My 2010 cypripediums

[TheOnionMan]

Judge for yourself.

Good video, just look at all those noses.  His hands visibly tremble with the stress of trying to tear the clumps apart, reminds me when I try and divide Epimedium, they're incredibly difficult to separate and it takes all my strength to do it.

[Maren]

Hi,
I watched the video but maybe I did something wrong. It seemed to consist of 3 seconds of action followed by 15 seconds of frozen frame. I nearly didn't make it to the finish. Is there any way to make the video run through without stoppages?

[angie]

Judge for yourself.

I don't think I would be able to divide such a prized plant.
Maren I was the same it took ages.
I had a very large bird of Paradise plant and it was just all roots and no soil. I didn't have the strength to divide it so I just went a got my husbands saw, that made the job easy, will have to wait and see what the plant does

Angie

[Maren]

Hi Angie, that's how I repot my Cymbidiums, club hammer to break the pot, chainsaw to cut off the old roots, crowbar to split the clump, etc. I no longer demonstrate this when I give talks about tropical orchids because I got tired of lugging in all the equipment including workbench. But the audience reaction was always very good when I said: "and now I shall show you how to re-pot a cymbidium" and then put on my orange safety helmet and goggles and revved up the saw.

[Slug Killer]

 Your connection must be slow if it freezes or stops. Plays fine for me.

[angie]

Maren I would have loved to have seen there faces. I can only hope that some day I will need to break my pot to get my Cyp.out to divide. I think that's a long way off...only have a few, but can see me getting more.I thought they wouldn't be hardy here in Aberdeen but after hearing from our members I am ready to try some more.

Your connection must be slow if it freezes or stops. Plays fine for me.

I think so, it's a bit like me at this time of night, oh just noticed it's morning.

Angie

[Anthony Darby]

With cypripediums the trick is not to let a clump get too big. The suggestion is after it gets to 10 noses divide. My Cypripedium 'Emil' was 60 noses before I split it a couple of weeks ago. I am less brutal and try to pull roots through rather than have them snap.

[TheOnionMan]

So, is the best time to divide these in fall?  Supposed to get a hard frost tomorrow night, but then more moderate temperatures for the following week, maybe I should try dividing one of my two large clumps of C. parviflorum var. pubescens... the video inspires me to try it.

[Maggi Young]

I don't suppose I'll live long enough to have this "problem" with any cyps but my fear in a similar situation, is of crushing or breaking the noses as one attempts the wrestling task of splitting.  Very tricky to get a firm enough hold to apply the force need to tear apart the clump without mangling the  pieces one is holding on to...


Undoubtedly the washing off of as much soil as possible, and repeated eforts at that as the job progresses are  the best way to let you see what you are doing and minimise the chance of friction damage from soil and stone on the roots.

Having seen photos of your lovely mature clumps, McMark, I think it will be a rather nerve-wracking experience to tackle splitting them....

it may require one of these.....




good luck!

[TheOnionMan]

Well, I'm willing to gamble on my smaller clump (16-18 pips) rather than my larger clump which is twice the # of pips.  If it works, and I can establish more plants around the garden, then I'll divide the larger clump next year.

But I did try an experiment with the two seed capsules harvested on C. p. v. pubescens; I have no real idea whether I just wasted time or if there is any actual hope of success.  I'll let y'all know in 4-5 years

[Anthony Darby]

Only 6 or 7 years to produce huge clump of 'Emil' from a very small plant.

[Anthony Darby]

Hi,
I watched the video but maybe I did something wrong. It seemed to consist of 3 seconds of action followed by 15 seconds of frozen frame. I nearly didn't make it to the finish. Is there any way to make the video run through without stoppages?

Click 'pause' (||) until it is completely loaded, as indicated by the red bar.

[Anthony Darby]

So, is the best time to divide these in fall? 

I think the answer to that is 'yes', but good results can be had dividing in the spring or as the flowers die back in the summer. The trick is to make sure they NEVER dry out. Big clumps start to die in the middle and the result is rot which can spread outwards. I'm splitting and selling all my cyps as the intention is to move and they can't come with me.

[Maggi Young]

Slug Killer asked if it is possible to embed a video link in the Forum so that a 'you-tube' video can be displayed in a box in the post, allowing it to be clicked on and played without leaving the forum page..... Fred the WhizzKid Admin says - indeed it is possible -  and you can return to the post on the previous page, where Anthony gave the cyp. splitting link, to see it in action....
http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=5129.msg169615#msg169615

To achieve this, Type or paste  the URL of the 'youtube' video in the post and surround it with

(youtube)  (/youtube)  ... substituting the () brackets for the square versions [ .......

alternatively  highlight it then click the youtube button (middle row far left) of the buttons above the text box.

[Slug Killer]

Thanks Maggi, simple when you know how . When you add a new post or reply to a topic the YOUTUBE button (under BOLD text button) puts the youtube link in for you. Never noticed it before.

Looks good and people don't have to leave this website.

David