Cymbidium orchid: care

To begin, it is worth knowing a little about the main characteristics of the Cymbidium orchidso we can better understand your care needs.

• It is native to Africa, Australia and tropical Asia.
• It blooms in the autumn and winter months, reaching the flowers to last two months.
• Its large and appreciated flowers have very short petioles, several of them emerging from each stem.
• The leaves arise from a kind of rounded bulbs, which develop shoots annually.
• There are Cymbidium orchids of two sizes. The largest reach up to a meter.
• There are also epiphytic or terrestrial ones. Those sold for interiors are usually among the first.

If you like this plant, you will probably love discovering these 12 types of orchids.

Briefly, these are the basic care of the Cymbidium orchid:

• Light: they need a lot of light, but not direct sunlight.
• Climate: Most are from cold climates, but some tolerate mild warm temperatures.
• Irrigation: irrigation of moderate frequency and low volume. Always water them with warm water.

Light is very important for Cymbidium orchids. Most orchids need to be in brightly lit locations, but few of them tolerate direct exposure, especially in hot climates or with intense sun. If you grow it indoors, keep it in a particularly bright room, near a window. Outdoors, they can also do well at the foot of a tree.

If you notice that the leaves of your Cymbidium are beginning to take on a few shades of dark green, it is likely that your plant needs more light. It is also important that this plant is in an area with good ventilationas well as somewhere where do not suffer sudden changes in temperature.

Cymbidiums have their range of optimal temperatures around 15ºC -18ºC. However, they can tolerate night temperatures of up to 10ºC in the cold months, and up to 30ºC for short periods in the warm months.

These plants require that their soil or substrate never get completely drymaintaining at all times a certain degree of humidity but prevent puddles on the ground, which are very harmful to the plant. The specific frequency will depend on the soil or substrate itself and the climate of the area, but the rule of maintaining a certain humidity at all times without ever flooding must be respected.

We recommend you consult this other gardening guide on when and how to water orchids.

The best thing with Cymbidium orchids is to use a substrate or soil with very good drainage to avoid puddles. It is recommended to use a specialized substrate, or one made with sphagnum, polystyrene and perlite. In this other article you can learn more about How to make substrate for orchids.

These plants also need to be paid regularly with some fertilizer containing nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus. You can also use organic fertilizers, such as worm castings. If you use chemical fertilizers, make sure you respect the specific quantities for orchids, diluting the quantities enough. Here you can learn how to make fertilizer for orchids.

Here are some practical tips for transplant cymbidium orchids:

• They do not need a transplant every year. Instead, it is normal transplant them every 3 or 4 years after the plant produces flowers. The ideal is to transplant them to early springwhen the plant has not yet resumed all its activity and can better adapt to the new soil.
• In the transplant it is advisable to wet its roots and substrate a lot, so that they are more flexible and it is more difficult for them to break or damage in the process of cleaning them of all material. It is also important to cut dry or damaged roots, pruning them with properly disinfected tools. In this other gardening guide you can learn when and how to prune an orchid.
• Always use a slightly larger container than the previous one, and add some specific fertilizer after transplanting.

To learn more about this topic, you can consult this other EcologíaVerde post on When and how to transplant an orchid and, to complete your knowledge about these plants, we also recommend learning How to reproduce orchids.

As with so many other plants, the most common pests it suffers from are spider mite, thrips and mealybug. They can be treated with organic homemade insecticide without too many problems. If you prefer to make your own insecticide so that it is as natural as possible, do not hesitate to consult this other post on How to make natural insecticides for plants.

Regarding the fungi in orchids and other related diseases, it is rare that it suffers its attack if its adequate humidity conditions are respected, but it will appear in the event that there is excessive humidity. Here you can learn about some of the best homemade fungicides for orchids.

Below you can see two videos from our YouTube channel on the care of this plant and on the most common mistakes when caring for orchids.

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