Repot or not?

[Woods]

Hi,
Hopefully I'll be able to attach the photos of my cymb. Should I repot? There are 3 new shoots of leaves and I'm not sure if the pot is too crowded. Any advice? Will new stalks grow near to the leaves?

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[jerrymeola]

Upsizing the pot seems to be in order. Cyms will spread from the base as yours is doing.

Be reasionable and go up in pot size slowly. A pot an inch or two larger will work fine.

[kmarch]

Dear Woods,

i'd say yes, it's ready for a larger pot. When did you last repot? If it was a year or less I'd consider just "potting up" instead of repotting. By "potting up" I mean just taking it out of this pot and putting it into a larger pot without removing all of the mix from the roots. This is easy to do for Cymbids as their roots tend to grow around the edges of the pot and, sort of, encase the mix. To "pot up" Just select a pot big enough to leave about 1-2 inches of growing space between the existing pseudobulbs and the edge of the new pot. Put some fresh mix in the bottom, pull the plant out of the existing pot, set it in the middle of the new pot and secure it by adding new mix all around the edges to fill in the space.

I don't "pot up" all the time, but I do do this when it has been a year or so since the last repotting.

Happy Growing!

[Woods]

Thanks for the advice. I was given the cymbid as a birthday gift in February so I have no idea when it was last repotted. It had 2 stalks in bloom in February and I just felt there wasn't much room for new ones to grow. As I mentioned before there are new leaves growing. Is it normal for leaves to grow before stalks?

[kmarch]

Dear Woods,

The usual cycle of things is that a Cymb starts a new growth, the leaves come out, eventually the bulb at the base of the leaves fattens up (matures). Once mature, the new growth can produce a flower spike (inflorescence) which comes from the base of the bulb just like a new growth does. In fact it can be difficult to tell them apart when they are just starting. So yes it is normal for the plant to cycle through plant growth (leaves and a new pseudobulb) then a flowering. It is also normal for plants to skip a flowering sometimes. With my Cymbids, which I usually buy in bloom, they usually skip blooming for a year while they adjust to my conditions and care. Actually this happens for many of my plants.

Happy Growing!

[Anton]

I agree with Kevin, just pot up, there aren't enough pseudobulbs and crowding to warrant a full repot. I have done the same with a few of mine recently.

Maybe in Spring, if they start going bezerk and really getting crowded, THEN, I will consider going the whole hog and repotting. It's a bugger of a job, especially when you have a few plants, so I only do ity when really necessary.

That's my 2 petals worth.

[Woods]

Thanks everyone. Is anyone able to give me an idiot's guide to 'potting up'? I read somewhere that it helps to soak it before changing pots... is this true? Do I support the bulbs and it will ease out of the pot or do I need to loosen the edges first? As you can tell I'm new to the whole orchid thing!!!!!

PS - do the leaves look ok or does it need more light? It gets a short spell of morning light (when there is sun in Glasgow!) but I'm thinking of moving it into the kitchen where it can get a longer spell of afternoon light (again when we get to see the sun here !!!!)

[Anton]

Send me you Email address by private post and I'll send a pictorial on how to do it.

[jerrymeola]

I like to soak the plants to ease its removal from the original pot.

With a plastic pot you can squeeze the plastic and, thereby, help loosen the plant. If it had been in clay you might have had to break the pot to remove it.

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

For really big Cymbidiums in plastic tubs, I lay them on their side and walk on them to deform the tub enough to loosen the roots from their attachment to the tub. Don't think you will have to be that rough with your plant.

[Woods]

Thanks again everyone for your advice. Now I just have to go out and find what I need!

In the information Anton sent ** THANKS ANTON ** it suggests you put polystyrene (plastic foam) chips in the base of the pot. Should I be able to get these at a garden centre?

An other thing is how close to the original potting medium do I have to be when I add to the larger pot? It appears to be in a mixture of soil and wood chips. Should I just buy wood chips?

A

[fred]

Do you know any orchid growers that live close to you ?
If so ask them as to what bark they use as some types of bark chips are not suitable for orchid growing.
If I am not mistaken the bark for growing orchids is treated.
I do not have any soil in my cym mix.
But thats my plants other people do have an orchid mix that does have a course soil blend with bark.
I hope other members can give you more ideas

[tom499]

soil and wood chips sounds like a basic orchid compost which you can get most places. you can use polystrene (apologies for spelling lol) or any other form of drainage material. i often use broken clay pot pieces in the bottom. it stops the compost falling through the drainage holes, and also gives better drainage. From my experience orchids dont like deep pots, as the top will be often dry before the bottom, so using something like polystrene or even pebbles in the bottom third will allow good drainage

[Woods]

Thanks Tom,
I've got some spare pebbles - at present I rest the pot on pebbles to allow drainage when watering - DOH! Of course they would be better inside the pot!
A

[tom499]

well, having pebbles under the pot helps too get them wet as you water, then the water will slowly evaporate off them and help keep the humidity up for your orchids, i do this alot as i grow them inside.

i cant sit them over trays of water because my cats drink from them

[Anton]

There is an easy solution Tom ..............

Originally Posted by tom499

i cant sit them over trays of water because my cats drink from them

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

A couple of things. Since Cymbidiums are semi-terrestrial, using anything in the bottom of the pot to aeriate it is not really necessary. Good practice for epiphytes tho. No soil please. These are semi-terreatrials, not terrestrals. In nature they grow in the leaf litter that collects on the ground, not in dirt.

In a pinch I have used garden bark for Cymbidiums. Not as good as the proper type of bark with the proper pretreatment, but will probably work. Just make sure it is not so fine it is like dust. You want it to be a little chunky. It will probably not last as long.