Unknown Orchid - does it need a bigger pot?

[D&S Mabel]

Hello All!

I am hoping someone will be able to identify this orchid - sorry, no bloom photos - and help me determine if it needs a bigger pot and what potting materials it might need.

Thanks!

[Tricho]

It should be a Cymbidium

You can use a bigger pot, not much bigger. i use a medium grade bark mix with 1/3 inert material (like charcoal, leca, hydroton, ...)

It is somewhat late for the potting, it should have been in the spring. So , if the media is not decomposed perhaps you should not remove it and just place the root ball inside a new pot with some more mix.

[Jalizar]

Hi Mabel,

I agree with Cymbidium. I`d suggest to use a slightly bigger pot, especially a higher one since this plant produces a lot of long and thick roots. Best might be a pot made from clay since Cymb like it more cool, and moist clay will help to cool the roots a bit. You may use a mixture of pine bark and plant soil (correct word?). Give it enough water and fertilizer, Cymbs like to "eat" a lot. Put it in cooler surroundings, preferably somewhere outside. If you keep it too warm it will not bloom again.

Good luck!

Uli

[justatypn]

When the cym blooms take a an hopefully a member will be able to give it it's appropriate name.

The pot is teeny for the size but the timing is off on repotting unless you don't mind it missing a blooming cycle.

It appears that looking at the on the right, you have a new growth, quite large I would say, that should possibly bloom come blooming season. My guess is it's pretty root-bound so keep it cool and moist.

Watch for those stinky little white pests, they love cym's. It would not hurt it to put a bit of soiled medium on the top, watch out and try not to go over the backbulb.

[D&S Mabel]

Can anyone ID this cym now that I was able to dig back through some photos and found one of it in bloom?

This is from 3/06 when I got the plant from a local Big Box store but it did not bloom for me this year.

I'm wondering if it is a plant that does not like the Florida climate. It has two new shoots and looks healthy to me but I'm still learning!

Thanks to all for any feedback.

[cb977]

If you bought it at a local store, then it's a warm-growing Cym.

I have mine in clear CD storage boxes with large holes all around, in plain fir bark and I give them as much sun as they can take without showing signs of burning.

[cneos]

cymbidium can tolerate a wide range of temps from 29 to 100 fahrenheit (as long as appropriate air movement, humidity, etc are given at the extremes). For a cymbidium to flower, there has to be at least a 10 degree difference in day / night temp (with night-time low at 50 - 55). If temps are too warm for too long, flowering may not occur.
We're in NH and follow advice of cymbidium society of america cymbidium.org - plants are moved outdoors to a sunny location in mid-late April and stay there until Halloween, resulting in generally good to excellent spike inititiation and flowers.

Sorry can't help with id, but that is a lovely flower that you have there.

BTW, I just divided a giant NO ID cymbidium (into 18 3-5 growth divisions). At the center of the root mass, there was a tag with the plant's proper name - Cymbidium Sheretta.

[nancy]

[quote=cb977;45955]If you bought it at a local store, then it's a warm-growing Cym.

Oh, I would heartily disagree! The locals around here (south Louisiana) typically carry the larger, cool-growing Cymbidiums. They sell like mad because they are just sooo irresistible!
My advice would be to wait until next spring to repot. FL should treat them like we do in LA, it is an outdoor plant, all the time. They do not like to be kept warm in winter.
I grow mine in 100% fresh horse manure, in the smallest pot they can be crammed into. In the spring after blooming, I lift the whole plant, add a few more inches of horse dookie, and reset the plant. Do this again in the fall. A layer of styrofoam peanuts in the bottom will insure good drainage, then water daily for the first month after adding the 'horse.' I pot them very high, too.
I grow mine in full sun. They all bloom, every year.
I've heard of people keeping them in styro coolers full of ice through the fall and even the winter if it is too mild. Sounds like fun?
Regards - Nancy

[D&S Mabel]

Nancy - I don't think my pool deck will smell very nice after a spring rain if I follow you potting suggestions to the letter but I get the idea.

I have to disagree too with the idea that the Big Box Stores in my area would only sell warm growing plants. Their plant departments are outdoors year round here and my wife brought home a Miltonia (pansy type) in bloom, thinking it must be heat tolerant because they had it outside. Once home, it quickly dropped its flowers and wilted. It is now sitting on a window sill for the summer and will winter outside - and has perked up nicely in the air conditioning.

The cym is an outdoor plant only and it has two new growths on it - it grows well, I just don't know if it will bloom in the heat. If it doesn't this spring, I'll repot and try one more season. If nothing then, it will probably be headed to a new home or in to the garden as a shrub...

[orchidexpress]

Yes, it's a cymbidium and it can go up a size in its container.

Happy Growing!