Tolumnias rebloom

[WhiteRabbit]

Originally Posted by Paul

Mine has apparently not "read the manual" then ... because my multifan tol definitely gets lots of light and warmth and it has never spiked for me.

I can't get mine to bloom if they stay indoors year-round. Winter in a south facing window is good, but the rest of the year, my windows don't get sufficient light, apparently. This includes windows where compact Catts, Den-phals, and Neostylis bloom . So it seems they want a lot of light.

[Pilot]

Originally Posted by NYCorchidman

Ryan-



No, the ones I see here and on some websites are basically all the same common mix of the following: Genting Orange, Genting volcano, Tequila Sunset, Genting sunrise (?), Pink N Pretty, Red Berry, Genting Angel (not sure on exact name but Angel is definitely part of the name and these are heavily spotted)..I might have missed one or two.



I have not seen other varieties.



These two new tolumnias from TSG are new to me.



Didn't you buy some different varieties from Florida or something? I think I read your thread on them before.

They had spotted flowers.



What is Kool log? is it the stuff that carries water within itself and keeps plants hydrated at all time??





Adriana and others who have hard time blooming these plants-



I need to know how you grow them to be able to answer, but if yours are in those tiny clay pots, remember they dry out fast.



These need bright light and warmth to thrive and bloom. There are no tricks to get them to bloom. They will bloom when they are ready, usually when each new fan matures, it will generate spikes and bloom.



Given the fact that these like warmth and bright light, plus the tiny pots they usually comes in, makes them very dry. I suspect those who have hard time blooming these are not watering them enough. Any plants not getting enough water won't bloom. They just don't want to when there is not enough water. Plant is mostly made of water. Spiking and blooming is basically all water. no water, no flowers. simple!

Look at your leaves. They should be thick and turgid at all times. and a little bit of purple spots are good thing as well.



The ones in tiny clay pots, I dipped them in water at least once a day, usually twice, morning and afternoon.



Now I like to grow these in a larger pots so they don't dry out as fast as I am sick of carrying them around. I had so many before, and these little things kept me so busy.



Mines used to spike at least once a year, usually around winter and spring, but it bloomed at other times of the year as well. Also, spent spikes will often branch out and bloom a few more times, so never ever cut them unless they dry up on their own.

Yikes...checked my red berry in bloom today and it dropped its blooms.... Wonder if something happened in my grow tent last night. I was expecting it to be in bloom at least a few more days.

Neil, the ones I bought from Florida that were sort of hidden gems ended up in the trash. One of them had scale and it got bad and fast and I threw them out. I will not deal with an infestation!

Kool logs can be googled but yes, it's a ceramic log of various sizes that you fill with water. The smaller size is perfect for tolumnia. I only have one mounted this way but wow it has grown a lot since mounting it this way. Seems to simulate the branch of a tree perfectly! The Kool log is empty within two days but after one day the water level is below where the roots are and so I imagine that it is like a real branch that would stay wet for a period of time even if the tolu roots dry out, at least on the side facing away from the branch. I'm looking for a purebred Tolu Elfin. If I find one, I'm mounting it like this because of the results I've gotten so far.


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[NYCorchidman]

Ryan-

sorry about the loss of that nice tolumnia.
I, too, tossed one tolumnia due to scale problems. It was sitting right next to a cattleya that had scales. I thought I took them all out and killed them with alcohol, but apparently there must have been some hiddine larvae and eggs in between leaf crack or something as they would come back every month while nothing else in my collection got scales, thank god! lol
So eventually I tossed them both. Both the catt and the tolumnia were rather common hybrids fortunately.

haven't seen scales every since. tossing is the best way to deal with bugs I guess.

Speaking of bugs, I just found two small mealy bugs on my Fumi's Delight that looked perfectly fine.
I just bought it at a show last month too. I'm not sure if I should pitch it as I paid a lot of money for little dinky thing. lol
Maybe I should keep it covered in case the bugs spread while keeping a very close eye on it.


Paul- I think you could try giving a bit less light on your tolumnia as I see too much purple on the leaves. When stressed too much light, plants may not flower.

[Pilot]

If it's such a small plant douse it with alcohol and repeat every two days for two weeks. That should do it! Throwing out scale infested plants is easy. Those suckers won't quit!


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[NYCorchidman]

I used Q tips to get alcohol get in between tight cracks of leaves as I think that's where more of them could be hiding. I'm afraid some alcohol might have run down the roots. oops!

I'll have to check the plant closely tonight.
It seems like mealy bugs like to hang out of those tight cracks at night. I found it at night. It was just crawling around, and I killed it right on the spot. lol

[Pilot]

I've drenched tolus with alcohol before. No ill effect. Mealies are so so sooooooo gross.


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[NYCorchidman]

I'm talking about my Fumi's Delight.

My two newly acquired tolis are so far "clean".

[WaterWitchin]

NYC... I LOVE your tolumnia! Espec. the lighter one. I wish tolumnia loved me as much as I love them. They're actually one of my very, very favorite (also my first). Been trying for seven years... I'm thinking 2014 is the year I see something spectacular happen.

[NYCorchidman]

Thanks!

I like them too because they are so small and cute. They fit anywhere and flowers are quite fancy too.

You should have seen this red tolumnia at a show last year. I had never seen such large tolumnia (slightly bigger than most but much bigger flowers and lots of them!!!). I seriously wanted to grab it and run. hahahaha

[WaterWitchin]

Originally Posted by NYCorchidman

Thanks!

I like them too because they are so small and cute. They fit anywhere and flowers are quite fancy too.

You should have seen this red tolumnia at a show last year. I had never seen such large tolumnia (slightly bigger than most but much bigger flowers and lots of them!!!). I seriously wanted to grab it and run. hahahaha

Heck! If I would've been there, I could have ridden shotgun for ya, and we'd have split it!