A year ago, I received a cymbidium as a gift. It was in full bloom.
After it stopped blooming, it began to send out new shoots.

I kept it in its original pot, a 1 gallon nursery can. But it seemed to
get pot-bound. Yesterday, I repotted it into a red-clay pot slightly
larger than the can. It was indeed pot-bound; I saw only roots and no
potting mix.

I tried to separate the pseudobulbs when repotting, but that was
impossible. Should I leave the mass as is, or should I try to cut the
pseudobulbs apart?

Another question:

For most of the year, I keep the plant outside on my patio. It gets a
little sun but mostly shade. About 3 weeks ago, I brought it indoors
because we do get night-time frost in the winter, including the last two
nights (although the nearest weather station -- about one mile east --
recorded lows not below 40F). I keep it in the dining room with light
from a north window until early March.

Is this indoor-outdoor idea valid, or should I leave it outside all
winter?

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean
Sunset Zone: 21 -- interior Santa Monica Mountains with some ocean
influence (USDA 10a, very close to Sunset Zone 19)
Gardening pages at http://www.rossde.com/garden/

Hi there David,
I have repotted many a cymbidium & while I don't profess to grow & bloom
them
spectacularly, I can tell you that they love being pot bound.
Also if yours bloomed a year ago, it would have set spikes weeks ago. (they
like the cool to set spikes)
They are heavy feeders (which is why I don't get many flowering cyms) & they
can take
direct early morning sun & good strong light in order to bloom.

They are the most difficult orchids to divide & I acutually us a
serrated sickle to saw the
whole mass in half! Sometimes if you start in the area where the pseudobulbs
are the oldest,
you can break them away.

We only get the odd night of frost say once in a winter here in S.Cal.
zone 9/10 & I
just cross fingers & hold thumbs!! I have hundreds so they cannot be moved!

In answer to your question, I would leave your guy in the new pot & you
should
get flowers next year but do try for more shaded sunlight.
Good luck,
Cheers Wendy


"David E. Ross" wrote in message
. ..
A year ago, I received a cymbidium as a gift. It was in full bloom.
After it stopped blooming, it began to send out new shoots.

I kept it in its original pot, a 1 gallon nursery can. But it seemed to
get pot-bound. Yesterday, I repotted it into a red-clay pot slightly
larger than the can. It was indeed pot-bound; I saw only roots and no
potting mix.

I tried to separate the pseudobulbs when repotting, but that was
impossible. Should I leave the mass as is, or should I try to cut the
pseudobulbs apart?

Another question:

For most of the year, I keep the plant outside on my patio. It gets a
little sun but mostly shade. About 3 weeks ago, I brought it indoors
because we do get night-time frost in the winter, including the last two
nights (although the nearest weather station -- about one mile east --
recorded lows not below 40F). I keep it in the dining room with light
from a north window until early March.

Is this indoor-outdoor idea valid, or should I leave it outside all
winter?

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean
Sunset Zone: 21 -- interior Santa Monica Mountains with some ocean
influence (USDA 10a, very close to Sunset Zone 19)
Gardening pages at http://www.rossde.com/garden/

Cymbidiums are not my strong suit, either, it's too hot here for most of
them. But _in general_, one big orchid in one big pot will make more,
bigger better flowers than that same orchid split into 2 or more pots.
Usually takes up less space that way, too.

Around here, the for-sale inventory is divided regularly, because the niche
market of those who will spend for big specimens is limited, but the orchids
in my personal collection are divided only if there's a real reason to do so
(next size pot would be too big/heavy for me to lift; middle rotted out or
other big gaps in the growth pattern, etc.). Kenni


"David E. Ross" wrote in message
. ..
A year ago, I received a cymbidium as a gift. It was in full bloom.
After it stopped blooming, it began to send out new shoots.

I kept it in its original pot, a 1 gallon nursery can. But it seemed to
get pot-bound. Yesterday, I repotted it into a red-clay pot slightly
larger than the can. It was indeed pot-bound; I saw only roots and no
potting mix.

I tried to separate the pseudobulbs when repotting, but that was
impossible. Should I leave the mass as is, or should I try to cut the
pseudobulbs apart?

Another question:

For most of the year, I keep the plant outside on my patio. It gets a
little sun but mostly shade. About 3 weeks ago, I brought it indoors
because we do get night-time frost in the winter, including the last two
nights (although the nearest weather station -- about one mile east --
recorded lows not below 40F). I keep it in the dining room with light
from a north window until early March.

Is this indoor-outdoor idea valid, or should I leave it outside all
winter?

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean
Sunset Zone: 21 -- interior Santa Monica Mountains with some ocean
influence (USDA 10a, very close to Sunset Zone 19)
Gardening pages at http://www.rossde.com/garden/

Cymbidiums like plastic pots. The clay ones will break when they get root
bound. They like to be root bound when you want flowers. Putting in a
larger contrainer may slow down the flowering. I would bring them in the
house if frost is possible, but leave them outside when warmer.

Is not a house plant. Likes temperature swings but not freezing. Here in
so cal if freezes maybe 5 nites a year if not luckly. I bring the
cymbidiums into the garage those nites and back out during the days.

Vito


"David E. Ross" wrote in message
. ..
A year ago, I received a cymbidium as a gift. It was in full bloom.
After it stopped blooming, it began to send out new shoots.

I kept it in its original pot, a 1 gallon nursery can. But it seemed to
get pot-bound. Yesterday, I repotted it into a red-clay pot slightly
larger than the can. It was indeed pot-bound; I saw only roots and no
potting mix.

I tried to separate the pseudobulbs when repotting, but that was
impossible. Should I leave the mass as is, or should I try to cut the
pseudobulbs apart?

Another question:

For most of the year, I keep the plant outside on my patio. It gets a
little sun but mostly shade. About 3 weeks ago, I brought it indoors
because we do get night-time frost in the winter, including the last two
nights (although the nearest weather station -- about one mile east --
recorded lows not below 40F). I keep it in the dining room with light
from a north window until early March.

Is this indoor-outdoor idea valid, or should I leave it outside all
winter?

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean
Sunset Zone: 21 -- interior Santa Monica Mountains with some ocean
influence (USDA 10a, very close to Sunset Zone 19)
Gardening pages at http://www.rossde.com/garden/

On Dec 4, 5:26 am, "David E. Ross" wrote:
A year ago, I received a cymbidium as a gift. It was in full bloom.
After it stopped blooming, it began to send out new shoots.

I kept it in its original pot, a 1 gallon nursery can. But it seemed to
get pot-bound. Yesterday, I repotted it into a red-clay pot slightly
larger than the can. It was indeed pot-bound; I saw only roots and no
potting mix.

I tried to separate the pseudobulbs when repotting, but that was
impossible. Should I leave the mass as is, or should I try to cut the
pseudobulbs apart?

Another question:

For most of the year, I keep the plant outside on my patio. It gets a
little sun but mostly shade. About 3 weeks ago, I brought it indoors
because we do get night-time frost in the winter, including the last two
nights (although the nearest weather station -- about one mile east --
recorded lows not below 40F). I keep it in the dining room with light
from a north window until early March.

Is this indoor-outdoor idea valid, or should I leave it outside all
winter?

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean
Sunset Zone: 21 -- interior Santa Monica Mountains with some ocean
influence (USDA 10a, very close to Sunset Zone 19)
Gardening pages at http://www.rossde.com/garden/

What type of cymbidium do you have? While cold tolerance does depend
on the species in the plant's background, the bulk of the large
standard cymbidium hybrids should do fine without much protection in
Zone 10. My temps can get down to 30F briefly on winter nights and my
cymbidiums are unaffected. As for dividing unless the size is an issue
for you I wouldn't bother about it. Larger cymbidiums generally have a
better chance of flowering after repotting than smaller divisions.

[QUOTE David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean
Sunset Zone: 21 -- interior Santa Monica Mountains with some ocean
influence (USDA 10a, very close to Sunset Zone 19)
Gardening pages at http://www.rossde.com/garden/[/i][/color]

What type of cymbidium do you have? While cold tolerance does depend
on the species in the plant's background, the bulk of the large
standard cymbidium hybrids should do fine without much protection in
Zone 10. My temps can get down to 30F briefly on winter nights and my
cymbidiums are unaffected. As for dividing unless the size is an issue
for you I wouldn't bother about it. Larger cymbidiums generally have a
better chance of flowering after repotting than smaller divisions.[/quote]

I have to echo David E. Ross on this point.
It all depends on what type of Cymbidium you are growing:
Temperature requirements for Cymbidium orchids range from cool
to medium, i.e. between 10 and 30 degrees Celsius (50 to 85 °Fahrenheit)
is ideal. DO not stress your Cymbidium, in the latter part of summer it may
be wise to have the temperature drop at night to force the orchids into
bloom. This temperature drop is required to maximize flowering else the buds
will turn yellow and drop down if it is too hot at night in summer.
I grow mine both indoors and outdoors.
All of them have bloomed this season.

If there are a lot of non-leafing bulbs I would divide. You will need a sharp knife and will need to leave about 3 bulbs for each division. You can look on the internet and get some good pics of how to divide. I live in the north and I grow my cymbidiums outside in the summer until they have a couple of weeks with temps down to about 38-40. Don't let them frost or freeze. Then i bring in and grow in high light. Good Luck!!!

Hello David,
I grow cyms outside here in S.Cal zone 9/10 not sure I think the Sunset
zone is 24?
Anyway cymbidiums grow naturally in the Himalayas so your area sounds fine.
Of course Santa Barbara is the cymbidium capital of the world.
You could have cut some of the older pseudos away & potted them up in
another pot.
You want to use a good draining mix one of the reasons being that if it's
rainy & cold you want the roots to be airy.
Having said that, they love to be rootbound? They also like a cool period
to initiate spikes.
I usually repot after flowering, which for me is around May.
They love early morning sun & mine grow under shadecloth. I haven't lost any
to frost, (knock on wood)
have lost other types of plants though. If you wanted to keep it outside
put it in a protected area, make a teepee
with 3 sticks & a sheet or plastic to cover when you know you are going to
get frost.
Hope this helps
Cheers Wendy

"Orchidlady50" wrote in message
...

David E. Ross;763365 Wrote:
A year ago, I received a cymbidium as a gift. It was in full bloom.
After it stopped blooming, it began to send out new shoots.

I kept it in its original pot, a 1 gallon nursery can. But it seemed
to
get pot-bound. Yesterday, I repotted it into a red-clay pot slightly
larger than the can. It was indeed pot-bound; I saw only roots and no
potting mix.

I tried to separate the pseudobulbs when repotting, but that was
impossible. Should I leave the mass as is, or should I try to cut the
pseudobulbs apart?

Another question:

For most of the year, I keep the plant outside on my patio. It gets a
little sun but mostly shade. About 3 weeks ago, I brought it indoors
because we do get night-time frost in the winter, including the last
two
nights (although the nearest weather station -- about one mile east --
recorded lows not below 40F). I keep it in the dining room with light
from a north window until early March.

Is this indoor-outdoor idea valid, or should I leave it outside all
winter?

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean
Sunset Zone: 21 -- interior Santa Monica Mountains with some ocean
influence (USDA 10a, very close to Sunset Zone 19)
Gardening pages at http://www.rossde.com/garden/

If there are a lot of non-leafing bulbs I would divide. You will need a
sharp knife and will need to leave about 3 bulbs for each division. You
can look on the internet and get some good pics of how to divide. I
live in the north and I grow my cymbidiums outside in the summer until
they have a couple of weeks with temps down to about 38-40. Don't let
them frost or freeze. Then i bring in and grow in high light. Good
Luck!!!




--
Orchidlady50