Dividing cyms?

[Forever-mango]

I have a really large pot of Golden yellow flowering Cymbidium with about 15 bulbs. Its really packed in a 50cm pot and isnt showing any new leads compared to all my other cyms which are growing like crazy. I figured I need to repot it, but was wondering if it would be a good idea to divide it in half. I got many large cymbidiums which are too heavy for one person to lift, and wish to divide into smaller plants. But im not sure if its recommended to because I've heard that once an orchid is divided, it doesnt flower for a year or so. Is this true?

And what would you recommend?

Regards
Mango

[Stelios]

i personally like them to keep growing without dividing. So i now have cymbidiums with 12-25 bulbs in pots. My 25 bulb cym is potted in a 45cm diameter pot and still have room for more growths but i guess yours is having bigger pseudobulbs than mine.
If it's so heavy for you to manage though.. i would say divide it. Even I did it with a couple of cyms that got me 3 new pots each so i could gift them to friends and family.
Regarding the reflowering to my experience they rebloomed but each division had about 10-12 bulbs so that might was the case, i think if you divide it to very few bulbs like e.g. 3 then they skip a season but i can not be sure. Maybe the plants were not to rebloom this season altogether e.g. they didn't have day/night temperature difference that some species and hybrids need. However i am not an expert.

It might be an interesting orchid myth for Kevin to discuss, "cyms do not rebloom after division"

[cym 1972]

forever-mango i say divide the cyms up after flowering season.leave at least 3 to 4 bulbs per division.so they can flower next season.

[Ron]

Hi Mango.
I would break it up and repot it .
I have just finished breaking my big pots of 10 inces and pot back into 8 inch pots.
I like the idea of breaking them back to 3 growths/bulbs with leaves on.
Place the older section at the side of the pot with any new lead heading towards the center of the pot.
Plant the bulbs about 1/3 deep so as the new growth/lead come out and grows up, the base of it will be under the compost so as the new roots can grow straight into it.
Give it a good half hand full of common garden lime and slow release fertilizer, water well in, and place back in a bright well lit position.
If the bulbs are of flowering size it should flower next growing season if grown well, 95% of mine do, I expect it if it fails I must have grown it poorly.
Now is the perfect tiem to do it as spring growth will be starting.
Best of luck
Ron

[kmarch]

I don't divide anything up unless it is absolutely necessary for the health of the plant. Letting a plant grow on into a large specimen plant results in bigger, better flowering (more spikes).

If the middle bulbs have all lost their leaves and the center bulbs are shriveling such that you have only a ring of new growth around the edge, then you should probably repot. If not, then I'd leave it whole and repot it into a larger pot. My Cymbids have not yet started putting out new shoots so I wouldn't worry about it not showing new growth just yet.

[Forever-mango]

The middle back bulbs has dried up. But the ones on the outside are growing.

Do I remove the back bulbs, or leave them? I see many people regrow them with healthy green back bulbs, but i got a few dried ones. Should I remove them?

[Stelios]

i am not sure if leaving the leafless backbulbs will result that they will dry, rot or produce new growths over time. But all of the options are more or less possible. I would say that if the outer ring is growing and the center is just some leafless back bulbs, remove the backbulbs and repot the plant so it will be aesthetically pleasing. You can then gift the buckbulbs to friends or propagate them yourself to raise more plants of the same.

[kmarch]

It sounds like you have the "ring" thing going on so it is probably best to divide when you repot. I'd recommend following the dividing advice already given, generally 3-4 pseudobulbs per division. Try to have at least one lead (point of new growth) for each division.

[Forever-mango]

Thanks guys

I will that next weekend as its storming big time here now