tolumnia "pink panther" care help

[tatorger]

I've been in the forum for a while and just got my first orchid! I have quite a green thumb, I've been growing carnivorous plants for about a year in a terrarium with great success. I always like to re-pot new plants to see what condition the roots/ get it into a medium that suits my conditions. I thought it would be more evident if the roots were healthy or not. does anybody have any growing advice for this plant? watering, light, temp, humidity? as well as any mounting or re-potting advice? I have pictures but for whatever reason when i try to post them it denies the post


Thank you for any help!
Travis

[cbuchman]

Hi Travis. there is a lot of information on the board about Tolumnia care. Use the Search button at the top and type in Tolumnia. AOS culture sheet can be found at http://aos.org/Default.aspx?id=206

I have Pink Panther too. One is mounted and other potted, though I plan to mount it once it gets a bit warmer and is in active growth.

[Tim C.]

You have to have five posts before you can post pictures, so you're almost there.

When I grew Tolumnias, I grew them bright, warm, and dry. That is to say: bright light (like a southern facing window with a white sheer curtain on it, maybe some direct sunlight), warm temps (80 or so during the day, dropping to 65-70 at night), and dry potting mix (mine were either mounted or potted in big chunks of horticultural grade charcoal, in terracotta pots).

I actually grew mine in one of those old-fashioned, window greenhouses. It was in a south-eastern exposure, and didn't get much in the form of extra humidity. I would mist them thoroughly every morning, which is how they got their necessary watering.

Honestly, they took a beating from me as I wasn't too attentive to my orchids back then. They withstood everything I threw at them - intermittent waterings, too much sun, no fertilizer - and flowered quite frequently. I'd say they're pretty tolerant as far as orchids go.

-Tim

[NYCorchidman]

I have a few of these little orchids.
They require strong light, warmth, lots of water.
Not enought water will soon desiccate them and even kill them. Irregular underwatering will keep them from flowering when they should.

When they are not in active growth, a few days of dryness does not do much harm. While they are in active growing phase, diligent watering is a must for healthy growth unless you have them in a green house or other sophisticated watering/humidifying system.
I grow mine hanging by the south window, mist multiple times a way if possible and soaking in fertilizer once or even three times a week while growing.

Most of mine are literally overflowing in its one inch clay pot, however, I have repotted a few of them into 3 inch plastic pot using small bark chips and perlite. Keeping them moist enough is very hard this way and next time I repot, I will use finer grade material.
Good luck!

[cbuchman]

It's a balance. Moist yes, wet no. It's important for them to dry out daily or they will rot. So you can see the challenge

[tatorger]

thank you everyone for your responses, I think it will fit in perfectly in my terrarium. Days in the mid 80's, high humidity, and t5's for a 14 hour photoperiod. I'm going to slowly work it into full light because im sure that it came from a lower light situation and i don't want to burn it. Being that it needs to dry out and be watered everyday I feel that mounting it would be best for my situation. I did a quick google search and didnt find much on how much sphag i should tie down with it. any suggestions or rules for that?
Travis

[Tim C.]

I'm not sure that there really are any guidelines for how much sphag to put on mounted orchids. I'd say just take enough to give the roots and base of the plant a padding for whatever you're mounting it on, and attach the plant and moss like a sandwich. Pretty much use however much moss you feel you need to keep it moist.

-Tim

[Rowangreen]

I read that in nature these grow in the tops of trees on small twigs. So in a terranium with good humidity I'd guess no media at all would be the way to go.

I'm new to them, but I did get one in bad condition a few months ago. It was a large clump in a fair sized pot with basically no good roots. I took it out and have been keeping it bare rooted since. It's also split into two. I'm spraying it when I remember and occasionally sticking it in the sink for a few minutes soak, and it's growing lots of new roots. If I do get round to potting it, I think it's going to be in a tiny pot with just a few big lumps of bark in.

[NYCorchidman]

They need a lot of water. They get rained on a few times a day while growing in nature.
With terarium culture, I think you really have to watch for moisture level and air circulation, otherwise, they will get fungus easily.

Mine are all hanging by the south window, lots of heat and sun, so I mist as much as I can and soak them often.
Without this diligent watering, they will sulk big time!

I'm thinking of potting them up in a large pot with more moisture rentaining material.

[tatorger]

I have had cp's in the terrarium for a year now and they stay constantly wet and havent had any mold. and with 90% humidity im not worried about them getting too dry too quickly,i now have 5 posts, ill post pics in a minute

---------- Post added at 04:39 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:21 PM ----------

either im doing something wrong or it still wont let me post pics -_-