Darryl Venables on Tolumnia - DVOS September 2018

[Dollythehun]

I've posted...

[twinkie]

I'm interested in trying my hand at Tolumnias and have a specific scenario in mind. Perhaps someone here can tell me if this is a good idea.

I have an indoor fountain in a SE corner that can receive good Easterly light in Spring/Summer that I can control, and also a wedge of direct but filtered bright SW sun I can control.

There is currently a large square plexiglass sheet under the fountain to protect my bamboo flooring from light splashing and a light bulb went off tonight that I have orchid real estate I have not been exploiting!

I keep my humidity around 50% and temps into low 60's high 50's at night, low 70's in the day for Winter. Summer will def bring higher temps and open windows.

Would these conditions be suitable for Tolumnia (I would probably need overhead light in Winter now), and if so, what would be the proper mounting material to have them standing clustered around the base of the fountain? They will get some water spray - nothing overwhelming - but in Winter I'm hard pressed for the fan/drying issue. I do have forced air heat which tends to circulate air somewhat and dry things out and I have managed to keep humidity up artificially.

I wanted to mount orchids on a branch next to the fountain originally months back but had not seen Tolumnia. Now I like the idea of a semi circle around the fountain's base better. My Phals, Cattleya, Oncidium, Zygo are all doing fine in the same area so am betting Tolumnia might also do well? Any thoughts are appreciated. This forum is THE BEST!

[Dollythehun]

Mine like a lot of light, and to dry completely before watering. Why don't you try one first before you jump in with both feet.

[estación seca]

Cedar shingles or fence slats would work. Reread the part about how Daryl mounts them.

[twinkie]

Originally Posted by Dollythehun

Mine like a lot of light, and to dry completely before watering. Why don't you try one first before you jump in with both feet.

EHEHEHEH you know me, right??

---------- Post added at 07:07 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:00 PM ----------

Originally Posted by estación seca

Cedar shingles or fence slats would work. Reread the part about how Daryl mounts them.

I've been dreaming of spongy black lava with sphagnum moss cushions for them! The colors would really pop with black! Plus I think the lava is so porous it would dry out quickly. I live in a bog zone, never mind I've got plants all over the place. One Winter - don't ask me how - I had an uninvited 'house guest', a tiny frog who took up residence in one of my house plants I took that as a compliment

[estación seca]

I don't recall whether I put this in the lecture notes, but Daryl explicitly said not to use any moss when mounting Tolumnias. It leads to them rotting rapidly. They really do need to dry out fast. He said rocks get too hot. He uses cedar because it lasts the longest in his conditions.

[Dollythehun]

"EHEHEHEH you know me, right?? "

I'm suspicious of your conditions. You could put them in clay pots and nest the posts into some kind of decorative container. But I honestly would start slow. Mine are under catt level light, clay pots, small bark. They dry out quickly. It's hard to imagine them in your set up. Just 'sayin.

[twinkie]

Originally Posted by estación seca

I don't recall whether I put this in the lecture notes, but Daryl explicitly said not to use any moss when mounting Tolumnias. It leads to them rotting rapidly. They really do need to dry out fast. He said rocks get too hot. He uses cedar because it lasts the longest in his conditions.

Yes, I read that part about no moss. I think with my forced air heat and need to actually humidify, it might strike a balance. I think he's in Florida where am sure it's hot whether in or out of shade. I'm in the boggy PNW where the sun is weak at best in Winter, IF we even have any, so grow lights are a must in Winter. My sphagnum moss dries out very quickly when I put it as a top layer over bark for wetter loving orchids. Dunno, will have to experiment. Main thought was to cushion roots from sharp lava.
Another poster in another thread grew Tolumnia on lava rocks and they loved it! It has holes they can grip easily. His were outside it appears, so that's another story. I'll have a go of it and report back, I can always salvage it and move if it appears it's not happy. That's what I love about gardening and plants...I don't know how many times I've heard 'you can't grow that there' and I've done it. Used to astound the county ag man in Hawaii

---------- Post added at 09:24 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:04 PM ----------

Originally Posted by Dollythehun

"EHEHEHEH you know me, right?? "

I'm suspicious of your conditions. You could put them in clay pots and nest the posts into some kind of decorative container. But I honestly would start slow. Mine are under catt level light, clay pots, small bark. They dry out quickly. It's hard to imagine them in your set up. Just 'sayin.

I do like clay pots over plastic, they seem to work well for my Phals and I can visually see the humidity line drop on the pots besides feeling the heft of them to know when to water. If anything, I have a problem of being too dry here inside.
Wouldn't the roots being outside of a clay pot and on lava rock give them an advantage of drying out more quickly? Maybe using coco fiber mats as cushions? I could do one up in moss and one in coco, see how those compare.

I have some overhead recessed lights that are directly above the fountain, could change those out to grow lights. Where there's a will there's a way. Paph's lower light requirement might do better, I'll check out minis. All I know is I gotta get some orchids growing around the base of that fountain!