Cymbidium madidum

Also known as: The Moist Forest Cymbidium or The Giant Boat-Lip Orchid in the subfamily: Epidendroideae

General Information

The Moist Forest Cymbidium is a cool to warm growing epiphytic orchid belonging to the sub family Epidendroideae.

Plant Description

Grows to 61-94cm. Each new growth has numerous erect arching, elliptic leaves that grow to 2.3-78.7cm long. Pseudobulbs grow to 1.5-16cm

Flowers

Numerous blossoms appear during Summer

Blooming Season

• Summer

Substrate(s)

• Coarse
• Medium
• Bark
• Charcoal
• Treefern
• Perlite

Care Notes

These orchids like to be kept on the dry side, but may need to be watered daily during warm weather, and prefer a well draining mix or also do well mounted, provided they can be watered regularly.

These are quite a forgiving orchid, there are no special requirements to get this orchid to flower, just good care and consistent conditions. Larger plants may be more fussy and can react poorly to change; a poorly timed repotting, a pest infection or an unusually hot day can set them back for a couple of years. However, even plants that have been treated poorly can thrive, and if they are set back they often recover much stronger then they would otherwise be.

Climate

Grows at low to high elevations. Rainfall ranges from 13mm to 284mm per day, heaviest in August and lightest in February. Humidity ranges from 61% to 72%, highest in July and lowest in January. Temperature ranges from 11C to 27C, highest in June (21C to 27C) and lowest in January (11C to 20C).

Fertiliser

These plants thrive on fertiliser, especially during periods of growth. Liquid fertiliser can be applied year round at the recommended strength, augmented with manure pellets or other quickly degradable fertiliser, applied away from the base of the plant, during periods of strong growth. Slow release pellets can also be applied year round at the rate of 2-3 pellets per cup (250ml) of media.

They can benefit from a high phosphate fertiliser leading up to flowering season, and by a high nitrogen fertiliser when new growth appears. 

Be sure to flush out excess fertiliser by running water through the media regularly year round. Use a high Nitrogen fertiliser year round. Use a low Nitrogen fertiliser during Winter. Use a high Phosphorous fertiliser year round.

Potting

These plants are quite forgiving and will do well repotted ever 2-3 years. The mix should be coarse, well draining, and allow space for air to move and for roots to grow. 

Alternatively, these plants will also do well mounted to tree fern or cork slabs, or mounted to trees.

Best time for repotting or mounting the orchids is the end of winter when new growths start to appear. Avoid repotting during hot weather,

Repotting is best done annually and in a pot the same size or only slightly larger than the previous one.