the monsoon ends), and they need subsequent cool winter rest for the spring time blooming season.

[Dulcinea]

Thank you for your advice. I’ll keep that in mind for future growing.

[Orchidtinkerer]

From the question it is a bit hard to say if the orchids are lacking something. Sometimes an orchid is not mature enough or it needs to settle in first.

Of course if the orchid doesn't bloom there might be something wrong but most likely the only thing missing is probably patience.

Chinese species cymbidiums
Easy to grow and bloom. Some examples are sinense, ensifolium, kanran, goeringii, and forrestii. The warmest grower is ensifolium, sinense is intermediate, and the others are the cool end of intermediate. Most of these species are highly fragrant, and quite compact in their growth habits. If the following details appear confusing for the beginner, try treating them as you would a phalaenopsis. This is usually sufficient for good results.

https://www.cloudsorchids.com/ccym.htm