Growing Cymbidiums (Poll)

[orchidEMS]

I have two mini cymbidiums ('Sweetheart Sensation' and dayanum album 'Lady Elizabeth') that I rebloomed successfully. Here in Western Montana they grow outside on my east facing porch (morning sun) from late spring to fall, basically from last spring frost to first hard fall frost when daily highs stay consistently below 40 degrees. In the winter I grow them inside in front of a south facing window, up high where they are cooler and away from any of my heat sources. I grow them semi-hydroponically so they are never out of water, cyms do not like to dry out but they enjoy aeration. I've just switched all of my orchids over to MSU K-Lite fertilizer, so the hope is they'll only improve as I learned I was essentially starving my orchids previously... oops!.

Hope this helps!

[cymonym]

Knowing how much water a cym will NEED is a priority, too much, too wet-too long is likely to cause root rot. If a grower continually waters then it is better that the cym has a mixture, with the bark and coco-chips, of non-absorbent material such as clay balls, pumice, perlite or (wince) Styrofoam beads which will allow for an open media providing drainage and healthy roots.
I had a friend that grew all of his orchids in Styrofoam only and watered from a tank that had his measured fertilizer regime and watered regularly throughout the Spring through to the early Autumn and they grew beautifully, big and bold flowers, but he had a lot of slimy moss on the floor of his orchid house if he failed to hose out over long periods.