Cumbria is the common name for orchid hybrids specially bred by breeders not found in the wild. Plants bloom beautiful flowers of various shades, depending on the variety. Due to their attractive appearance, they are often used to decorate the interior of residential and office premises.
Description and features of cumbria
Cumbria has a second name - an asterisk, due to the shape of the flowers. Distinctive features of orchids:
- pseudobulbs of round or oblong shape, up to 8 cm;
- narrowed sheet plates;
- shoot type of growth;
- one of the lateral axes grows very quickly and becomes the main one, as a result of which the second one shifts or dies;
- on false bulbs, two or three dark green leaves with a vein in the center, reaching 0.5 m;
- flowers of different shades interspersed with a diameter of 50 mm-10 cm.
Types of Cumbria Orchids
Varieties of Cumbria orchid, popular:
| View | Crossed species | Flower / flowering period |
| Veilstekeara | Cochlioda, Miltonia, Odontoglossum. | On one peduncle, 5 to 20 large buds are located. They come in pink, red, yellow shades. The end of February - the beginning of March, lasts eight weeks. |
| Burrageara | Oncidium, Cochlioda, Miltonia, Odontoglossum. | Reddish and yellowish tones. They emit a pleasant aroma reminiscent of the smell of a rose. It starts in January. |
| Beallara | Brassia, Cochlioda, Miltonia, Odontoglossum. | Beige or pinkish-white-purple with dots and spots of darker tones. From July to the end of August. |
| Colmanara | Oncidium, Miltonia, Odontoglossum. | Different tones of red and yellow. It lasts from late winter to early summer. |
| Degarmoara | Brassia, Miltonia, Odontoglossum. | They grow up to 10 cm, have various shapes and shades. It starts at any time of the year. |
| Odontocidium | Mix Oncidium, Odontoglossum. | On elongated pedicels, up to 50 flowers of medium size, red, orange and yellow shades bloom. There are dark spots and patterns on the surface of the petals. In any month. |
| Odontiode | Cochlioda, Odontoglossum. | Yellowish and reddish tones. Any month of the year. |
Optimal conditions for keeping cumbria
Plant care at home by season:
| Criterion | Spring Summer | Autumn winter |
| Temperature | Optimal - + 22 ... +26 ° С. The difference in day and night is not more than +6 ° C. | + 16 ... +18 ° С. |
| Lighting / Location | Orchid is located at the eastern, western, northeastern windows, shaded by the midday sun. A plant needs bright but diffused light. | It is placed on the eastern, western, southern windowsills, protected from ultraviolet rays. If the orchid blooms, additional lighting is needed. Phytolamps and ordinary lamps are used. |
| Air humidity | Optimum - 25-30%, during flowering - 35-40%. At temperatures above +22 ° C, it is sprayed twice a day with soft, settled water. | |
Landing
It is better to buy the substrate for planting in the store, but you can cook it yourself, its composition: fern rhizome, moss, charcoal, coniferous or oak bark in equal quantities.
Before planting, the ground is saturated with soft, settled water. With dry air, peat is added to the pot, it will retain the liquid. At high humidity, small pieces of pumice are poured into the ground.
Cumbria is hard to tolerate a transplant, so you need to do it no more than once every two to four years.
Signs that a new pot is needed:
- the root system is cramped in the old, the processes go outside;
- the substrate has become rotten, moldy, rot;
- flower bought recently and does not give buds.
Step Transplant:
- Buy a pot of ceramics a little more than the previous one, since the orchid does not like a lot of free space. It should have drainage holes.
- On the bottom lay a layer of gravel 2 cm, top cover with coniferous bark.
- Carefully peel the roots off the ground with a stick, put the orchid in a new pot.
- With a strongly developed rhizome, the processes bend outward.
- Fill the substrate, do not bury the bulbs.
- Do not water for five days, so that the soil dries well.
Watering and feeding
It is better to irrigate by immersion: the orchid is placed for 30 minutes in a container of water. After being removed, the remaining liquid is allowed to drain.
With surface watering, you need to be careful not to flood the plant so that the roots do not begin to rot. Carried out as the top layer of soil dries. Use soft water of medium acidity, it is better to melt or rain, from the water supply you need to filter, defend.
In the vegetative period, top dressing is applied twice every two weeks. For fertilizer, special mixtures for orchids are acquired. Their concentration should be half as much as indicated on the package. Top dressing is applied to a moist substrate.
Flowering features
It usually blooms in autumn and winter. However, if all the conditions for the development of orchids are created (temperature, humidity, lighting), flowering can be year-round.
Each peduncle blooms 4-8 weeks (depending on variety). Since there are several, the orchid gives buds all year round. The life cycle of plants is provided by pseudobulbs. Before flowering, the bulbs get fat, juice pours into them, pedicels form from the leaf sinuses. After the pseudobulbs dry up. Soon, sprouts begin to form at their base again, this is the beginning of a new life cycle.
In adult specimens, it is recommended to stimulate flowering by lowering the temperature at night by 6 ° C. Young plants do not need to do this. First, they need to gain strength, get stronger.
You also need to stop watering during the formation of the bulb. After their ripening, moisten the soil to resume, and after a few days to stop again. This speeds up the appearance of peduncles.
Care after flowering
When the plant fades, dried pedicels are cut, watering is stopped. With strong drying of the soil, irrigation from the spray is permissible. When new shoots reach a height of 3 cm, watering resumes.
Breeding
Reproduction occurs by dividing the bush:
- Bulbs are separated from mature, adult specimens. Do this carefully so as not to damage the rhizome.
- Places of cuts are treated with coal powder.
- Delenki placed in pots so that the growth point is located in the middle.
- Unrooted bulbs do not hold well in the ground, so they are fixed with small sticks.
- For shoots carry out the same care as for mature specimens.
When dividing the bush, each lobe should have the same number of pseudobulbs. A week after planting, the orchid does not need to be watered, fertilized, moved. The seeds of the plant are not propagated.
Errors in the care of cumbria and their elimination
With insufficient care, cumbria can cause problems. Possible errors and solutions:
| External manifestations | Error | Troubleshooting |
| Instead of a peduncle, a pseudobulb grows. | Excess moisture. | Stop watering for several days until the soil is completely dry. |
| Bulbs rot. |
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| Leaves turn yellow. |
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| On the green spots appear. |
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| Cumbria grows "ladder". |
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| Bulbs wrinkle or darken. |
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| Snow-white coating on the stems and foliage. |
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| Leaves acquire a bright green color. | Little light. | Rearrange in a bright place. |
| Wrinkled leaves gather in accordion, may turn yellow. | Low humidity. | Spray more often with soft water, put a basin with a cool liquid next to it. The amount of watering does not increase, the root system will begin to rot. |
| The rhizome darkens, when pressed, liquid comes out of it. |
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Diseases and Pests
| Pest | Signs | Treatment | Prevention |
| Spider mite | A thin web appears on the underside of the leaf plate. In places where insects suck juice, small dots form. Greens wither and fall. |
| Maintain the necessary humidity. |
| Shield | Brown plaques appear on the orchid. Greens turn yellow and wilt. | To process a plant with a rag dipped in soapy water. | |
| Aphid | The plant stops growing. |
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Cambria resuscitation
Under poor conditions and inadequate care, the root system of the flower rots and dies. However, it can still be reanimated:
- Remove dead and affected root processes.
- Treat the flower with Fundazole, put in a new pot with different soil.
- Spray the orchid from a finely divided spray weekly.
- Once every three weeks add Fundazole to the spray water.
The roots are restored for a long time. This can take several months or even years.
