Species Orchid, Aloe-Leafed Cymbidium

These orchids grow readily in Stockton, Ca outdoors year round. Mine bloom beautifully late winter through early spring. I grow these in ...Read Moreregular soil with orchid bark added and two inches of leca clay hydro balls on the bottom for added drainage. Mine are in ceramic pots on an eastern exposed patio and they grow well with my begonias, ferns, spider plants and oxalis, and a variety of other houseplants. The colder weather at night in winter in my region promotes blooming. I water daily during heat waves in the summer. The clumps can be divided to propagate. If a node turns brown and dies, I remove it from the clump and replant the dead looking bulb in a new pot, and it may put out another leaf after some time. Sometimes I lose some when I divide them, but they are otherwise healthy. They can be prone to rot in heavy soils. My neighbors grow them in the ground here!

This orchid has a short pseudobulb, ocult behind the long, keeled leaves. New pseudobulbs are produced right next to the old ones, making...Read More older plants look bigger than they really are (the plant on the picture I posted has actually something between 15 and 20 pseudobulbs). Dividing the rhyzome that links them is the best way to propagate it.

This orchid is ideal for hanging baskets or pots, since the inflorescence is pendulous, unlike other commercially explored Cymbidium. The flowers are relatively small (comparing with other species of this genus), white, with scarlet rays coming from the middle, and a yellow spot in the middle of the labellum. It has around 20 flowers per inflorescence, and one inflorescence per pseudobulb. I don´t have information about if it can be hybridized with other species.

It requires light shade, high humidity and temperature and well drained organic soil mixed with fiber (50% each). Don´t let it dry between waterings.