Growing Orchids

WHY GROW CYMBIDIUMS? (pronounced sim biddy ums)

CYMBIDIUMS

thrive in Perth
are happy outdoors all year round
are hardy and easy to grow and flower
come in a vast variety of colours and sizes
last up to 3 months in bloom
are the BEST orchid plant for beginners

MAIN FLOWERING REQUIREMENT?

Need to be grown outdoors in lots of filtered sunlight. This will be obvious by the leaves being light green and upright. Long and droopy deep green leaves indicate too much shade and will result in very little flowering.

WHERE TO GROW?

In a brightly lit shadehouse under either 50% or 70% Shadecloth.
Or under a pergola or tree getting lots of light
Or in the open – except during summer

POTTING MIX?

Preferably use a good draining pine bark mix. Check out the club’s special mix. *Never use soil.

FERTILISING?

The club recommends the Neutrog product “Strikeback for Orchids” as the simplest way for new growers to experience success. It is a complete organic fertiliser with some additives. Other ways is to use a 12 month “slow release” Fertiliser like Osmocote or Macracote – one a year. Once you are experienced growers other products such as “Polyfeed” by foliage application can be used.

WATERING?

Depends on the coarseness of your potting mix, but a general guide is:
SUMMER – either every day or every second day
AUTUMN & SPRING twice a week
WINTER rainfall should be sufficient

Plants in bloom that are under cover should be watered about once a week.

Getting a Cymbidium Orchid to Flower

Cymbidiums are amongst the easiest of orchids to grow but unless a few basics are given to them they will grow well but not flower.

Some of these basic requirements are:

Temperature: A 13ºC temperature differential between day and night temperatures in summer to initiate flower stems. They will not flower well in tropical and sub-tropical areas.
Bright light: Plant leaves should be a pale yellow-green colour and not bright green. Shade cloth of 50-70% shade is desirable or an open shaded tree. In winter they can be grown out in the full sun. In summer they need to be protected from the mid-day sun only – exposure to full morning sun or late afternoon sun is tolerated. Be careful when moving a plant from a very shaded area to a very bright area as some leaf burning can occur. Plants can tolerate windy conditions but may also be blown over if the wind is too strong.
Watering: Plants must be growing well and the new bulbs should be well advanced and bulking up by mid-summer. Remember it is from the new bulb that the next flowers will come from. The new bulb will start growing from late winter to spring. The aim is to make the new bulb grow as fast as possible so it nearly reaches maturity by mid-summer. Water is one of the basics for good growing so it is desirable to water as much as possible without rotting the roots or causing the plant to develop a fungal/rot disease. Watering needs depend on how quickly the potting mix dries out. We go from once weekly watering in winter to watering every day when it’s hot in summer.
Fertilising: Fertilising needs to be increased as the water frequency is increased. There are numerous methods but ours consists of using slow release fertiliser in spring, sprinkled around the top of the plant. We also supplement with a liquid fertiliser, increasing to weekly in the summer.
Dividing and Re-potting: Try and do this in the cooler months so it does not delay the maturing of the new growth over spring and summer. Also keep the divisions to at least three bulbs to keep strength in the plant.
Pests and Diseases: Treat the plants with the appropriate chemicals to keep the plants healthy.