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Cool Orchids With Unusual Looks

If you have a greenhouse in which you can give cymbidiums cool nights and bright light, you should surely try a plant or two, for they are very handsome orchids. The plants have rounded pseudobulbs about the size of a fist, which bear eight to twelve long, slender leaves. The roots are fleshy and stay within the compost. They are variously called semi-terrestrial and semi-epiphytic. The flower spike arises from the base of the pseudobulb, within the axil of one of the lower leaves, and grows two to three feet tall (sometimes more). It appears in the fall, and the flowers open from December through April, depending on the habit of the particular plant.

The flowers are waxy, three to five inches in diameter, in colors ranging from white through shades of yellow, green, brown, pink, and various subtle combinations of these. They keep for several weeks on the plant, and almost as long when cut. Unlike cattleyas, the flowers will open after the spike has been cut. If a spike is cut when the lower blooms arc open and put in water, it can be enjoyed for a long time while the other buds open in turn.

Cymbidiums can be grown in bark, osmunda fiber and other orchid growing media to which sometimes is added some well-rotted cow manure, or in a fibrous compost that allows free aeration. They must be kept well watered at all times, and they benefit from frequent syringing of the foliage in warm, bright weather. The syringing helps to keep under control their chief enemy, red spider. They are known as "heavy feeders" and should have a weekly application of chemical fertilizer during their growing season.

Shading has to be adjusted to the season and local conditions. During the summer, although they demand good light, the hot summer days allow the heat to build up too much in the greenhouse. Shading must be applied to the glass, but not so heavily as to deprive them of good light. It must be combined with free ventilation and a fan to keep the air circulating. The ventilators can be left open day and night. Some growers move the plants out of the greenhouse for the summer, either into a lath house or under tall trees. Although cymbidiums can take an occasional frost without apparent damage, it is wise to move them back into the greenhouse before frost is expected.

As cooler days come on, increase the amount of light gradually like in path lighting. As winter arrives, and flowering begins, shading will have to be adjusted to the locality. In cold climates, where the sun does not build up the heat in the greenhouse so much, less shading is necessary. In warmer climates, as on the West Coast, the flowers will have to be protected from the warm sun. Areas with more or less dull winters will allow cymbidiums to have clear glass.

New growth starts in late winter or early spring in some kinds, or in late summer in others. Growths that start early should produce spikes that autumn, but those that start in the summer will not flower until the following year. In the latter types you will see vegetative growths coming shortly before spikes start from the same pseudo-bulbs.

Cymbidium hybrids are superior to the species and are more easily obtained.