Cambria orchid: species, reproduction and care

The Cambria Orchid is a showy blooming hybrid that is becoming more and more popular. It does not require much attention to planting and care, but to keep the plant healthy, it is still necessary to take into account some features of watering, lighting, and humidity levels.

The cambria orchid flower makes it special in the fact that there is no need to carry out complicated events for it to show its color. It is grown in large quantities in England because it is considered a wonderful home decoration. Inflorescences begin to form at the base, the maximum number of them is four. As for the palette of colors, this orchid is presented on the market in a wide variety. There are purple and white varieties, dark and light, reds and even orange.

In fact, the term "cambria" means a whole group of orchids, namely hybrids with surprisingly bright colors, sometimes even spotted. All of them are easy to care for, but you need to keep them away from drafts and direct sunlight. This is a great option if the grower is just getting acquainted with the vast world of orchids.

This variety comes mainly from the highlands of the Andes and Central America. Such flowers reach a maximum height of 50 centimeters. The flowers are graceful and delicate, delighting with their beauty for several weeks or even months, depending on the variety. Many have a sophisticated scent, although not strong enough to fill a room.

Sometimes the inflorescences need extra support due to the weight of the flowers. Small supports are used by breeders most often. Already faded flowers are cut off, as over time they begin to rot, spoiling the attractiveness of the orchid. These flowers are not considered poisonous to pets or humans.

There are several varieties of the cambrian orchid.

• "Mix". A plant of unnatural origin, that is, a hybrid, the name of which is used commercially to define another subgroup.

• "Beallara Margarita Holm". A hybrid that stands out for the presence of a large number of flowers and the tall stems on which they are located. Growers are attracted by a rich dark red hue, which is perfectly complemented by white lines, specks and even strokes. Another advantage is the formation of flowers all year round. The plant has a light floral aroma during the flowering period.

• Catatante Pacific Sun Sports. This is a flower crossed from several species, which has oval-shaped pseudobulbs. The foliage is narrow, has a pointed shape at the ends. It is impossible not to recognize this variety by its amazing color, which can be not only rich red, but also orange, purple with white blotches and lines.

• Colmanara Tropic Jungle. This is the result of the selection of several varieties of orchids, in which the leaves have a fairly long and narrow shape. On them, you can see the parallel veins. Flowering is repeated twice a year, ten separate flowers are formed on each peduncle.The color palette, which includes both red and white, brown and yellow shades, cannot but please. On the flowers, the lip outgrowth is strongly distinguished, which is painted in white and red.

• Odontoglossum Stirbik. This species loves cool conditions, so it can develop well in apartment conditions. New flowers appear regularly due to the constant formation of bulbs. The foliage has a lanceolate shape, with age it becomes more and more on the stem. The maximum of flowers on a peduncle is 7, all are very similar to stars, they have colorful stripes and spots that can be burgundy or red, yellow and even white. The aroma comes from the flower is light, it intensifies in the morning.

• Black Cat. It attracts attention with a large dark flower, which has a small yellow border on the petals.

• Burrageara Nelly Isler. This is a flower with amazingly beautiful inflorescences, the shade of which is not easy to describe. The upper five petals are bright pink-red, the lower two are white with spots of the same color. In the middle there is a yellow throat.

There is no need to rush to transplant a flower, because in the first two years this can only do harm. Experts advise, after the purchase, at least wait until next spring. Any modern amateur florist can easily grow a beautiful orchid on his window, although a few years ago this process caused certain difficulties. In order for such a beauty to please others for a long period of time, it is necessary to provide her with thorough care, and at the same time know how to transplant an orchid and then take care of it. Over the years, you have to change the container in which the flower grows, and not only because the substrate where the flower grows becomes unusable, it is just that the roots begin to crawl out of the pot.

It is advisable to replant the described flower every few years. If the orchid was purchased recently, transplantation is possible only after it has faded for the first time or in a year, if counting from the moment of purchase, as mentioned above. The best time for this is early spring, when new shoots appear, the root system is formed. It is important to understand how to transplant an orchid during the described period, so that it can quickly get used to the content in new conditions, and the roots are fixed in the new soil.

It is necessary to transplant in the following sequence.

• It is necessary to remove the plant from the previous container and temporarily move it to another. They clean the root system from the old soil. It is best to water them from the shower. It also happens that the root system is strongly intertwined with each other, then you can carefully separate it with your fingers. If there are roots that have grown into parts of the bark, you should not injure them and try to free them, it is better to leave them as they are.
• After that, the rhizome is carefully examined, dried and bad ones are removed. As a rule, they have a chocolate hue. Pruning is done with clean scissors. Next, the roots are rinsed under the shower with a slight pressure. Be sure to process the cut points. Fungicides are most often used, but you can do it easier - take and crush activated carbon, with which to sprinkle the slices.
• Allow the rhizome to dry so that the wounds formed after the cut can quickly heal. Ideally, it is always best to remove the orchid from the old pot at night and leave to dry until morning.
• Prepare new soil for planting. If there is no time, then you can always buy it in the store, where it is supplied ready-made, or cook it yourself using crushed pine bark. It is advisable to boil it and rinse thoroughly under a stream of hot water to protect the plant from parasites that may be inside.
• Take a pot of the required size. The distance from the roots to the walls should be 2 centimeters.Do not put the plant too deep in the container, this will damage the roots in the future, as well as the foliage of the orchid when it comes into contact with wet soil. The design of the container for planting will need to provide for proper drainage. It should consist of several large stones, but expanded clay cannot be used, it greases the soil. Lay the roots and sprinkle with the substrate, but do not compact it. Looseness must be maintained, otherwise the plant will suffocate.
• When watering for the first time, it is worth considering how much the orchid has been dried before. If it was left overnight, then it is allowed to add moisture already at the transplant stage. When the drying process took only a few hours, it is best to water it after two days.

Care for the cambria orchid is quite simple. It is much easier to grow indoors than most other species. The plant requires moderately bright light with little sun in the morning. The potting mixture should contain pine bark with a small amount of sphagnum moss.

The most common reasons why orchids do not bloom indoors are dry air and poor watering. However, you can easily turn your home into a tropical garden if you create the right environment. To care for this flower you may need:

• a hygrostat to check the humidity level;
• a tray to ensure high humidity, especially if the plant is installed on a window;
• fan to increase air circulation;
• a spray bottle to protect the leaves from drying out;
• a thermometer to monitor the room temperature level;
• fungicides, activated carbon and bactericides to protect against unwanted bacteria and insects;
• fluorescent lamp to maintain high-quality lighting.

Orchids are generally classified into three types: cool, intermediate, or warm. The described variety belongs to the first option, so the ideal temperature for its keeping ranges from 10 ° C to 30 ° C. Obviously, with such a wide temperature range, you should try to stay in the middle if possible. If you do not follow the regime, the orchid will become sick and may even die. Experts advise keeping the temperature 10-12 degrees at night and in winter, and 20 to 24 degrees during the day in summer. This variety can tolerate a slight drop in temperature in winter to +7 degrees and a maximum increase to +25 in summer.

All orchids love a lot of light, but do not like to stay in direct rays, since in their natural environment they are covered with wide crowns of trees. Such conditions should be maintained in home cultivation. Even if the flower is on the windowsill, then the window should be covered with a thin curtain.

In its natural environment, the orchid grows in high humidity conditions. If you grow it at home, the conditions should not change, so it is desirable that the humidity remains between 60 and 70%. In the planting environment, that is, a greenhouse or greenhouse, there must be many openings for air circulation. Before adding a new portion of moisture, the soil must be dry. With every third or fourth watering, it is required to apply fertilizer with liquid.

Problems with cambrian orchids most often begin with insufficient or too frequent moisture. The plant will do much better if you use a container with enough holes in the bottom and good drainage.In a solid container, there are no necessary conditions for air ventilation, so the root system rots.

The watering process is also a whole science. To do this, you need to take a large container in which you can freely put a flower pot. Now watering is carried out with settled, rain or well water, which must be warm. If possible, you can take melt water.

If moisture gets on the root neck during watering, it should be wiped off with a napkin. If this is not done, then it is likely that this will provoke rotting. For convenient watering, a special watering can with a narrow and long spout is perfect. The water should not reach a couple of centimeters to the edge of the pot. The pot is left in this state for 15 minutes. This will be enough for the soil to be well saturated with liquid, and the excess will come out.

After the water has drained, the pot can be moved to the planter. When the orchid has no flowers, that is, it is at rest, it can be left with water for a longer time. Some growers even pamper her with a warm shower in a bath with a water temperature of 40 degrees.

On the market you can find a planter specially made for this flower. It differs in the presence of a special notch that allows the remaining liquid to drain, but at the same time not affect the orchid root system.

Given the peculiarities of watering, it is easy to guess that over time, all nutrients are washed out of the soil, which is why it is so important to apply top dressing in a timely manner. As a rule, these are complex fertilizers, which are more actively used during the period of active growth, but reduce the rate at the time of hibernation and flowering. The solution should not be concentrated. You can use charcoal, or rather, an infusion of it. In general, the grower should not have any problems with feeding. Mineral and organic formulations are ideal for this. Before and after transplanting, it is impossible to add nutrients, since they give an additional load, but this must be done during the growing season. If you do not want to shorten the flowering time, then during this period it is better to refrain from feeding.

In autumn and spring, it is enough to apply fertilizer with watering no more than once a week, preferably in two. In winter and summer, they feed them even less often - once a month. In this case, the acidity index should be at a level of 5-7 pH. It must contain components that prevent salt deposition. Quality for orchids are those that contain amino acids and vitamins, since such feeding helps to improve the immune system of the plant. It is indicated on specially created complexes that they are used specifically for orchids, they contain potassium, nitrogen, phosphorus.

For some reason, most budding growers have an incomprehensible fear of pruning an orchid. Unlike many other plants, these need to be formed at certain stages in their life so that they can bloom to the maximum. If you neglect this procedure, the plant will not die, but it will bloom worse.

When pruning orchids, the focus is on plant hygiene. Cumbria and other varieties are quite susceptible to viruses, which can easily spread from plant to plant even with the use of a single tool. This is why it is so important to sterilize the pruning shears or scissors before pruning each individual plant. The easiest way to do this is by processing in a solution of alcohol or some kind of household bleach.

There are several reasons why pruning is beneficial to your orchid. Thanks to her, it is possible to keep the plant in good shape. Over time, it may become too large or become unattractive. Under these conditions, you can cut the plant at will, and if you are not zealous, then removing the shoots will not have any negative effect. When pruning an orchid, care should be taken not to remove the flower stalks.

Pruning is often used to remove the source of the disease. Any dead or dying plant parts can become a source of infection from various pests and diseases. Therefore, it is important to prune them, as well as remove any shoots that have already died out and turned into debris. As for the stimulation of flowering, it all depends on the type of flower. Some groups of orchids will only show color once a year anyway, while others will show color many times. Orchid pruning should be done during flowering, when old flower stalks turn from green and hard to brown or yellow.

All tools used for pruning must be clean, otherwise infection can occur. Thoroughly rinse the blades with hot water and soap, you can treat them with an alcohol composition or boil them. After that, all the places of the cuts are sprinkled with crushed activated carbon powder or wiped with infusion.

Sometimes pruning is required for further flower propagation or increased flowering. In healthy green shoots, find a knot under the lowest color, cut a couple of centimeters below it. Unhealthy brown stalks are cut completely to the base.

Some budding growers don't know if an orchid can bloom again. Specifically about Cumbria, I would like to say that its life cycle is provided by pseudobulbs. Before blooming, the bulb freezes, pours and increases in size. After a short period of time, peduncles begin to grow, and only later, flowers. When the described process ends, the bulb dries up, a new formation begins at its base, thus the life cycle repeats. The process can also be provoked artificially, for this the plant is placed in a room with a night temperature of 13 to 15 degrees. There it must stand for at least 10 days and no more than 14.

Stimulation can harm young flowers, as they have not yet gained enough strength. It is best to use this method when the orchid is about two years old. At the time of stimulation, it is advised to reduce the number of waterings so that the pseudobulbs can mature. It is resumed for a while and then stopped again.

Orchids that have pseudobulbs can be grown with them, but you need to choose the right moment, because as soon as it prepares to be replaced by a new one in the "chain", it quickly loses its ability to grow. This is similar to some garden plant seeds, which also lose their ability to germinate if left in the bag for a long time. If you want to propagate this species, you need to cut off the newly formed bulb as soon as it ripens.

In fact, propagating this flower is not difficult, you just need to have some knowledge of how to do it correctly. Sympodial flowers differ in that they form at the base of a pseudo-bulb with two or more buds. They are separated very carefully, without damaging the root system, which is already not too strong in the orchid.

After that, the sections must be treated with activated charcoal to protect the plant from infection in the wounds. Orchids can be slightly dried, then planted in a special soil, which largely consists of coniferous bark substrate. As a rule, it is a pine tree. The bushes are watered no earlier than a week after planting, and top dressing is applied only after a month.

It is worth starting the reproduction of orchids with the purchase of a mature and healthy plant, which can then give a good offspring.In this case, experts advise buying it from experienced growers. Be sure to carefully examine the plant for signs of disease or insect infestation.

Among the main signs that the flower is sick, one can distinguish:

• black spots or crust;
• white bloom;
• curled or yellow leaves;
• flower petals with holes.

Follow-up care includes disease prevention. Sometimes the grower has to suddenly be faced with the fact that the leaves have acquired brown streaks, dots or spots. Most often this is a sign that the foliage is old and dying off, but sometimes this symptom can be an indicator of a red spider mite infection.

Distorted, uneven growth of new leaves is quite common in some orchid species and is often considered a genetic error that does not harm the plant. Experts say that this is caused by improper watering. If you first overmoisten the soil, and then leave it dry for a long time, you can achieve a similar result.

Black and watery spots on the pseudobulb may indicate that the plant is kept in too cool and humid conditions. If the plant loses leaves, then it is time for the grower to think about whether he is caring correctly. This applies not only to humidity, but also to compliance with the temperature regime, lighting, and top dressing.

Even a process as beneficial for an orchid as fertilization can be harmful, especially if a person does not respect the proportions. The composition gets on the foliage, thereby burning it. The amount of fertilizing in the water should be three times less than the standard, since it is applied along with moisture once a week.

The same goes for the lack of flowering. Only if you prune in time, control the temperature and light, you can achieve an increase in the number of peduncles on the plant. If the plant does not bloom at least once a year, then this is already a sign of a problem. Cambria loves coolness and a lot of light, in accordance with these parameters, the environment needs to be regulated.

Red spots on the leaves, white or light yellow leaves indicate that the plant is receiving too much light.

Shrinking pseudobulbs requires checking the roots. If they are brown or chestnut, then the likely cause is waterlogging, which damaged them, so the plant cannot take water. To reanimate the roots, you should not water the flower for a while, but you need to spray it regularly with Orchid Mist to reduce moisture loss. Watering can be resumed only when new roots appear. If they are dry, then shrinkage is the result of heavy watering.

But in addition to problems with the growth and appearance of flowers, the grower often needs to cope with rot, insects. They are very fond of the orchid aphids and scale insects, which are considered quite common even at home. To prevent mass infestation, the plant must be inspected regularly, especially the lower foliage and pseudobulb. Long-term damage from any of these pests can lead to disease and viruses, leading to the eventual death of the orchid.

For information on how to properly grow a cambria orchid, see the next video.