Tolumnia care

[lily99]

I just got a Tolumnia mail order. It is potted in moss in a tiny ceramic pot. I have it next to my cattleyas under a HID light. My question is, how often should I water it and how fast should the roots dry? I watered it Sunday and it was completely dry this morning, so I watered it again. Should I repot it in a coarser mix so it completely dries every day and needs water every day?

[Paul Mc]

In situ, they get morning rains and are completely dry by nightfall. People has problems with these if thy are not completely dry by evening. Btw, don't cut the flower spike until it dries up, they rebloom off old spikes!

[Paul Mc]

I have mine in small clay pots with just a bit of horticultural charcoal.

[Discus]

Yep, these things should dry off fast from what I've read. Some people say they do OK slightly moister, but conventional wisdom say dench then dry on a regular (daily) basis.

[silken]

I agree that they should have air to the roots and dry well after watering early in the day. Mine came in CHC in an open plastic net pot with quite large holes. It seems happy that way and has two spikes on it now.

There is a recent thread here of one person's that came in moss and has lovely roots and he just put it into S/H as an experiment. I think it may have been Pilot who did this.

[Vanda lover]

I heard years ago that tolumnia don't do well in s/h. I wondered at the time just how many people have actually tried it to come to that conclusion. I didn't think vandas could be grown in s/h because they like similar conditions but some people are growing them that way.

[GenevaDad]

From what I'm reading, I guess it probably isn't the best plant for a beginner. Should it be grown in the "normal" area of the house where the HD is lower than say where the rest of the plants are kept?

[Paul Mc]

I'll have to let someone else answer that. Personally, I don't do anything special to it other than use good quality water and allow it to dry out. During overcast days, sometimes I don't water at all for a day.

[silken]

I too don't find it difficult although I have had mine for only about 9 or 10 months. It likes a lot of sun and not much water! I even go away for about 5 days and just water it before I leave and when I get back home. When I'm home I water it every day or every other if it is hot and sunny. In winter, it gets less.

[stefpix]

I found mine like a lot of humidity. was given 2 species keikis and I mounted them on a stick. the only way they grow is when i stick them in a glass jar and cover the top with a clear lid and leave some 1inch of H2O + H2O2 at the bottom of the vase. i then do not really need to water them much and are making keikis. When I kept them outside some growth died and dried out. But the pieces I was given were not established just piceces that fell from a specimen in a greenhouse.

I saw them growing in an artificial tropical pond at the Botanic Garden on a mangrove branch really close to the water and shaded by leaves. I wonder if different species of Tolumnia are more drought tolerant than others.

Anyway I am keeping mine in teh vase till they will grow more roots and growths. each time i tried to grow them out they were set back and bounced back once in the vase.