What kind of growing environment is suitable for Cymbidium orchids?

Large-floweredCymbidiumThe native parent species of these orchids are mostly distributed in the Indian Ocean monsoon region from the eastern Himalayas and the southern Hengduan Mountains to Indochina. The altitude is 1000-3000 m. The biggest feature of this region is that it has a dry season and a wet season, that is, winter is dry and cold but frost-free, while summer is warm and humid but not hot. Therefore, whencultivatinglarge-floweredCymbidium, frost must be prevented in winter. Generally, a nighttime temperature of 5-10 degrees is suitable; it can also tolerate temperatures below 5 degrees, but must not be frozen. If the nighttime temperature is higher than 12°C, it will accelerate vegetative growth and inhibit flowering. Because they mostly bloom in the dry season, that is, from December to April of the following year, special attention must be paid at this time to controlling the nighttime temperature and keeping it below 12°C so as not to affect flowering. In summer, the upper temperature limit is generally 27°C, with a few varieties at 30 degrees; above this limit they stop growing. Nights need to be cool, maintaining a difference between day and night temperatures to favor growth. In their natural habitat, the native parent species of large-floweredCymbidiumare usually found on tall trees, large branches or crotches, and a few are also found on rock walls, coexisting with epiphytic mosses and ferns, while their roots are often more or less exposed to the air. The main features of this habitat are ventilation, coolness, plenty of scattered sunlight and rapid drainage. In summer, because it often rains, the mosses and ferns coexisting with them can be seen, and the humus is relatively moist, while in winter it is quite dry. Therefore, whencultivatingthem, attention should be paid to spraying more water in summer to keep them moist, and they need fairly abundant scattered sunlight; in winter, because the temperature drops and sunlight weakens, they need more light, but their water requirement decreases markedly. In the wild it can often be seen that plants growing in places with very abundant sunlight have branches full of flowers, while their leaves are not very attractive. This shows that sunlight favors flowering, but too strong sunlight damages the leaves. Of course, different varieties of large-flowered Cymbidium do not all have identicalcultivationconditions; they need to be determined according to the specific situation. (Chen Xinqi, Ji Zhanhe)