New growths and a possible spike on Cymbidium Kusuda Shining x Douglas Dillon

Growth or spike?

     My Cymbidium Kusuda Shining x Douglas Dillon has produced a number of new growth starts, one of which is much rounder than all the others.  Could it be a spike?

This one is definitely a growth start

Slightly larger, but also a new growth

   The last two pictures show what I'm fairly certain are starts of new pseudobulbs.  So what about the top picture: growth or spike?

Cymbidium Kusuda Shining x Douglas Dillon: New pseudobulbs grow, old growths wither

Cymbidium Kusuda Shining x Douglas Dillon

     In early August, I posted about new growths appearing on my cymbidium.  These new pseudobulbs are now 6 inches tall, and growing fast. 

     The cymbidium has 4 "ages" of pseudobulbs currently.  There are the leafless backbulbs, the pseudobulbs that were mature when I purchased the orchid last year, the 2 newly matured growths, and the 2 newest growths from August.  

New cymbidium growth

     While all the newer growths have been adding leaves and getting bigger, the backbulbs have withered into nothing, and the bulbs that were mature last winter have been slowly but continually shedding leaves.  Since the new growths have been vigorous, and the roots seem healthy (if not showing much new growth), I am for now concluding that this must be the normal growth habit for this orchid.

Cymbidiums are big

Cymbidium Kusuda Shining x Douglas Dillon

     It seems like a statement of the obvious, but it's hard to appreciate the size of cymbidiums until you've had one nearly double in size on you.  Last February when I first bought this orchid, I marveled at its miniature size.  I now know that I made the mistake of confusing 'blooming size' for 'mature size'.  While the plant I received was supposedly large enough to bloom, it was no where near done growing.

From the February 29 blog entry: Cym Kusuda Shining x Douglas Dillon

     The two new growths that were just starting to open last winter have now matured, and overshadow the original pseudobulbs.  The cymbidium is 2 feet tall from floor to tip of the tallest leaf.  The longest leaves are now 18" long, and they're also thicker than the leaves from the older bulbs.  At this rate, I expect to orchid to grow even bigger over time.

New growth bud on cymbidium

     The oldest backbulb rapidly shriveled up and dried out last month.  Meanwhile, the two newly matured pseudobulbs have produced new growth buds of their own.  I've counted two so far (one on each pseudobulb) but it's possible that more will appear over time.  While it is possible that one of both of these are actually flower spikes, it is far too soon to be possible to distinguish buds from growth, and leaf growth is much more likely.

     

Completed repotting cymbidium Kusuda Shining x Douglas Dillon

Cymbidium in new pot: old pot on left

     It's about a week since I originally tried repotting my cymbidium, and found that I didn't have proper pot for the roots.  Now finally, both the new pot (see picture) and the new media (classic cymbidium mix from repotme.com) have arrived.  

     The mix is different than what I've ever used before.  Instead of primarily bark chips, it seems to be mainly coconut husk.  It seems like a mix that would retain more moisture than plain bark.  I'll see if I like it, and decide whether to use this, or plain bark when it's time to repot my other cymbidium hybrid.

     When transferring the plant from its interim oversize pot (on right) I was happy to see that all the roots were still in good condition, and very dry.  I soaked the plant, and potted it in the new tall pot, with the newest two growths pointing at the center.  

Repotting Cymbidium Kusuda Shining X Douglas Dillon

A look inside the cymbidium pot

     I decided to repot the last of my new orchids today.  The cymbidium had recovered from being shipped to my apartment without issue, and since it didn't look ready to bloom anytime soon, I thought it would be as good a time as any to repot.  In general I like to repot orchids soon after I receive them so that I can clearly know what the state of the roots and media is.

     the cymbidium was planted in a mix which was primarily sphagnum moss and perlite.  The root mass was large and healthy, but thankfully not terribly overgrown.  Remembering my mistakes with repotting my other cymbidium, I tried to be extra gentle on the roots while prying the old media out.  I held the roots under a running faucet for several minutes, which helped wash out much of the remaining debris, and helped soften and uncoil the roots.

A beautiful root mass

     In the end, I didn't have to trim many dead roots at all.  I ran into trouble when trying to find a new pot to repot the orchid in.  The old one seemed to small, but the only pots I had which were tall enough to contain the root mass, were also much to wide at the rim.  In the end I temporarily potted the cymbidium into an oversize 7 inch pot using dry coarse media.

oversize orchid pot with old pot for comparison

     Meanwhile I ordered a new pot which is 6 inches at the widest, and 8 inches tall.  Since cymbidium roots tend to grow long (much more so than other orchid roots) I expect a taller pot to fit the root shape better.  I was also dismayed at the cost of larger sized ceramic pots ($30+), so I picked out the one that was on sale, selecting by price and dimensions rather than aesthetics.  I also ordered some cymbidium potting media.  When the new purchases arrive, I will transfer the orchid to new pot and media.

New orchid: Cymbidium Kusuda Shining x cym Douglas Dillon

     A new orchid arrived in the mail for me today.  Or more accurately, it arrived in the mail for me last week, got sent back to the post office, and spent the weekend in a dark box before I realized that the 'attempted delivery' notice referred to my orchid order.  Still, the plant seems to be in perky condition, despite its extra long shipping journey.

     It's a small orchid, about half the size of my other cymbidium, despite being already blooming size.  I admit I was pleasantly surprised by how small it was; a larger plant would have been difficult to fit on my already crowded shelf.  Even as I plan to purchase some more plants when I attend the New York orchid show this weekend, I am falling into the habit of adding the orchids first, and thinking about space second.  Perhaps less favored plants will end up delegated to windowsill growing, or I may yet again reorganize that corner of the room to make more orchid shelving space.

     It has 4 established pseudobulbs, and 2 new growths.  The roots look like they are filling up the pot, but I will wait until late summer before repotting.

I did an internet search for the parent plants to guess what my new orchid's blooms may look like.  Both parent blooms are lovely, although I'm hoping for flowers that are more red than orange:

The sources of these two photographs are: http://orchids.wikia.com/wiki/Cymbidium_Kusuda_Shining 

and

 http://orchidsbyart.blogspot.com/2008/02/cymbidium-douglas-dillon-pink.html