Does anyone out there have any information on growing Cyps in pots, and winterizing them in a refrigerator. Not everyone has a backyard, and would like to grow them. Sure would like to know if this could be done, and how to do it. Thanks, Jim

check this link from antec....
http://ladyslipper.com/cyppot.htm

Dr. Neptune definitely knows his stuff having grown some award winning Cyps in pots. Unfortunately, his page on this is somewhat lacking about some critical points. I grow mine semi-hydro here in southern Japan in an effort to keep the roots cooler, but that is not necessary where you live. Here are my recommondations (please chime in Ron!):

1) Use oversized clay pots instead of smaller and/or plastic ones. Cyp roots are very touchy about temperatures above 75F. Since pots can heat up much faster than the earth itself, you need to control pot temperature carefully. By using an oversized pot this helps moderate temperature and also keeps soil moisture more even over longer periods. To maximize cooling place the pot you've got the plant in into an identical pot. This will create an airspace between the pots and allow for evaporative cooling on the surface of the inside pot. Place this double potted plant into a deep saucer such that the inner pot's bottom sits just deep enough to be below the saucer's lip (maybe 1/2"). Then fill the saucer with good, chlorine free water. The clay of the pots will wick the water up and evaporation will take place. You can keep the inner pot much cooler than the ambient temperatures, but remember to keep the saucer full of water!

2) Plant them in a perfectly draining mix that doesn't compact. Really Cyps are not that finicky about soil mixes as long as they fit these two criteria. Most species thrive in the 6-7 pH range, some preferring a bit higher (candidum and its hybrids) or lower (arietinum and some parviflorum varieties). The upshot is to buffer the mix to the correct level. If you use acidic components, add more lime, and so on. In pots, perlite, fine pumice, turface, a little coarse "woodland soil" with NO CLAY, and any other coarse organic matter (such as slightly rotted wood) are good components. A ratio of 1:3 inorganics to organics should work well. Repot every 2 or 3 years in the late fall.

3) Fertilize regularly. Following Ron Burch's recommondation, I've been fertilizing my plants on a very regular basis (every week or so) with a dilute complete hydroponics fertilizer. Ron can give you more specific information on this (dilution rates very greatly depending on the fertilizer used). Many people will tell you to stop fertilizing sometime around August, but this may not be necessary. I am continuing the fertilizer until the plants look like they are going to go dormant. At that point you should stop. Also, remember to flush the pots with lots of mineral free water every few weeks to be sure there is no salt build up.

4) Buy a BIG refrigerator! If you plan to vernalize your plants in one, you've got to accomodate those big pots. Realize that with the large species you may have to grow them in pots up to 3-5 gallon size (reginae for example), but I think a pot around 2 gallons should be average. Since Cyp roots tend to grow laterally and not down, you should use "azalea" type pots that are wider than deep. This can quickly cause space problems. Maybe a floor refrigerator would be best! Also, be very careful about the plants not freezing during their rest as this will kill them. Superficial freezing of pot surfaces doesn't seem to bother them, but frozen soil will hurt them badly or kill them. A refrigerator stuffed with pots doesn't circulate air well, so cold spots can develop and cause freezing (I speak from experience).

OK, that's it for now. My fingers hurt.

Tom

I agree completely with Tom - the cold spots are a very big problem if you store your Cyps in the family refrigerator. The refrigerator catching up with constantly opening doors often freezes at its lower levels. A good way to monitor how the refrigerator is doing before you start is to get one of the digital thermometers that has a long wire with a thermistor at the end (about $18 at Wal-Mart). Then you can place the thermometer on the top shelf and the thermistor at the lowest shelf you plan to use. With these a button on the thermometer switches between the temperatures at each location so you can readily see if there are currents - practice the pushing because the thermistor reacts very rapidly to temp changes so it will run up fast when you open the door whereas the larger thermometer reacts more slowly (the best bet is to keep the button set so the thermistor is read. Then you can look immediately at that temp when the door is opened and have 10-20 seconds to push the button to read the larger thermometer. Shoot to have the temperature not fall below about 35 F but not above about 39 F.

Freezing per se does not kill the plants, after all they freeze outside. What kills them is the repeated freeze-thaw that dries the root and shoot tips.

Keep the media SLIGHTLY moist during refrigeration especially for the Asian species that will not tolerate too much moisture (I place each pot into a plastic bag so the moisture will stay constant).

As Tom mentioned, many people run into trouble by including any kind of soil. Some of the most successful people, like Neptune, use soil but the rest of us find that it dramatically complicates Cyp keeping. If you want organics bark chips are OK and more people are including coir (although in my experiments with coir so far I find that it stays too wet).

If you are good about watering, an extremely good medium is 50% "fine" aquarium gravel - the natural stuff that is not plastic coated and that is 1-2 mm in diameter and 50% very coarse perlite. The plants will need to be watered every other day if you use this and fertilized weekly but they will grow by leaps and bounds. Semihydroponics is also a good method for Cyps using the large expanded clay balls - www.firstrays.com has an excellent discussion of semihydroponics for orchids and sells the materials you need (as does any local hydroponics shop).

Cyps do very well with refrigeration and growth in pots. As Tom mentioned, Cyp reginae would be a challenge - I have two of them in 18 inch azalea pots and each has 8-10 shoots. Additional growth will require larger pots! On the other hand, hybrids like Gisela grow well in pots and you can have a lot of shoots in a 10 inch pot - there is a photo in the gallery earlier this year of a nice potted Gisela in which you can see the pot and another photo of several different plants, each with many stems.

Good luck!

Ron Burch