Question
My cymbidium has been in the same pot for 4 years and has not been split during that time.  The other day a strong wind came up and blew over and broke the pot.  Before replanting I was wondering if I should split the cymbidium. The plant still has many spikes that are in full bloom (although they have been in bloom for well over a month now). When is the best time to split?  Is it okay while the plant is in bloom.  

This plant came from a neighbor's plant. When he split his he gave me half.  I don't know that much about splitting it and I don't want to damage it as I've had it for about 6 years and it blooms every year beautifully.

Would you please advise me as to the proper procedures for splitting this beautiful plant.

Thank you very much.
Lynn

Answer
Hello Lynn,

Sorry to hear about the accident to your cymbidium.  

To begin, the best time to repot and split any orchid is soon after the flowers have died off.  Since your cym. has been in bloom for about a month, it probably has another month or so left before they fall off naturally.  But since the pot broke, you can try splitting and repotting it now.  The only problem with doing it now is the potential to damage the blooms or even breaking off a few of the spikes.  My suggestion would be to put it into another pot for now and wait until all of the blooms are gone.  In the mean time, gather what materials you will need to split and repot it.  

When splitting the cymbidium, try to have a minimum of 4 or more green-leaved bulbs per division, this will help it to recover quicker and increase the probability it will produce blooms again next year.  It is okay to have some leafless bulbs included in a division, but the main thing is to have a minimum of 4 bulbs with leaves.  

When deciding where to split it, look and feel for areas between bulbs that do not appear to be attached to each other.  Cymbidium bulbs have a rhizome between them where a new growth bulb grew from an older one.  There may be three or more natural break points around where the bulbs are not connected.  To split them apart you can either cut the bulbs apart or just break them apart by hand by pulling them apart.  

Before potting them, remove any soft mushy dead roots as they are no longer useful to the cym.  

Hope this helped.  If you have other questions or would like clarification of what I suggested, write back.  

Jim Kawasaki
San Jose, Ca.