Basic Cymbidium orchid care: they're relatively easy!

This week plant lovers it's a Cymbidium orchid 101 as one of mine is in bloom and it seems like a good time to look at one of the oldest orchid types in cultivation! The most common Cymbidium types are the cold - cool growers; hybrids with amazing flower size, colour and sometimes fragrance. There are others out there...cymbidiums for hot/tropical areas, species, autumn flowerers etc..but we'll just look at the basic hybrid type found in cultivation and in just about every florist in the world as a cut flower! The hybrid I feature in this video is Cymbidium Pure Sarah 'Snowball'.
0:00 introduction
0:27 the Cymbidium as a 'gateway' orchid!
1:12 Cymbidium hybrids
1:43 epiphyte/terrestrial habit
1:59 best potting medium type
2:37 best growing conditions
2:48 cold-cool growers
3:11 watering requirements
3:28 coolness required for flowering
4:18 new growth cycle
4:43 fertilising requirements
5:39 growth habit
6:15 seedling to first flowering time
6:46 where the flower spikes emerge from
7:54 Cymbidium Pure Sarah 'Snowball' details
10:04 pot type and re-potting

[debmidas]

Thank you, Mathew. I got my first Cymbidium seedling hiding amongst all the Phalaenopsis at my local nursery. What started as a tiny Phalaenopsis orchid plant I received on Mother's Day last year has turned into a love of orchids and now I have 7 inside my home. What a treat when I saw this little seedling. Anyway, glad to learn all about my Cymbidium (Latoya) and happy I can keep it outside.Thanks again for the 101 info.

[troyyoung]

Awesome. Have had orchids for years and now after watching this I know why they haven’t been flowering as much as I’d like.

[pathammond]

So glad I found your channel! I purchased my first cymbidium about a month ago and was looking for some information on how to care for it. You provided lots of good information- I’m excited to watch it grow and eventually bloom! Thank you!

[barbararussell]

Thank you.. this is so helpful. You are a very good teacher.

[Kdot]

thank you! Good content on how to grow cymbidiums :)

[Altheodi]

Thanks to your videos i did not repot my cymbidium! Orchids seem to have slightly different rules and i find my plant intuition is "off" with them. Thanks for putting me on the right path!

[howtogirl]

I stumbled across your channel randomly and I’ve been absolutely loving your content. I’m in SA so the info you give is the most relevant to my conditions I’ve found anywhere (though you’re a bit colder haha). I absolutely love your presentation style too. You’re an engaging and welcoming teacher. Please keep up the great work - it’s very much appreciated! I’d love to see a video about caring for young orchids/orchid seedlings as I’m finding this is how most are available in my area.

[PeterGeorg-ezft]

Ich habe gerade eine ältere Pflanze mit 7 Blüten Stengel ! Von Mai bis Oktober im Freien !Herrliche Blume !😊

[anastasiaa]

Thank you so much! That was the best cymbidium care video ever!!! Very detailed and understandable! You have helped me a lot!!! I've been growing phalaenopsis for years but I bought my first and only cymbidium in November. There is a flowering spike growing! I can't wait! I don't know what the color is, I hope it's not white either!! Anastasia from Athens, Greece

[kazwilsy]

Hi Matthew...just started watching you...Im in Cranbourne so a local but we can get a bit of frost out here. I divided a HUGE cym last Spring that Ive had for years in a 50cm pot just growing in yard with flowers once I started feeding it. 😅
I was lucky to have some flowers again this year but things have gone down hill with scale and rot. So its now treating and cleaning time! Great info and all the answers I need thanks! I also have an old happy Dendrobium and a new Sarcochilus from an orchid show...so kinda hooked haha 😂

[andreianifourcault]

Beautiful plant and the flowers are so fairy looking. Mine are huge with huge pseudobulbs.

[ultimate_o]

I enjoyed your video. Thank you for sharing info and your beutifull cym....er snowball? Love your energetic and relax presentation.

[lisascenic]

Cymbidium orchids grow incredibly well — outside — in the San Francisco Bay Area. It’s not uncommon to have plants grow so huge that dividing the plants requires a saw!

It’s late winter at the moment, and my cymbidiums are just starting to flower. So far, the slugs have only gotten to one plant’s buds. Fingers crossed that they don’t do any further damage.

[HeleneWheatfield]

I'm currently in Sydney; very informative discussion, which will hopefully turn around my cymbidium growing luck which hasn't been great, to date. I've let them dry out too often, plus they've not had enough dappled light. Also, I'd given up & not fed them last growing season. 'Now inspired to do better! 😊

[mexy]

I just bought my first seedling cymbidium! The grower I bought from said the same. I have a tiny grow space and their under grow light to supplement because my window doesn’t adequately provide. I’m hoping she will do well, I’m glad she does well in cooler temps being that we have 4 seasons in NC.

[PapayaSociety]

Thank you for posting this! I have been hoping that you would post a cymbidium video!

[kevins]

Hi Mathew, I really enjoy your energetic teaching and sharing of your amateur orchid knowledge... the Aussi accent, well-spoken English, and humor are very entertaining. I have about 5 orchids that are from a 'seed population'. One of those, a violacea var. correulea, has a spike growing now. Even if the flower doesn't have good color saturation, after a year, it will be difficult to part with it! I'd likely consider trading it for another mature plant. Cheers.

[cymbidiumm]

Lovely video. Idk, I think I stumbled upon your video and now the wish to get a Cymbidium (it was in me, but dormant) woke up haha. I just didn't have the space for them, now I kinda do even for the full sized-ones. I once had one (lots of years ago, I was a kid), beautiful pendant shorter-type cymbidium, with yellow-orange-ish flowers. Gosh I love pendant inflorescences and Cymbidiums ain't no exception. I shall go and hide my wallet cause you know us plant lovers...

[cherylpenn]

Its gorgeous!!! Keep her, keep her!!!

[collingwood]

Thanks for your cym. Chat. We live in the Pacific Northwest and keep our cyms outside too - until quite cold or first frost. Spikes develop in our autumn and grow and flower in late winter in the greenhouse. A few years ago our cyms were infested with cymbidium virus and had to be destroyed. Sad. Keep up the good work.