Troubled Little Tolumnia
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  #1  
Old 06-03-2010, 10:58 AM
jrodpad jrodpad is offline
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Join Date: Dec 2009
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Troubled Little Tolumnia Male
Default Troubled Little Tolumnia

I have what appears to be an unhappy Tolumnia. She bloomed for me about 1 week after she arrived in the mail and looked to be in decent shape. When she arrived, I did notice that one of the leaves was a bit wrinkly (like dried fruit) and after a few days it dried up completely and dropped off.

Since then the wrinklies spread to a few of the other leaves. The Tol is still in bloom (although the color has lightened up quite a bit), so it can't be doing that bad. I just don't want the new wrinkly leaves to dry out and fall off. I also don't want the other plump leaves to become wrinkly.

The Tol is in a 1" clay pot with a few small pieces of charcoal and pearlite. I've upped the watering schedule from a twice weekly pour to a full out dunk every morning (after reading some care tips on the OB). Humidity ranges from about 50%-70% and she gets full sun from a southeasterly window. Temps range from 65f to 85f. I have a small fan providing decent air circulation.

It looks like with the new watering schedule the wrinkly leaves are not getting worse - but it also doesn't look like they're getting any better.

Any advice to quell the damage? Is this reversible? Is there anything else that I can do? I'll try to post some close up pics later this evening.

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

- J
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  #2  
Old 06-03-2010, 03:31 PM
WhiteRabbit WhiteRabbit is offline
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It's possible your tolu was underwatered - I can't say for sure. I doubt the wrinkled foliage will become 'unwrinkled' and still may die and fall off, even tho you have increased watering. Hopefully tho, the increased watering has stopped further decline. As always pix are helpful.
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  #3  
Old 06-05-2010, 07:36 PM
lycaonpictus lycaonpictus is offline
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The wrinkled foliage won't become "unwrinkled," but you should be able to get nice new fans once you've fixed the watering issue.

Tolumnia (pretty much the only orchid I grow!) really need to be drenched early each day, then allowed to dry out completely by nightfall. Sounds like you've got that well taken care of with your new watering schedule and air circulation. Until your plant has started putting up new growth / roots, I would move it out of direct sun and into just bright, less-direct light for now. That will sightly decrease it's dependence on high humidity while it recovers.

Your temperatures look good, but your humidity may be a tad low. Or maybe not. I find that how much humidity you need for tolumnia to thrive seems to be something you just need to discover on your own. Or maybe the plant adjusts over time to your individual environment. If you move it out of hard light, 50% - 70% should be fine.

Your plant isn't going to start a growth cycle until it's finished blooming. If it was me, I'd probably cut the existing spike to encourage the plant to start putting out new roots. If you don't want to do that, you should be able to maintain it through the end of its bloom. (All of this assumes that nothing bigger is wrong, like a scale infestation or a virus.)
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  #4  
Old 06-06-2010, 05:10 AM
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billc billc is offline
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It looks like you are on the road to recovery with your daily watering. Just be sure it's drying completely each day. Once your new roots start you may want to consider mounting your plant. My Tolumnias do much better mounted. I'm in the Northeast like you and humidity is an issue in the winter and if you're growing them inside on a windowsill. I put mine outside from June to Sept. in an eastern exposure(full sun until noon or so) and they explode with growth.
Good luck!

Bill
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  #5  
Old 07-08-2010, 09:11 AM
jrodpad jrodpad is offline
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Thanks Bill, I'll have to give that a try...

Do you do anything in particular to get them ready for the transition to living outside? Do you give them a few hours of direct outdoor sun at first, increasing their exposure bit by bit - or do you simply have them inside one day and outside the next?

Also - if you know that we're going to have a really hot (95+) day, do you take them in?

Thanks!

- J
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  #6  
Old 07-08-2010, 11:17 AM
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Oscarman Oscarman is offline
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Is it an older growth that is doing the wrinklies.....naturally fading away? I would be inclined to remove the flower spike and allow the plant to turn it's energy to growth. With your care new flowers are sure to come.
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