Question
Cymbidium Backbulb pro
Hello, I am a new orchid freak. I love them. I was given a half dead cymbidium and thought of it as a fun project since I know nothing about them. While I was cleaning it up to repot and check out the roots I decided to cut off a backbulb and play mad scientist. I read somewhere that you can take a backbulb, put it a clear zip lock, wrap it in moist moss, pray for lots of humidity, if things go right bam! new root(s). I got lucky! Now what? I noticed a small eye (new growth) and kept it in the moss for the top half of the small pot but added fine mix to the bottom half of the container. Do I wait until an actual leaf pops up? I am afraid of under or overwatering it. Since the moss retains water about as much as water bottle retains water I am afraid of killing my mad science project. Should I just go ahead and get a super small plastic pot and just re-pot it now in fine mix or wait for leaf or ???? I could really use some expert advice on what to do.
Thanks for your time,
Stephen
AnswerStephen, I salute you for your efforts to date. I never argue with success, but the question is: Now what? You need to maintain the high humidity as the plant is in a fragile state. I think you should let it grow on as is for another month or so. The next step would be to pot it in a small pot containg seedling size fir bark mixed with a bit of your moss. Put the potted plant back into the bag with the moss. This way, you maintain the humidity while beginning to transition the seedling to pot culture. The next step, when the roots start growing outside of the pot is to repot it to a larger pot in regular orchid potting mix that is kept moist. I would not remove it from the plastic bag until the leaves are so large they need more growing room. The thing to guard against is keeping the base of the pseudobulb too wet as rot could start in and ruin your project. So, keep the loss just slightly damp but not wet.
