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Sunlight
All of my cymbidiums are grown outdoors. They are under 55% shade cloth with direct sunlight
all day. During the summer months when it gets hot
for extended periods of time, an extra layer of shade cloth is provided to
keep the plants from getting too hot.
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Water
All of my cymbidiums are watered once a week
or every other week during the winter,
depending on the level of moisture in the air. During
the growing season (spring and summer), I generally water a minimum of once
a week, and sometimes up to 2-3 times a week when
the temperatures get above 85 degrees. During hot and/or windy
weather (especially when the Santa Ana winds are blowing),
the plants tend to dry out much quicker and require watering every other day
or even daily for the small pots.
All of my cymbidiums are watered by hand to ensure proper leeching. This helps wash accumulated salt
out of the pots preventing leaf tip burn.
I use Reverse Osmosis water supplemented with a low dose of fertilizer for
all of my plants that require low salinity, mainly my devonianums and
devonianum hybrids.
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All my cymbidiums (except for the devonianums) are fertilized with
Nutricote
13-13-13 (6 month slow release applied twice yearly -
February and August) and supplemented with liquid
fertilizer Grow More (30-10-10)
during the growing season (February thru August). I also
top dress the plants with dolomite lime and gypsum which
helps control the ph of the mix. The
devonianums are fertilized with a 1/10 dose of Grow More 30-10-10 during the
non-winter months only.
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Coconut
Husk Based
Mix for Cymbidium
Orchids
For the last four years I have been using
a mixture of medium and small size coconut chips
with an addition of about 10% perlite #3. The plants have been growing extremely
well from 3 inch pots all the way to 2 gallon pots.
Dolomite Lime and Gypsum are also added during repotting.
Seedlings just out of flask are planted in 4 inch
community pots (10 plants per pot) with the same mix as above.
In the past I have tried cell trays with different medias, and all tend to
dry out to quickly in my growing conditions. The community pots
provide a much more successful option for me, with a much larger success
rate in a shorter period of time.
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