How to Care for Cut Cymbidium Orchids

Cymbidium orchids are the waxy, long-lasting blooms you see in many of our arrangements, from the blush orchids in Eliana to lime, yellow and white ones in our cubes. With good care a cut cymbidium often stays fresh for 3 to 5 weeks, well past most flowers around it. The one thing that matters most: keep them away from ripening fruit and cold drafts, and leave the center of each bloom alone.

When your orchids arrive

1. Unpack the arrangement gently and set it down right away. Cymbidium blooms bruise easily, so hold the vase, not the flowers.
2. Check the water level. Our vase arrangements sit in water, so top the vase up with cool, clean tap water and stir in the flower food packet we include.
3. Pick a spot in a comfortable room, out of direct sun, away from radiators and air-conditioning vents, and not next to the fruit bowl.
4. If your orchids sit in green foam, add water daily so the foam never dries out.

If you received a hand-tied bouquet with orchids, recut the stems about an inch with a sharp knife or clean shears, then put the bouquet straight into a clean vase of water with the flower food.

Everyday care

• Refill the vase daily. Mixed arrangements drink a lot in the first few days, especially ones with roses or hydrangea.
• Change the water every 2 days or so, or sooner if it turns cloudy. Rinse the vase, refill, and add flower food if you have any left.
• Re-trim the stems when you change the water. A small, clean angled snip of about half an inch is enough for the orchids. Their stems are short, so don't take off more than you need.
• Keep the room on the cool side of comfortable. Warmth, steam heat and full sun all shorten vase life.
• Handle the blooms as little as possible. Fingerprints and knocks show up later as brown or see-through patches.

Make them last longer

Cymbidiums are very sensitive to ethylene, a natural gas given off by ripening fruit, cigarette smoke and aging flowers. Ethylene is the main reason cut orchids fade early. Keep the vase away from bananas, apples and tomatoes, and pull out any wilted flowers from the arrangement as soon as they go, because they give off ethylene too.

Leave the column alone. At the center of every bloom is a small pale cap that covers the pollen. Don't lift it, poke it or brush it off. Once that cap is gone or the pollen is disturbed, the flower takes it as a signal that it has been pollinated. The lip darkens and the bloom ages quickly, often within days.

Don't put orchids in the refrigerator. Professionals hold them cool, at around 50 to 60°F, but a home fridge is colder than that and is usually full of fruit. A cool room away from drafts is the better choice. The same goes for a winter windowsill: cold glass and icy air through an open window can mark the petals.

Plan for the arrangement to change. The other flowers usually finish first. When they do, take the orchids out, recut them and give them a small vase or a bud vase of their own. A few cymbidium blooms in fresh water can carry on for weeks. Our guide to making cut flowers last covers the basics that help every flower in the vase.

Skip the home remedies. Sugar, soda, aspirin and pennies don't do what the flower food packet does, and some feed the bacteria that cloud the water.

Common problems

Why is the lip of my orchid turning dark or brown?

A darkening lip and column is the classic sign of ethylene damage, or of a bloom whose pollen cap was knocked off. Move the vase away from fruit and away from any fading flowers. The affected bloom won't recover, so you can snip it off neatly and enjoy the rest.

There are see-through or papery patches on the petals. What happened?

Translucent or dried patches also point to ethylene, or to cold or bruising. Check the spot where the flowers sit for drafts, a cold window or a nearby fruit bowl.

The other flowers are done but the orchids look fine. What now?

That is normal and one of the nice things about cymbidiums. Lift the orchids out, recut the stems and put them in a smaller vase with fresh water.

Something looked wrong when the flowers arrived.

Take a photo and call or email us within 3 days of delivery or pickup with your order number, as explained in our refund policy. We'll take a look and make it right where we can.

Good to know

• Pets: The ASPCA names cymbidium among the orchids that are safe for pets. Chewing any plant can still upset a pet's stomach, so keep the vase out of reach, and call your vet or the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center if you are worried. Many of our arrangements also include other flowers with their own listings, so see our pet-safe flowers guide.
• Cut orchids or an orchid plant? The blooms in an arrangement are cut cymbidiums. Our potted orchids are Phalaenopsis plants, which live in a pot and can bloom for months. They need very different care, covered in our orchid plant care guide.
• Pollen and scent: Cymbidium pollen stays under its cap, so it won't stain like lily pollen. Most cut cymbidiums have only a light scent, if any, which makes them easy to give in offices and hospital rooms that allow flowers.
• Colors you may see: white, blush and soft pink, lime green and yellow. The Cymbidium arrangement lets you pick a color, depending on what is available that day.
• Season: Cymbidiums are a winter and spring bloomer in the garden, but cut stems are grown and shipped all year. Call the shop to ask about a particular color.