This is a follow up article to my previous one on Cym madidum and follows the same format. Here we go from the easy madidum to grow to the ridiculously notorious suave! It may be suave by name but not by nature. Pay careful attention to how different the requirements are - especially pH.
In situ in the bush.
Grows as grassy clumps and does not have a pseudobulb as such. The leaves are up to 500mm long by 20mm wide with up to 8 leaves per stem. The growth keeps extending as the years go by and as such a large clump can look quite straggly and unsightly. The racemes can reach 300mm long and are arching to very pendulous and can carry up to 50 flowers more tightly spaced than say the madidum flowers on its raceme. Flowers are light to dark green through to nearly brown and average around 20mm x 20mm – which is slightly smaller than the typical madidum flower. Again there are reported alba clones in existence, but more on this as I get more info together. The flowers are extremely fragrant with a very spicy perfume. In the bush you will smell the flowers usually before sighting the clump, especially on a bright sunny day. It flowers from August to January.
Its range extends from far north QLD to just short of the southern NSW border along the coastal fringe growing from sea level to 1200metres in altitude. It is very widespread and common in certain areas, again usually growing in the forks and hollows of large trees, decaying stumps and hollows in logs. The root system is very extensive and likes the decaying heartwood of its host. Average rainfall in its range would be around 1000mm per year.
Clumps can grow quite large, but straggly due to its natural growth habit. These big old clumps can have more than 10,000 flowers in nature and it will support 100’s of pods as it is easily pollinated by bees and insects. Growers and hybridists are actually setting pods in situ in their natural habitat these days as this tends to produce more satisfactory results than setting pods at home – that is for those that actually can successfully grow it at home.
At home in the greenhouse.
This orchid is very difficult to re establish and is usually very short lived in the home greenhouse. Even clones grown in vitro and raised as seedlings have a very high mortality rate. I have tried on several occasions with suave out of flask and have had very limited success I must admit. These days I much prefer to pack a sandwich and a cold beer or two and go for a walk in the bush at flowering time to enjoy this orchid in the wild. Where I live I do not have to travel far to see this plant in its natural habitat and that’s where they will stay as far as I am concerned for this species. I have the added bonus of also being able to observe a lot of other Aussie native orchids flowering at the same time in the same area – both epiphytes and terrestrials.
For those brave people who want to have a go at growing this species, it is available in flask but I would be wary as to the true parents and the source of the parents. The success rate out of flask is usually very low and the best medium would be the premium NZ sphagnum moss. You may be lucky to find it as seedlings in very limited supply and even luckier as larger established plants in pots. It will be seen from time to time for sale on the usual auction site(s) as a bare root plant – take my advice and keep your money, as there will be more roots still buried in the tree where it was removed from (hopefully legally) than on the plant due to the extensive root system. This species resents any disturbance to the roots once established.
For people wanting to try this species at home, good clean water is a must and the following info will be invaluable.
Research.
A very well known and respected grower here in NSW has studied the Aussie Cym’s extensively in the bush over a wide range of their habitat and has reported the following findings. This might point the hobbyist grower as well as the commercial grower in the right direction when it comes to this species and any of its first generation hybrids at least when attempting to grow this little gem.
He has found the pH level of the compost that Cym suave prefers in the bush to be very acidic. Near the surface of the plant the pH level will be around 4 to 5 and in the rootzone deeper down it is slightly lower again around 4 always. Obviously the rootzone prefers very acidic conditions. Also the best looking clumps in the bush had a 25mm or so layer of good leaf mould around the base of the plant, made up of decaying leaves, twigs and bark. Decayed matter ( known as mudgut or heartwood) taken from the centre of dead hosts and stumps had a pH level of 3.5 to 4 and he recommends the use of this material to achieve a satisfactory pH range when attempting to cultivate Cym suave at home.
He recommends the following to lower the pH of the mix you may have Cym suave growing in. Add half a tablet of vitamin C to the watering can or 5mL pineapple juice per litre of water and top up the surface of the mix with coffee grinds (pH is 4.5 for this). Phostrogen Acid Plant Food (again pH of 4.5) can be used as a fertiliser.
Never apply lime or any similar product to this species as it hates alkaline conditions. He follows the above and I must admit he can grow and flower Cym suave well in his backyard. I suggest you try the above on a single plant to start off with to see if you can achieve improvement in its overall vigour.
I will report later on whether this species for the keen hybridist is better as a pollen donor or really only accepts pollen.
Gary..