cymbidium anxiety

Lately I've been considering buying this one cymbidium that I have my eye on, but I've been hesitant because it is decidedly outside my species comfort zone. Do you think a north Carolina mountain girl could get a cymbidium to bloom on her windowsill? What kind of conditions does this type of orchid need? Will it grow me out of my apartment? Whatta you think?
kitty

You can grow it in a bright area, it will eventually get big if it is happy. It does need to have a cool down period in the fall to set spikes. Do you have a balcony?

I have stairs, but a cool-down in Boone is never a question. By the middle of winter I have to keep a heater close to my plants or they'll freeze....inside. Is humidity a huge issue? my humidity stays around 55% in summer and it dips to about 35% in winter. I can adjust somewhat with trays, but it's minimal at best. Am I too deciduous?

Humidity has never been a problem with mine. In So Cal the humidity gets down to below 5% when the Santa Ana winds blow... and my plants stay out all year unless we are going to get a hard freeze. So I'd say that your cym should do fine.

I agree with Diane. In Joburg the humidity is very, very low and they grow with superb results. They can easily manage higher temps (around the warm range), but you need very cool weather to get them to flower.

They can manage to survive temps just above freezing and frost. My best advice would be to grow them outside on a south facing patio (for people in the nothern hemisphere) or under a tree if you're brave for the summer and autumn until you see a spike forming, and then bring them in just before the frosts and snows hit. You can also grow them in full sun along an eastern wall (ie. so it gets full sunlight till about 1 or 2), and you should have excellent results.

Oh, and about your question about one of them eating you out of house and home: See if you can buy a miniature, and failing that a novelty cym. They can easily live on a windowsill (compared to a giant tracyanum)
Just remember: these things come from the Himalayas, so they're built tough.

Btw: Sorry I don't have any photos of mine. All the Joburg growers had a lot (up to 95%) of their cym buds blasted by a late autumn heat wave. I'll put up last years photos though when I have the time.

thanks so much! that helps a lot. I think I can definantly grow one of these guys in my conditions.
-kitty

If Boone doesn't have summer nights that are in the high-50s, forget about the large standards. You probably have the same problem I do with cyms--high night temps from July-Sept.

Well, my standards do fine with high night temps through september and into october. Mine just bloom a little later. What is important is that cool down occur sometime in the fall. Boone is in the Blue Ridge, if I remember correctly, so she shouldn't have a problem with cool down.

Yeah, I just found that out. I was thinking North Carolina was sweltering like coastal Georgia. I forgot about those mountains!

tis true. our summer nights average between 40 and 60. sometimes dipping into the thirties! So low temps are not an issue. actually, after reading all this, it sounds like i should have been growing these things all along. figures....
-kitty...high on the blue ridge....