Cymbidium is an evergreen member of the Orchid family. In the wild, it can be found in the subtropics of Northern Australia and Asia. These flowers have been in cultivation for a long time. More than two thousand years have passed since that time. And it happened in China. Now in Japan and China, species with small flowers are more valued, as they are more fragrant. In total, there are more than 100 different species in the world. Later in the article we will talk about how to grow a cymbidium orchid at home.
Description
The cymbidium has a near-earth part, which gardeners and breeders simply call the bulb. It has an ovoid shape and has the ability to retain moisture. The leaves can have a different shape: sword, keel, sometimes have blunt tips or pointed ones. Flower stalks stand out very strongly, which can even reach a height of one and a half meters.
The inflorescence itself is a hanging loose brush, on which flowers are located, the number of which varies. Depending on the variety and type of orchid, cymbidiums can have different sizes, as well as colors. Shades are not only monophonic, but there are alsobicolor and even tricolor types.
Inside each flower there is a three-lobed lip, which is always painted in a brighter shade than the rest of the petals. If you provide the cymbidium orchid with home care such as all the rules and standards require, then it can live from three to seven years. A he althy and well-groomed flower can please with its flowering for about three months.
How to care
Growing such a plant without special knowledge will not work, because this orchid requires special attention.
The cymbidium orchid flower should be placed in the largest and sunniest window in your home. However, direct sunlight should be controlled. This is especially true during the flowering period. Therefore, at noon, be sure to shade it using a curtain.
But this does not mean that the plant should always be away from the sun, because it needs a lot of light for normal growth and flowering. Gardeners note that the flowering period of this orchid begins in winter, and due to the fact that the daylight hours at this time are too short, it is necessary to provide the plant with additional light.
If cymbidiums love light, it does not mean that they like heat and closeness. Therefore, the air in the room should be cool and fresh. Pay particular attention to this in winter, when the heaters start to work. If you place a flower next to the battery, then you will hardly be able to admire its beautiful flowers.
Exceptall this, the room should have high humidity. In summer, you will have to spray the plant every day at least three times. To make things a little easier, place the plant pot on a tray with wet expanded clay or pebbles.
Irrigation
The cymbidium especially needs watering during the period of active growth. A lot of water will be required. However, make sure that moisture does not stagnate in the roots. This can cause the roots to rot and the leaves to turn black.
Badly affect the flower and the lack of moisture. The bulb immediately begins to wrinkle, and the leaves and flowers also suffer. If the drought is too long, then they may even simply fall off. In winter, watering becomes less frequent. This procedure will have to be done only once every two weeks. But this is only on condition that the humidity and temperature of the air in the room will correspond to the norm. If the room is too hot, then watering will have to be increased.
Feeding
Feeding should be carried out with every third watering of the plant. But attention: fertilizers can not be applied simultaneously with water, but only in the substrate that has already been moistened. It is recommended to use special fertilizers for orchids, which are sold in any flower shop.
There are instructions for use. However, the dosage must be divided by two. In the middle of summer, you need to slightly change the amount of fertilizer. You will need more potassium and less nitrogen. Completely stop feeding orchids when the flowering period begins.
Transfer
Cymbidium orchid transplantation at home is an indispensable component of proper plant care. The roots gradually fill the old pot, which means that the plant needs a larger container.
Usually, transplantation is carried out once every three years. But this can only be done after the flowering period has ended, and the young sprouts that were released have already reached a height of five centimeters.
Soil
The substrate is the first thing to do before starting a cymbidium transplant. You can not waste time on self-preparation and simply purchase soil in the store, which is designed specifically for planting orchids. However, if you do not trust the manufacturers, then form the soil yourself.
You will need pine bark, which is mixed with crushed sphagnum moss, as well as fern roots. To all this mixture, you still need to add a little charcoal and some part of rotted horse manure. However, finding all these components, especially in a city apartment, is not so easy, so it will be much easier to purchase a ready-made substrate in a store.
Disembarkation Technology
A drainage layer must be placed at the bottom of the pot. To do this, you can use expanded clay or clay shards. A three-centimeter layer of prepared or purchased substrate is poured on top, and only after that the cymbidium is placed there.
The plant is transferred exclusively with the earthy clod in which it was before. After that, a little more substrate will need to be added to the pot. But be careful, the pseudobulbs must be above it.
Usually, after transplanting, plants need watering, this also applies to orchids. However, watering a flower is possible only if its roots were not damaged at the time of transplantation.
Sometimes it happens that the root system has to be cleaned up due to the presence of rotten parts on it. If you are faced with such a problem, then after planting the cymbidium, you need to wait a few days and not water the flower. Transplanting a cymbidium orchid is always stressful for a plant. The first time after this procedure, it will be better for her to stand in partial shade in order to "come to her senses" a little.
How to make a plant bloom
As already mentioned, there are more than 100 types of cymbidium orchids in the world and each of them blooms at different times and for different durations. But they also have something in common. First of all, none of the species in the world will release buds if the air temperature where it is placed exceeds 22 degrees. What is it about?
When breeding each of these species, breeders used materials from those wild plants that grew in the mountains. And there, as you know, the air temperature is not too high, and even there are strong jumps between day and night. In addition, there is always bright sunlight in the mountains, which is what the cymbidium orchid requires when leaving at home.conditions, transplantation and further cultivation.
Temperature for flowering
What to do to make your favorite orchid happy with flowers? If you come across a species that blooms in spring or summer, then you should not worry about temperature changes, especially if you placed the pot on a balcony or veranda. There are always temperature fluctuations during this period.
Cymbidium will quite calmly endure even five-degree heat. Under such conditions, the plant will definitely bloom on time, and the flowers will be quite large and beautiful. But what about those whose orchid pleases with flowers in winter? After all, you can’t take it out to the balcony at this time of the year, and the heating system in the apartment works around the clock. If your loggia or balcony is insulated, then try to put the plant there at night or open the windows in the room where it is located. But make sure that drafts do not fall on the orchid.
Don't worry too much if your orchid is under three years old. Since the most abundant and bright flowering of them begins at this age.
Reproduction
You are unlikely to find cymbidium orchid seeds, since it reproduces exclusively by dividing the bush. The procedure is simple and is carried out at the moment when the plant is transplanted from a small pot into a larger one.
When you remove the flower from the container, you will definitely see a large ball of tangled roots in its lower part. At the very bottom, the roots are very gray and even dry. This part needs to be removed. During deletion, you can only usewith a sharp and necessarily sterile knife.
After removing this part of the coma, the plant can be safely divided into fragments. Each of them should contain a he althy pseudobulb and young living roots. Each delenka is placed in a separate pot, which is filled with a substrate, the recipe for which was described above in the article.
Each section must be treated with charcoal to avoid infection. Delenki, like adult plants, require good care. High humidity is also important for them. Therefore, they should be provided with abundant watering, regular spraying. All these procedures are required until new shoots and leaves appear on them, which will signal that the seedlings have taken root and have taken root normally in a new place.
Diseases and pests
It is often possible to observe how the cymbidium is actively increasing its green mass, but obviously is not going to bloom. What to do in this case? You need to give him some kind of shake-up. Dramatically reduce the amount of moisture that enters the plant during irrigation, and also arrange jumps in air temperature. For an orchid to bloom, it must be in a room where the thermometer does not exceed 13 degrees.
Dries and turns yellow
Tips of cymbidium leaves may dry out a bit. This can mean only one thing - the air in the room is too dry. As mentioned earlier, this flower needs three daily sprays, but if a similar problem occurstheir number should be increased. And also be sure to put the flower pot on a pallet with wet pebbles.
But there is another reason for the drying of the leaves - waterlogging of the soil. Yes, the orchid needs to be well watered, but the soil should have time to ventilate a little between waterings.
Another reason is the yellowing of the leaves. If you notice a similar ailment, then immediately remove the top layer of the substrate and carefully examine the root system. Most likely, rot appeared on the roots. This can mean only one thing - an urgent transplant. During transplantation, rotten areas must be removed, if it still makes sense, and the plant should be placed in a new soil and pot. Try to find out the cause of such a problem and take care of its elimination. Otherwise, the problem will return again.
Conclusion
As you can see, growing a plant like the cymbidium orchid is not easy. To do this, it is necessary to have information regarding the proper care, transplantation and maintenance. Not every grower can afford such a luxury. But modern materials allow you to work wonders, and if you do not want to spend time and nerves on growing such a plant, you can easily create an artificial flower that will not differ from the real one.
To create a cymbidium orchid from foamiran, you will not need to look for any special materials or spend a lot of time on it. And the result will pleasantly please. Even an experienced grower will not be able to distinguish your flower from the real one, andit will delight the owner with its flowering all year round.
