Orchid dying??

[junco513]

Over the last couple of weeks, it looks like the stem/bulb part on my orchid is drying up and turning yellow, sort of "burned" looking. Even the leaves that just grew out are either falling or turning yellow? Is my orchid dying? What could have caused it??

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

Cymbidiums can take a lot of water. Don't let them dry out. In warm weather (mine are outside until the first frost) I water them every day, then every other day when the worst of the heat is over, and probably once a week while they are in the cold frame. If your large bulbs are still firm, just hang in there, they may start another new growth, but start watering this much more. Most Cymbidiums are semi-terrestrial and grow in the leaf litter on the ground or else where, and this never drys out in the areas where they grow. Cynthia

[junco513]

Thank you thank you! Now I have some hope. I will water it more. It has been very very hot lately. I was watering about twice a week, but realize I need to water more because of the recent heat. I hope it'll revive! Is it ok for it to have 3-4 bulbs like that in one pot? Is that too much? It also looks like there are some roots growing out of the soil (in the last picture).

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

That is a good number of bulbs. Cynthia

[jerrymeola]

Everyone should put their location in their profiles so we can give advice suitable to their location.

Your reference to high heat caught my eye. Cyms do not like high heat. They are the only plant the American orchid Society recommends not be be bought if you live in the Gulf States.

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

Well, Jerry, I think the biggest problem with Cymbidiums and heat is not the daytime highs, I get to a little over 100 and low humidity middle of summer, but the night time lows in fall. The plants won't bloom without the night time drop. Since I am at about 6000', nights are cool and mine bloom just fine. The people in Phoenix, AZ can grow Cymbidiums just fine in their greenhouses, maxing out at about a 100F, but they can't bloom the plants. Seems their coolers run all night and still the greenhouses are in the 80s. Southern California (Los Angeles area) gets lots of days over 100F and Cymbidiums are very commonly grown outdoors there. Cynthia

[desertgal]

Jerry....how do I add my location to my profile? Didn't realize the importance of it when I registered.

[jerrymeola]

adding your location is easy.

Click on USER CP in the upper left of this page. Then chose Edit Profile and page down to the additional information section and fill in the block for where you live.

[love2cee]

I am in the san francisco bay area, and i bought my first cyms a week before mothers day ( one for my mom, my hubbys mom and 2 for me) and i enjoy growing them. They are healthy i assume because they are growing shoots. None of which are currently flowering but they arent dying. I think these are the easiest orchids for my area

[junco513]

I am in GA. It's been hot lately, in the high 90's. But my orchid is indoors, and I keep the temp to 80 at the highest when i'm not home. when i am home it's in the mid 70s.
the plant was doing fine with watering it twice a week. in the winter time i was watering it about every 5 days.
how can we tell when we are over watering or under watering an orchid?

[jerrymeola]

Cyms are hard to over water they like a lot. One difficulty of trying to grow them indoors is that they like a lot of sun to flower. You should consider getting them to flower outdoors over the summer and fall and bring them in to enjoy the flowers if that is what you wish.

[junco513]

i bought this plant back in Feb. with flowers and they dropped after about a month. will it flower again this year?

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

It is not normal for a Cymbidium to lose all its leaves. This plant has had a set back for some reason. It probably needs to grow two new growths before it can bloom, as the first one with no leaves on the plant to support it will probably be undersized. I would guess you are going to have a little over two years of good growing before this plant will bloom again. Cynthia