Cycnoches chlorochilon is native to Panama, Colombia and Venezuela. In Panama, they meet in the province of Chiriquí and along the river La Maestra at altitudes from sea level up to 25 m...
Cycnoches chlorochilon also called as The Green-Lipped Cycnoches, Cycnoches ventricosum var chlorochilon, is a species of the genus Cycnoches. This species was described by Johann Friedrich Klotzsch in 1838.
IDENTIFY CYCNOCHES CHLOROCHILON
Cycnoches chlorochilon is native to Panama, Colombia and Venezuela. In Panama, they meet in the province of Chiriquí and along the river La Maestra at altitudes from sea level up to 25 m. In Venezuela, they grow on lonely, little-foliage trees near Caracas, at heights of 900-1000 m and along the old road between Caracas and Maracay. There are reports of encountering them in the states of Aragua and Miranda at an altitude of 850 m, in the state of Yaracuy at an altitude of 500 m and in the state of Zulia. In Colombia, it is the most common species of this genus. They grow on hot lowlands below 1000 m.
It is a medium sized, epiphytic, hot to warm growing species, which reaching 30-50 cm in height, with fusiform, up to 20 cm long pseudobulbs enveloped by non-foliaceous sheaths and carrying 4 to 7, plicate, elliptic-lanceolate, 12-30 cm long and 2.5-5.0 cm wide leaves.
The Green-Lipped Cycnoches blooms in the late summer and fall on an axillary, pendant, 7.5 cm long, racemose, few to several flowered inflorescence arising from the leaf nodes just below the apex of the newest, mature, large, fusiform to conical pseudobulb. The flowers on each inflorescence are usually either male or female, but most often male flowers. In any case, however, they are large, fleshy and differ only in the construction of the spine. The petals of both whorls are yellowish-green. The lip is white and has a dark green, egg-shaped cavity below the fleshy, pointed, triangular, dark green thickening. The spine is green and its top is greenish-white. Female flowers are seen less frequently than male ones, but they are identical to male ones, with the exception of the construction of the spine.
CYCNOCHES CHLOROCHILON CARE AND CULTURE
Cultural information should only be used as a guide, and should be to be adapted to suit you. Your physical location; where you grow your plants, how much time you have to devote to their care, and many other factors, will need to be taken into account. Only then can you decide on the cultural methods that best suit you and your plants.
Light:
Cycnoches chlorochilon needs a light level of 10000-45000 lux. This species react in different ways to growing at different levels of light. The amount of light at which they grow determines the sex of emerging flowers. A low level of light results in the formation of female flowers, and at high light levels, male flowers develop. Sometimes the flowers are both male and female flowers, but usually on one inflorescence, all flowers are of the same sex. Strong air movement must be ensured all the time, regardless of the level of light.
Temperature:
It is a thermophilic plant. The average summer temperature during the day reaches 31 ° C, at night 22 ° C, with a daily difference of 9 ° C. In winter, the average day temperature is 33-34 ° C, at night 19-20 ° C, with a daily amplitude of 12-14 ° C.
Humidity:
The Green-Lipped Cycnoches needs the humidity of 85-90% for most of the year, only for the period of 2-3 winter months drops to 65-70%. The high humidity is very important.
Substrate, growing media and repotting:
Cycnoches chlorochilon can be grown in containers with good drainage or on cork or tree fern rootstock. In the case of mounted plants, there are practically no problems with decay caused by plant flooding, but many people are not able to provide such plants with sufficiently high humidity in the summer. Therefore, plants are usually grown in clay or plastic pots filled with soil, which provides excellent drainage and aeration of the roots. When the plants are dormant, it is usually better to remove them from the pots, cut the roots with a sterile tool and place the pseudobulb group in the empty pot until the end of winter.
When new growths occur in spring, the plants should be repotted to slightly larger pots, in order to keep the pseudobulb group and that there would only be room for one-year new increments. The pots are filled with loose medium and quickly draining excess water. You can use a medium-sized fir bark or chopped tree-fern fiber with pearlite, which helps keep the substrate cool, but also retains some of the moisture. The addition of charcoal also improves the permeability of the substrate, and also protects against acidification. They appear to grow better and have fewer problems with decay if it is repotted every year.
Watering:
In the period from late spring to autumn rainfall is very abundant. Then their number decreases quite quickly and a 2-month dry season follows at the end of winter and at the beginning of spring. The cultivated plants should be abundantly watered during active growth, but the roots must always dry quite quickly after watering. The substrate around the roots can never be desiccated or soggy.
Fertilizer:
This species require strong fertilization, so during active growth they should be fertilized with a full dose of balanced fertilizer every week. You can use high-nitrogen fertilizer from spring to mid-summer, then switching to high-phosphorus in late summer and autumn.
Rest period:
This orchid requires a dry winter rest, and it is very susceptible to overdose during this period. If during the rest period the Cycnoches chlorochilon is taken out of the pot, after we remove the old roots, we can place a group of pseudobulbs in an empty clay or plastic pot until new increments appear in the spring. The plants mounted and those in empty pots should be misted or very lightly watered once a week. No substrate around the roots facilitates faster drying and protects against rotting. When new growths appear in spring, the plants should be planted in a fresh substrate, but the amount of water when watering can be increased only when new roots begin to grow. Fertilization should be eliminated until new growths appear and more watering begins in the spring. Special attention should be paid to the fact that water does not accumulate on growing new increments because they are particularly prone to rotting.
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