Wrinkly and yellow tolumnia leaves

[Roberta]

I have just a few of them (I tend to avoid things that need a greenhouse but some just follow me home) and grow them in baskets with loosely-packed sphag, they do grow pretty well though not spectacularly. Even in my GH things tend to dry out pretty fast, so this works - open basket and lots of air space in the loose sphagnum. More than one way to do things... but the important part is "dry out fast". That has to be your goal, however you can accomplish it.

[2SadDeadPhals]

Originally Posted by Roberta

I have just a few of them (I tend to avoid things that need a greenhouse but some just follow me home) and grow them in baskets with loosely-packed sphag, they do grow pretty well though not spectacularly. Even in my GH things tend to dry out pretty fast, so this works - open basket and lots of air space in the loose sphagnum. More than one way to do things... but the important part is "dry out fast". That has to be your goal, however you can accomplish it.

Ahh yes! That's how Miss Orchid Girl was growing them as well at one point. I think she grows them in bark/moss mix like everything else. I've also seen people grow them in clay pot with charcoal, basket with rocks, clay pot with moss, etc etc. I should get like 3 of them and grow them in different set up as an experiment!

[Roberta]

Originally Posted by 2SadDeadPhals

Ahh yes! That's how Miss Orchid Girl was growing them as well at one point. I think she grows them in bark/moss mix like everything else. I've also seen people grow them in clay pot with charcoal, basket with rocks, clay pot with moss, etc etc. I should get like 3 of them and grow them in different set up as an experiment!

The common denominator here is that all of the combinations lead to lots of air and drying out fast, maintaining humidity but not letting them stay wet. So "dry out fast" and "a bit of humidity" no matter how you accomplish it.

[2SadDeadPhals]

Originally Posted by Roberta

The common denominator here is that all of the combinations lead to lots of air and drying out fast, maintaining humidity but not letting them stay wet. So "dry out fast" and "a bit of humidity" no matter how you accomplish it.

Yes, It will be a fine balance. I hope I will master it! I think I will one day.

[Roberta]

Understanding the goal is key... the "how people grow it" can be confusing because there are lots of ways to the same goal. As you learn the "whys" then the variety of "hows" will not be so daunting.

[estación seca]

A few people can grow a few Tolumnia species in pots in sphagnum, but not many species nor hybrids tolerate this well.

Tolumnias are very hard to grow well for any length of time with humidity regularly under 60%. They dessicate so fast at low relative humidity the grower is tempted to pot them into something more moisture-retentive so the roots stay moist longer. That doesn't work; the roots rot unless they dry rapidly.

If you've ever stood on the beach in Florida or Hawaii you've experienced what they like: extremely high humidity, constant strong breeze, frequent sprinkles, dew at night. The roots are wet for multiple hours each day, and especially at night. They dry out rapidly when the sun rises.

A woman in my orchid society pushes 4 wine corks vertically into a 2" / 5cm short pot, and wedges the Tolumnia between them with no other media. She grows them in a closed terrarium with a fan for high humidity but constant air circulation. She takes them out in the morning when the roots dry and wets them, then returns them. Other people have stood them bare root in tiny, empty clay pots in a shallow dish of water, so the roots don't touch the water but the clay pot is always moist. I have kept mounted ones alive and flowering with a daily automatic morning spray of water in my humid sunroom. In common with a lot of twig epiphytes from coastal regions they generally don't mind water high in dissolved minerals.

[2SadDeadPhals]

Wine corks! That's so interesting. She must be a wine lover to have those lying around hahaha.

It sounds like they'd do great in those ikea green house cabinets. I wonder if people grow them in those. I'm sure they do. They can control humidity and air flow easily.

[K-Sci]

When I grew indoors my tolumnia and other small oncidiums invariably began to go downhill after mounting and failed to establish before eventually dying. I believe this was because, even with daily watering they were far too dry and transpired too much with moisture at the roots for only an hour or two/day. Tolumnia often recover very slowly after major root disturbances.

The attached photo shows a way to grow tolumnia so the roots are exposed to air and do not remain wet, but are in contact with slightly damp bark for much of the day. I grow all my tolumnia in these very shallow 4" baskets and small orchiata bark. There are no signs of over-watering drenching them once or twice/day with a RH in the greenhouse around 90-95%.

-Keith

[estación seca]

They also look beautiful in the other photos. I'll point out your relative humidity of 90%-95%. Far under that these become much more difficult to grow.

[K-Sci]

Originally Posted by estación seca

They also look beautiful in the other photos. I'll point out your relative humidity of 90%-95%. Far under that these become much more difficult to grow.

Agree. I think that's one reason growing them indoors can be difficult.

-Keith