Poor bloom season

[tunachris]

I currently have about 6 or 7 Cymbidiums in spike/bloom out of about 20. This has been a very poor bloom season for me. I lost a few spikes back in January due to a cold snap while I was out town. Plants made it OK, but a couple of nice plants lost spikes. I have 50% shade clothe over the south side of my patio to cut down on midday sun. Thinking next season I may roll the shade clothe back to allow more sun from Nov. to maybe March. I keep a sheet of plastic under the shade clothe to keep winter rain from waterlogging the plants.

Wondered if anyone else had trouble due to the cold this year?

Chris

[Gin]

Hi , I don't know where you are but here (Mo.) the yo yo weather hot one day cold the next took a toll on my species Dends. they are in bud but not like in years past . Gin

[Shadow]

I had problems too, with light and temperature. I didn't have any paph in bloom, but all my phalaenopsises produced short spikes and the flowers were smaller than usual. And the supplemental lighting didn't help. When the amount of sunny days increased, the spikes continued to grow, but it's a bit late and the old flowers began to fade.

[Matthews]

I wish I was able to grow my Cymbidium outdoors. I have them in the basement under 3 fluorescent lights and it has bloomed for me twice.

[Tindomul]

Are you guys growing outdoors? Is that why you are having troubles?

[Djarum Black]

Speaking of Cym's outside, I just put my first ever out in the front yard in the dirt according to T-mans advice and I think it likes it

So T-man if your out there..you were right!

[tunachris]

I live in Southern California. All my Cymbidiums are outdoors under 50% shadecloth. There was a cold snap in January, but I was out of town so unable to take any special precautions. When I got back I saw the spikes on 2 plants were dying. Other plants in the same location were just fine. I had a couple of Cattleyas in the same area that are in very bad shape, but they were on the outer edge of my growing area farthest from my house.

None of the cymbidiums has shown damage other than the spikes. I just walked the area and one plant looks like it is just starting to spike, very late. The nights have stayed in the 40's lately, so I may get some late spikes if they don't bud blast in the next month or so. It will likely start to get quite warm soon.

I do really well with cymbidiums and cattleyas outdoors, but I have shade cloth and an automatic misting system overhead. Our weather is rather hot and dry, but with the right precautions I do fairly well. One thing that helps is I store as much rain water as possible each winter, as the Ph and Gh of our tap water is quite high. I have been using Jerry's Grow for the past 3 years, and I am down to maybe a few months worth left. Don't know what to use after that, as I hear it is no longer available. Looking for a fertilizer that will help to cut down the ph of my water as the Jerry's Grow does.

Chris

[Ross]

Originally Posted by Shadow

I had problems too, with light and temperature. I didn't have any paph in bloom, but all my phalaenopsises produced short spikes and the flowers were smaller than usual. And the supplemental lighting didn't help. When the amount of sunny days increased, the spikes continued to grow, but it's a bit late and the old flowers began to fade.

Now I'm glad to see it wasn't my sloppy culture that resulted in short spikes and small bloosoms. I just figured it was the first blooming on a keiki and that's the way it is/was. Thanks for sharing this bit of news.

[tunachris]

Looking over my notes from years past, I noticed a couple of things that might help. In the past I have rolled back the shade cloth in Oct. and kept it back till March, might have helped with the late bloomers. I have also used Epsom salts in Sept. and Oct., 3 applications, once every other week at 1 tabelspoon per gallon of water. Think I will go back to that regimen and see what happens, I didn't use it this past fall.

[Ross]

Originally Posted by tunachris

Looking over my notes from years past, I noticed a couple of things that might help. In the past I have rolled back the shade cloth in Oct. and kept it back till March, might have helped with the late bloomers. I have also used Epsom salts in Sept. and Oct., 3 applications, once every other week at 1 tabelspoon per gallon of water. Think I will go back to that regimen and see what happens, I didn't use it this past fall.

You know, I've heard of that for Phals. Never tried it, but I read somewhere that it helps them somehow.