Tolumnia potting options

[jmrathbun]

I just received three different Tolumnias, each in its own 1.5" pot with small bark. I want to repot these on medium lava rock as recommended in a recent Orchids article. Of course I don't have any 1.5" pots and they don't stand up very well anyhow (nor do I have a good place to hang them). I have 3", 4" and 6" pots, any one of which is big enough for all three orchids to share one pot. It looks like these are blooming size, because I see an old spike on one. Their varieties are
Tolumnia Genting Orange
Tolumnia Genting Sunray
Tolumnia Tequila Sunrise
So what do you think? Can they share or should I leave them alone or give each its own pot? The surface area of a 1.5" pot is around 1.8 square inch, the 3" pot has 4 times that area, the 4" pot has 12.5 square inches and the 6" pot has an area around 28 square inches. The volume goes up exponentially too, of course, but I'm not sure how important that is with inorganic media. They have a LOT of air roots!

[BettyE]

Hello, and welcome to Orchidboard. As far as tolumnias are concerned, ( or ALL orchids, for that matter ) do not put them in too large of a pot. For some reason, they seem to like being in as small a pot they can comfortably fit into. I have three, of which one has recently bloomed. It is in small charcoal chunks, in a two inch pot. The lava rock sounds great, though...I might transfer mine to that. BettyE.

[jmrathbun]

Do you think similar orchids will share a pot?

[Wrebbitrocks]

i would advise not to share a pot. should one come down with an infection, it could spread the disease to the other plants. keeping them spearate will minimize the loss. :]

[BettyE]

If they were belonged to me, I would get pots for each one. However, I guess you could try to put them in the smallest pot...together. Good luck, and keep us posted. I LOVE these small orchids! BettyE. :-)

[Wynn Dee13]

Can you put them back into the 1.5 inch pots they came in? I would keep them separate and buy some new little pots or put them back into the pots they are in.

[Pilot]

I guess I'm the only crazy one here but i put about six tolumnia in the same shallow pot with hydroton and a hole on the bottom....the container is glass but holds no water. I have no reason to believe any of them have disease or virus and they're happy as a clam getting doused with water several times a day with the garden hose!

Consequently, my tolumnia are the only plants that didn't despise the move from inside to outside. I accidentally left them in full 6500' foot elev sun all day the very first day and not a single one burned or browned. I was amazed. They really do love as much sun as they can get.

[james mickelso]

I would pot them separately. (Did I say that?) I pot lots of different species and cultivars in the same pot or mount but here I would opt for separate pots. Easier to divide when it comes time to repot them. I am a big fan of lava rock. You can water nearly as much as you want. You have to pot in small pots when you are using an organic potting mix that absorbs water and stays wet because the plant doesn't use it all up. Inorganic media usually doesn't have that problem. It acts somewhat like a mount. It depends on what the lava is like. Mine which I get from an old volcano has surface holes only and doesn't absorb a lot of water. It stays wet for a day or two and then I can water again. Let us know what you decide to do with them.Here are a couple potted in lava rock.....

[jmrathbun]

Thanks for all the helpful advice! I decided to invest in some 2" net pots from Repotme. That's 77% more surface area than the pots they're in now, so it should be about the right space upgrade. The shipping is expensive but at least we don't have to pay sales tax on shipping!

[Wynn Dee13]

Yeah I have to order almost all my orchid supplies online because I can't find what I need locally. Shipping is expensive. I wish I had an Orchid supply store here. The people who live next to Kelly's Korner and other orchid supply stores are lucky!