How to grow Coelogyne cristata: this cool grower is a VERY easy to flower once you get you basics!

This week Plant Lovers, my Coelogyne cristata is FINALLY in bloom after a bit of a false start last year! It's into the third year of my owning this plant and it took a while; a bit of a sulk year one, then a care 'wardrobe malfunction' last year but now....I think I've got it sorted! In this video I talk all things basic care and show you where I grow mine - which is outside, under cover, all year.
I mention a few other of my videos in this Coelogyne cristata care video:
A collaboration with the wonderful rachel of Gardening in Douentza where we compare Coelogyne cristata notes: • Top 5 favourite Orchid...
This is my 'spring tasks' video: • Spring tasks: orchid c...
And this is the Sarcochilus video I mention: • My Sarcochilus Austral...

[@arpitabanerjee9362]

Hello from India... Recently I have purchased a some Choelogyne saplings while I was on vacation... Don't know the exact variety but till I came home it is completely dry and crispy... What should I do to revive it. If it's possible to revive it kindly share some tips.

[@helloplantlovers]

Hmm...if its dead its dead alas! But what you could do is pot the cutting in moist sphagnum moss and keep it in a bright, moist, humid environment and hope for the best! Good luck!

[@takemyjobpleeez]

I had a C. cristata, that bloomed prolifically around January. Smelled mildly of cat pee. I finally lost it to the summer heat (South Carolina). The distantly related Bletilla striata (especially the white form) looks very similar to coelogynes. It can grow in the ground all year. I get my coelygne fix (for now) from it.

[@helloplantlovers]

Oh that's an interesting switch! Thanks for watching!

[@Maritafeb15]

Why does my Coelogyne cristata get unsightly large brown leaf tips? It flowers well but looks awful.

[@helloplantlovers]

Could be getting too much sun....or too much cold....or too wet....many possibilities.

[@EveGriffin-ny2os]

Hi, do you put garden lime on your laelia/cattleya types as well ?

[@helloplantlovers]

No - I don't.

[@beeeingmeee]

I live in chilly San Francisco and your wonderful video inspired me to try growing one of these and it’s working out fabulously!

[@helloplantlovers]

Good luck! They should thrive there!

[@wildflowers477]

Recently purchased a denphal from ebay us and the health of it was incredible, gorgeous but ...she told me she used "worm juice" . The proof seems to be in the pudding so i purchased worm casting, an aquarium pump and have used the juice once and could tell within a day that some orchids were greener. Wondering if you had ever heard of this type fertilizer.

[@helloplantlovers]

Yes - though it's not a fertilizer per se - more of a tonic. It's full of beneficial things that improve the health of plants. I dilute it to about one part per ten. I made a video about fertlizing and tonics which includes it here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nZqaioKVeZpmaNU

[@boonsongstewart5814]

Thank you for very good 👍 information

[@helloplantlovers]

Thanks for watching!

[@kevins9242]

I enjoyed this casual and personal video. I really like the pristine white of this plant and the slightly contorted sepals… stunning!

[@helloplantlovers]

Thanks for watching - it is a stunner and I'm so happy its finally blooming!

[@dianal3827]

I got my first Coelogyne Cristata today. I will be keeping it indoors all year. Usually I have 23*C but in summer it gets to a maximum of 38-39*C. That was my main worry about it, cause it's supposed to be a cool grower. I have around 60-70% humidity all the time. The only cool grower orchids I have grown so far are Burragearas.

[@helloplantlovers]

Good luck with it! Mine is outside all year and manages our summer maximums...last week's were all 35oC +

[@podenco2]

Your plant looks awesome. Beautiful fat pseudobulbs. Mine is about toe bloom from 6 spikes. As yours the pseudobulbs are still beautiful, well hydrated. I'm located in the Northern hemisphere. Grew this plant outdoors until it started freezing, the took it indoors. Growing in the windowsill. Super easy plant for me.

[@helloplantlovers]

Well it will look amazing! Such a beautiful plant when in flower! Thanks for watching!

[@TrishsOrchidLife]

What a beautiful orchid! Even though I am in zone 5b-6a here in Denver…I may have to give this beauty a go. Growing it inside. Hmm maybe outside during the spring/summer? Something to consider for sure…. 🌸

[@helloplantlovers]

Definitely! It could easily be an inside/outside plant based on the seasons. Have a look at Rachel's video about growing it in Ireland: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gpe3mGWIhJlomaM

[@Running_Putter]

Hello from central Canada. Gonna Receive my first coelogyne soon hence i am watching this. Great information. Hope i will be successful.

[@helloplantlovers]

Good luck! They are relatively easy!

[@greenjesuz]

Very good information. It's quite stunning how quickly you were able to nail down what type of environmental factors Cristata likes and then transcribing similar conditions to a very different part of the world. Proof is in the pudding!. I don't know much about orchids but I have been growing Cristatas for a very long time. Learned a few things from your video! I live near San Francisco in the US and leave them out all year long, mostly in hanging baskets. Reliable blooms and some plants a very large, too large to carry. Record setting wet winter and there was still a great bloom. Use to try to keep dry in winter but doesn't seem to matter. These plants always live outside, hanging under a medium size deciduous tree, which will provide protection from the dreaded but infrequent 90+ degree, hot, dry days, where they get more shade and watered daily. Inland, a grower would need more care, but near the Bay, they grow just fine. My pseudo bulbs are generally more shriveled (especially the large specimen plants that are beginning to lose a lot of bark media and aren't retaining enough moisture for the roots.). Probably due to inconsistent humidity and lower moisture than optimum, they look leggy. In a bright, high humidity environment they grew fast and plump. But that's just too much commitment and work. The best time for detecting the fragrance was a very warm day, the flowers were in a mass. They were getting a bit more sun too, IIRC, afternoon. A number of people commented. Didn't notice much fragrance this year, but weather was much cooler. About repotting, have multiples, so when one plant is mad, there are still others to bloom. Here's one observation about the roots. The first Cristata was given to me by an old women, who didn't know its name or speak English, but she kept them hanging with moss, under a plastic roofed sunlight patio, with morning sun. When I asked her for some cuttings, I noticed an orphaned plant, huge pseudo bulbs, growing out in the sun in a waste area, in very large pot full of soil, it was obviously given the bare minimum. When I went to dig up the large but neglected plant, I followed a hairy root down, what must have been a foot and a half+, which was very surprising. So, Coelogyne Cristata has a delicate and potentially small number roots for seeking out critical water supply , especially with reduced humidity. Damage the plants access to moisture and it's no wonder why growth stalls. I see the sprawling and spreading nature of the, plant, as always looking to find a a more optimum location to grow, even if it's just a few inches at a time. Cuttings seem to root faster when I covered the top of the bark with Sphagnum moss. The Himalayan foothill cloud forests, where this orchid originates, are covered in moss. Makes sense.

[@helloplantlovers]

Thanks for watching - interesting about the tap root on the plant in the garden!!!

[@Gigi-pf6ik]

So beautiful! I have Coelogyne Flaccida with just one flower spike in northern NSW. Maybe I needed to water more during the winter. Do you think that the care is similar?

[@helloplantlovers]

Yes - I water mine basically the same - but cristata does get a bit more in winter than flaccida. My flaccida has one spike per season - it's still a small plant. Once it bulks up you'll get more if yours is still relatively small?

[@loanle3410]

Please let me know that I have to stop fertilizer in autumn? Thanks.

[@helloplantlovers]

I don't fertilise mine in winter at all - easing off early autumn.

[@loanle3410]

@@helloplantlovers 🙏🙏

[@loanle3410]

@@helloplantlovers May I put it inside during winter time or it likes natural cold? Thanks. 🙏

[@helloplantlovers]

@@loanle3410 It's a cold/cool grower. Depends how cold you get! It might not survive constant cold and short days. It's very happy in Melbourne outside all year.

[@loanle3410]

@@helloplantlovers 🙏🙏🙏

[@boonsongstewart5814]

I get very jealous of your coelogyne. I got one and its died on me. I live in Queensland in the winter can be fine cold 🥶 in the summer its very hot 🔥 I don't know if I am going to get another one.

[@helloplantlovers]

Ah....but there are tropical ones! Coelogyne usitana for example - brilliant sequential bloomer! Have a google of it!

[@carolesykes7955]

Hi again Matthew. I enjoyed this thank you and agree with carrying on the watering, at least when growing indoors like myself. I tried keeping my intermedia and ochracea dryer but they shrivelled, didn't flower weren't happy at all. Luckily they picked up after adding more moss and keeping more moist all year 🤷‍♀️ Can I just ask you again about the micorrhizol fungi? I started using it when potting up a few months back and today have noticed a few tiny white fluffy balls. I looked under the microscope and there are mycelium growing too over the media. Now I occasionally used to get Botrytis on old damp media but to me it was more grey and not such dense 'balls'. How do find the good fungi differ from what you don't want?

[@helloplantlovers]

Oh wow - I'm no scientist I'm afraid! But I would say white fungi is good. Mycelium will grow throughout the medium and link to the plant roots, it will also go traveling if the pot is standing on soil - it wants to link to friends in the neighbourhood! Funnily enough I'm trying to find a good 'soil health' expert to make a film with about it. I would say though that if your plant is happy - don't worry! Botrytis will show up quite quickly as a negative in effected leaves & flowers.

[@carolesykes7955]

@@helloplantlovers It would be great to have a video about it. I have taken a photo of it so if you're ever interested just let me know how to get it to you.

[@jonathanhodgkin6546]

Thankyou ,thankyou I live in Tasmania, where I live I'm on the wrong side of the hill so to speak,Cristina Tha i have had for years and has not done a thing ,I've tried all sorts,but having listened to your post,I am I spired to try again,you have given me lots of information to try out,keep your fingers crossed,ciao.

[@helloplantlovers]

Thanks for watching from the wrong side of the hill! Cristata should love Tasmania so do give it another go - good luck!

[@jonathanhodgkin6546]

@@helloplantlovers sorry for the bad spellings and mistakes,I was sitting on the couch with the dog,she's a nudger,rare breed of total attention hound,your interpretation skills are awesome,you obviously read hieroglyph, thanks once again.👍

[@greenthumb1658]

Those tubers look like eggs😃 very nice specimen!

[@helloplantlovers]

Thanks for watching!

[@lada2570]

Hello. I have coelogyne sparsa. This mini cristata.

[@helloplantlovers]

They are wonderful flowers - thanks for watching!

[@AH-cm1ye]

My baby C. Cristata starts flowering, Its Just one year old, and growing on the windowsil near heating 🤭I am so Happy to see flowers 😍

[@sandramynard1046]

Your outdoor spot appears to be quite protected

[@helloplantlovers]

It certainly is.

[@newmanmansell760]

wonderful episode😌🙏💖I got 3 coelogynes as a gift and have them outdoors, but winter might be too cold here -8℃, but we get a warm Summer, and monsoon June. and July and a super hot August. The owner I got them from keeps them indoors over winter and quite dry, we have a dry winter here. I'm looking forward to growing them immensely💞I use ammonium sulphate to make my tap water ph5. I will keep my eyes peeled on the root growth and growth of the leaves. I know that alkaline water kills moss and soil microbes and we need those, even better is rainwater. Oh, you use mycorrhizal fungi. That's a great idea☝️I enjoyed watching🙏😌

[@helloplantlovers]

Thanks for watching!