Care & potting medium for Cycnoches Wine Delight

[arleneg]

I plan on buying a Cycnoches Wine Delight soon and would like to get more info on care and potting medium used for this type of orchid. Anyone who owns one and/or has successfully grown one, please share your tips in growing a healthy Cycnoches.

[jerrymeola]

Wine delight is a Cynoches hybrid but care is the same as any other Cynoches.

They are deciduous orchids and lose every leaf every year. They look totally dead during the winter then start to grow rapidly in the spring. During their hibernation they should be totally ignored. You can put them in a draw or closet if you want. They should be put in a area where they will get very little if any water and no fertilizer.

When they start growing in the spring they should be watered and fertilized heavily.

They bloom later in the year than species Cynoches. Mine bloom in Oct to December while by Cyc. loddegessi is in bud now.

[soflaman]

What is your preference for potting medium?

[Sharyn]

Arlene: It's truly a gorgeous orchid, a bit more advanced for my experience, but I love it and someday hope I can grow one. I had previously searched out some info you might find interesting.

I'd forget the cow poop on this link, but interesting information. http://carterandholmes.com/cycnocare.html

From AOS Message Board:http://www.orchidweb.org/aos/Message....aspx?tid=4369
Ann Arbor Orchid Society: pg.5&6 http://www.aaosonline.org/Newsletters/2006-09.pdf

[arleneg]

Hi Sharyn,

Thanks for the links.

In regard to potting medium, mine came planted in bark. Last month, when I saw new growth, I repotted in coconut husk chips. No manure. Nothing used of that sort. Well, I just watered it with worm tea this morning and can hardly wait to see if that helps. So far, it's doing rather well in the coconut chips. The new growth is an inch tall...and growing!

[kmarch]

Dear arleneg,

I think you'll enjoy this plant. I've grown and bloomed a few varieties of Mormodes and Cycnoces on and off over the years. It's almost freakish how fast these things grow during their growing season. I was just orchid-geek enough to measure the growth once and found they grow measurably day by day, enough that you can actually SEE it. I really pumped the fertilizer into them when in growth, sometimes more than I felt comfortable with but never got so much as a single leaf tip with burn on it. Your conditions/habits may not permit that though. They're suprisingly easy to grow in my opinion although my plants, for a reason I do not yet know, after a few years of growing well, some of them would suddenly crash. If anyone has had this experience or if any more experienced growers are familiar with this and what might cause it/how it may be avoided, please let me know.

-Cheers

[arleneg]

The pbulb of my Cyc. is about 7 inches tall. It's been that size for the last few weeks or so. So far, I haven't seen any sign of spiking. Is it too early for that? Or should I now be fertilizing it with high nitrogen fert., instead of worm tea?

Plus, all the leaf tips are starting to yellow a little. I'm afraid it will start losing its leaves too early.

Jerry, or anyone with experience in this, I'd really appreciate some more info.

TIA

[kmarch]

I always just used ordinary medium bark with perelite and charcoal fo rmy Cycnoces and Mormodes. I watered and fertilized heavily until the leaves were all fully mature and the bulb fully fattened up. I then stopped fertiilizing. In the Autumn the leaves dropped naturally and it was about then that spikes started appearing.

[arleneg]

Kevin,

I did just that. Now, the bulb is fat and hard.

So it spikes at the time the leaves drop? I'm asking because when I bought Cyc. Wine Delight last August, it had nice green leaves and had blooms. I guess, I'll wait a while longer and hope it will spike within the next month or two.