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Zygo help wanted

Discussion in 'Orchid Culture' started by joelin, Dec 12, 2008.

  1. Dec 12, 2008 #1
    joelin

    joelin I hate bush snails

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    Hi guys. I need some help with understanding Zygos. I have some plants which grow and have bloomed in the past, but are not blooming now, probably because they were divided and are getting smaller rather than larger. So I have to admit I know nothing about their growing habit, blooming cycle, etc. I know one plant is mackayii. So can some one describe the growing year of a Zygo, and when I need to do what? I know now that new growths are coming on. does that mean they will bloom soon, or should they already have bloomed? Do they need a dry season? When do the roots do their growing. What do you guys like for media. etc.. etc..

    SVO did a talk on Catasetums and Cychnoches and was able to bring it all together for me resulting in some very good results last summer. Im hoping for the same with my zygos. Thanks.

    JL
     
  2. Dec 12, 2008 #2
    DukeBoxer

    DukeBoxer Active Member

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    Hey Joe, I potted one of mine, that same one that I gave you the name of, in Semi Hydro and it's going really good. It put on a fat bulb over the summer and is starting another new growth now which should bloom soon. They always bloom on new growths and you should start seeing the spike when the growth is about 3-4 inches tall. I give it bright light and probably water it a little less in the winter than in the summer. Here's a picture of the new growth with the spike coming out...

    ai199.photobucket.com_albums_aa69_joshlep1302_Zygospike.jpg

    If you want to know anything else just let me know, and if you want the plant...it's all yours
     
  3. Dec 12, 2008 #3
    Forrest

    Forrest Really Neat

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    I had a couple of Zygos. I grew them outside here. They did really well, grew well and bloomed reliably until I moved them under a tree and forgot to water them.

    When they did well, they were in hydroton and grown next to my Cyms.
     
  4. Dec 12, 2008 #4
    Marni

    Marni Well-Known Member Staff Member Supporting Member

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    Joe, I used to grow Z mackayi in a cool greenhouse with cymbidium hybrids. The did very well until I started having sodium in my water and then there was a lot of black spotting. I haven't been growing that species since I corrected the water. I was using a fine bark mix or a terrestrial mix the same as the cymbidiums. I didn't really dry them off and they bloomed well. If the leaves are a light green (not yellow and not dark green) the light would be about right.
     
  5. Dec 13, 2008 #5
    DukeBoxer

    DukeBoxer Active Member

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    Yeah Joe, I was thinking about it more last night and if you don't already have them there, you should move them over to the front greenhouse where it is a little cooler
     
  6. Dec 13, 2008 #6
    Ray

    Ray Orchid Iconoclast Supporting Member

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    Not too surprisingly, I grow mine in semi-hydroponic culture, so the roots are moist and airy at all times. Zygo's are one of the few plants I have to give special care to when repotting into s/h, as if the rhizomes are submerged in the medium at all, they rot. Left right at the surface, the are easy as pie.

    They are on the cool side of the GH (although I don't keep it particularly cool), are quite bright this time of year, fairly heavily shaded in the warm months.