Tolumnia calochila

[estación seca]

Didn't want to hijack u bada's thread on same. One day of Andy's 12 days of Christmas sale December 2015 was Oncidiums. Because I had been doing well with a tiny Tolumnia variegata seedling from Olympic Orchids last summer, I ordered from Andy's T. calochila, guianensis, sylvestre and urophylla, all blooming size. The last three are spiking now, and I will show pictures eventually. Their fans are several times larger than the calochila. The tiny calochila pictured hasn't spiked, but seems happy. Last night, at our orchid society meeting raffle, I won a T. velutina, which I put with the others. Its fans are tiny, the scale of the calochila.

I have them hanging in a window, where they get 4 hours or so of morning sun, then bright shade. Humidity is 50%-70%, sometimes higher at night. In the last week, I put up 30% shade cloth outside the window, because daytime temperatures outside have been low 80s to 90 F / 23-32C. Some Vanda seedlings got burned spots. I spritz them with rain or fertilizer solution (MSU at about 45PPM nitrogen) 1 or more times per day, and soak them in a bucket several times per week, for 4-12 hours. They dry out quickly.

[u bada]

Yeah, i got all of those tolumnia over the course of last year, pretty new to me with their reputation but considering respective climates, seca, we should do well with them! so far they've been doing well outside most of year and inside in the window in winter, with dunkings... how do you keep your humidity 50-70 inside the house? that's impressive...

if any long time tolumnia growers see this, feel free to chime in about them...

[estación seca]

The summer growing room is loaded with plants, a 20 gallon and a 2 gallon aquariums, and dogs sleep there. The sunroom is loaded in the winter with succulents escaping the frosts, and every morning I empty on the concrete floor the bucket I fill waiting for the shower water to warm up.

[u bada]

Well that set up explains it, so jealous... yeah that heat in last couple weeks was terrible...

Did your tolumnia roots dry up over winter? i feel like that may be normal. Was at sboe the other week and their tolumnia roots looked about the same... and by the way their variegata's they had growing with the cymbidiums in the cold house, and they say they did better there (still gets warm in summer there)...

[twinofmunin]

I also have one of these from andy's from about a year ago. Mine isn't spiking, and a lot of its roots seem to have dried up over the last couple of months, but it's also pushing a few new roots. It has a slight brownish/reddish tinge to the leaves.

I keep mine in a little glass hanging terrarium next to south-facing windows and spray it once a day with RO water. House humidity is 40-70% in the winter; not sure how much the terrarium helps. Temps are certainly cooler than it would like at night (probably high 50s near the window). It was outside last summer (dappled shade) and will go out again this summer. Summers here are fairly humid and warm. I sprayed it daily with RO water when it was outside, as well.

Will be following this thread to make mine happier, hopefully. As well as figuring out how to keep it warmer in the winter...

[estación seca]

My roots have stayed healthy, I think because I water and soak them a lot. They dry quickly. By the way, the tiny T. variegata didn't grow at all until I began spraying frequently with MSU fertilizer at about 40 ppm nitrogen.

[billc]

I bought one of these as oncidium calochilum from Andy about 4 years ago. I keep it in very bright light, about 6 in below a T5HO fixture. I dunk it or give it a good spray most every day. My winter Temps in a grow tent are 73-78 high and 52-55 low. Humidity is 65- 85. It is sending up a spike right now.
Mine flowers about twice a year and if you leave the stalk it will sometime reflower on the same stalk. It is a beautiful vibrant yellow.

Bill

[eddyezekiel]

It's an hard specie to grow. I Have mine since 2012, and it grow very slowly. mine are mounted on fanjan and receive a lot of light, like Brassavola. I water them every days but the roots need to dry between.
Actually in spikes.

[isurus79]

Originally Posted by estación seca

My roots have stayed healthy, I think because I water and soak them a lot. They dry quickly. By the way, the tiny T. variegata didn't grow at all until I began spraying frequently with MSU fertilizer at about 40 ppm nitrogen.

I believe this species has pretty intense drought tolerance. It wouldn't surprise to learn that it is intolerant of excess fertilizer, so don't spray too much! I'm curious to see it bloom.

[eddyezekiel]

I feed them like my Cattleya, but I think you're right, less is surely better.