My first Tolumnia

[Pilot]

I got this one from Hausermann's-- I'm amazed how expensive these little plants are (not to sound cheap) but I have to say, they're impressive little plants.

I haven't the slightest idea how to care for these things, though. I figured I could figure it out-- with my exceptionally dry environment, I'll have to come up with something to up the local humidity.



The color is not true in the photo... the reds are more red and less blue.

Forgot to mention, the name is Genting Angel.

[Zoi2]

It's very pretty!
Joann

[Pilot]

Originally Posted by Zoi2

It's very pretty!
Joann

Thanks! I can't get over how SMALL this plant is. I would like very much to return it to its native Caribbean habitat, too.

[nenella]

Hi I like these too! What do you usually grow your plants in?
I have one in fine bark and in my conditions I water twice a week by soaking (10-15 mins) making sure it dries out, but not letting it go too dry more than a day.. hope this helps...

[Pilot]

Originally Posted by nenella

Hi I like these too! What do you usually grow your plants in?
I have one in fine bark and in my conditions I water twice a week by soaking (10-15 mins) making sure it dries out, but not letting it go too dry more than a day.. hope this helps...

I live in an extremely dry environment. It is not uncommon to see weeks, even months of of 10% humidity or lower. Most of my orchids are phals and are grown in s/h. I have a few vanda-type orchids and I grow those in vase culture by soaking daily... they do well with that treatment.

I wonder if I could soak this plant daily (it dries out within a day) and up the humidity by placing the plant inside a vase... I wouldn't soak it like I would my vandas, but just limit the evaporation a bit by shielding it a bit. The plant is hanging by a wire that is attached to a terra pot, so hanging it on the rim of a vase wouldn't be difficult at all and it wouldn't get dirty like my other vases since I wouldn't use it to soak the plant.

This is why I love gardening, though... everything is an experiment. Nature is just a great BIG experiment!

[Sekhmet]

I also just bought my first Tolumia, a Genting Sunray (I had to pass on a Tequila Sunrise, one of my favorite varieties, but the plant was not in great shape). I lucked out and got mine for $8 US as it was going out of bloom!

I am in Seattle, so humidity is less of an issue for me, but I am soaking 15 minutes once a week and misting daily. Mine is in a mini terracotta pot (1 inch) and some bark. I have heard you can grow these as mounted specimens, but given your dry climate, that would probably be tough. You might just try keeping it in a humidity tray!

Good luck, I hope we both score with this one! I love that they can bloom multiple times a year!

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[Becca]

I bought one of these a year ago and I am succeeding at killing it! Recently I found out that they like to dry out by the end of the day, but need a daily watering if I am remembering correctly. Hope this helps!

[WhiteRabbit]

in very dry conditions, you might want to have some media in the pot, if you don't already - it can be quite dry here in summer (daytime humidity from mid - low 20s%, can be teens or single digits on occasion, but night time humidity goes up to 40-50 %), tho not quite as dry as where you are, apparently - mine are potted in very small clay pots with media (just charcoal, or med tree fern fiber) - water when media is dry (I have skewers in my pots).

I don't do anything to up the humidity - in summer they pretty much get watered daily, in winter every 2-3 days

fairly bright light for these

they do pack a good punch, bloom-wise, for such small plants, don't they?

[ezil]

I have all my tolumnias mounted on tree branches, grouped in a pot. Humidity in our apartment can be extremely low, and that's definitely a challenge. I give my plants a good soaking/misting daily in sunny weather with good quality water. They are very salt sensitive, so careful with the fertilizer. They are dry by mid afternoon. I also have spanish moss loosely draped around the branches, and that helps keep the humidity up. It grows like weeds and my tolus bloom regularly for me. They are very addictive, you'll see.
Good luck, and enjoy.

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[silken]

Yours is gorgeous!
I just bought one recently too! It came potted in a plastic net pot with CHC. I keep it in quite bright light and mist it daily, sometimes a few times a day as humidity is real low right now. And I water it once or twice a week. It has no problem drying by end of day. But I haven't had mine long enough to know if it's going to like this treatment.