You got an excellent buy, canadianplant! Even though I only have a couple of Phals right now, I really like the bulbous orchids!

Phals sem to hate me. I killed one already, the other is barley doing anything lol. My buddy who has a bunch of orchids told me how good of a deal it was. THe best thing is they tend to like it on the cool side, day times around 25 C, and nights around 8C or 20C. They can take heat too, as long as they are moist and in some shade from the hot sun.

you got a great deal.........nice to see blooms this time of year.

Apparently the blooms can last up to 6 months on certain cybidium species.... I just hope i can manage to get it to flower!

Phals sem to hate me

I can't grow them either.

Your cymbidium is lovely, good buy at that price.
They end up taking a lot of space, as the strap leaves on mine are nearly 4 feet long.

Be fussy about the bark you plant it in when repotting.
Mine's in big lumpy fir bark, with very few "fines" (so root area doesn't clog up).

Barb

I had a good long convo with my orchid buddy yesterday. Cymbidium hates being repotted. They are apparently worse then amarylis in that way. It is also suggested that they be put into a pot that they can grow into for at LEAST 2 years ( 1/3 to a 1/2 size bigger). He also says he uses a 50 50 mix of sphagnum/perlite for his "fast" mix. He ususally uses 1/4 lava rock, 1/4 something else, a handful of bark, and the rest is sphagnum, for all his orchids, unless they are terrestrial.

He also mocks me about my phals lol. I think my problem is not giving them enough water. THey supposidly shut right down if the conditions arent "perfect". Im tempted to put this thing in a terarrium to get it to grow lol.

We would receive about 20,000 cymbidiums each winter/early spring for a few years in a row. They came right from California. Two of us had the pleasure of keeping them alive as we sold through. Oh, we could not send them out unless they were at the tight bud to first flowering stage. We became quite adjusted to their needs to KEEP a cymbid flowering, or to encourage prompt reflowering. I could strangle those flowers if only they had necks.
Adam

Im assuming you worked for a nursery/dealer?

We supplied all the east coast Canada and US
Adam

NIce! Did they always come in plastic pots? I always assumed they needed the slotted pots?

We supplied all the east coast Canada and US
Adam

Yippeeee...our very own orchid specialist! Great! 😀

They came in woven pots and came covered in cellophane. Some came in ceramic. Yeah we had our fair share of phalenopsis orchids as well come through.
Adam