Cymbidium orchids stay evergreen year-round - what should you do if the roots rot?

Cymbidium orchids are plants that can stay evergreen all year round and are very well suited to being grown indoors. Cymbidium orchids are orchids with axial growth, so when choosing a pot you need to choose a tall cylindrical pot, the growing environment must have good ventilation, and charcoal or similar should be added at the bottom of the pot to help with drainage. The main purpose of doing this is to prevent the roots of the Cymbidium orchid from rotting, because when drainage is poor or ventilation is inadequate, the roots of the Cymbidium orchid will rot, and if half of a Cymbidium orchid's roots have rotted, then the Cymbidium orchid can basically be judged as done for. Below is a summary of what we should do if we run into root rot in a Cymbidium orchid.

What to do when a Cymbidium orchid's roots rot

1. Cut away the rotten parts

Tip the Cymbidium orchid out and leave it in a cool, dry, well-ventilated place for one or two days, cut away all the blackened rotten roots, and remove the growing medium that was touching the rotten roots so no hidden problems remain. Be sure to water sparingly, and when watering with nutrient water and rooting water, also water sparingly! This is to avoid root rot happening again.

2. Strictly disinfect the orchid plant and the growing medium

Soak the orchid plant in 1‰ potassium permanganate solution for 2 hours, rinse it clean with fresh water, and sun it in the sunlight for 2 hours. The new growing medium I used was: 50% catalpa bark, 20% crushed brick pieces, 20% honeycomb coal cinders, 10% rotted pine needles. The first 3 items were washed clean with fresh water, then soaked in boiling water for disinfection. The pine needles were spread out in the sunlight to bake, and sprayed with 2% Topsin medicinal solution for disinfection.

3. Switch to growing it in a clay pot

A Cymbidium orchid with rotten roots needs a certain amount of humidity, but must not be too wet. This requires good air permeability. I chose two clay pots, and to increase the amount of air circulation, I also enlarged the drainage holes in the bottom of the pots, and propped a few long wooden strips under the bottom of the pots to increase air permeability. Plant the disinfected Cymbidium orchid in the pot, laying a layer of bark 2-3 cm in diameter and crushed brick pieces the size of walnuts at the very bottom, filling the middle with a medium-sized growing medium mixture, and laying the smallest material on top.

4. Routine care

After watering the Cymbidium orchid thoroughly to settle the roots, keep it in weak light for more than 10 days, misting twice a day, and after half a month place it on a south-facing windowsill. After about 1 month the plant grew new roots, and after 3 months purple-red new shoots grew on the pseudobulbs. Do not fertilize before the plant grows new roots; after it grows new roots and new shoots, only apply dilute fertilizer, watering it on with 1-2‰ compound fertilizer added to the water from keeping goldfish.

In summer, when temperatures are high, I placed a shallow plastic basin under the Cymbidium orchid with water in it to increase humidity, misted around the flower pot morning, noon and evening every day, and opened the windows for ventilation at the same time, so that it got through the summer smoothly. Spraying carbendazim or Topsin once every half a month meant that basically no pests or diseases occurred.

In November, two plump flower buds grew on the pseudobulb of the new seedling closest to the windowsill. At this point I increased the phosphorus fertilizer once every 10 days, sprayed the leaves with 2‰ monopotassium phosphate, and removed all the newly grown leaf buds so that the nutrients were concentrated on supplying the growth of the flower buds.