Wrinkly and yellow tolumnia leaves

[2SadDeadPhals]

Hi! Newbie here. My little tolumnia seedling has been growing a little new fan for the past couple months. I think it grew maybe 1mm. The other leaves have kind of turned yellow, and 1 leaf died. Another one in the middle is wrinkled. I have it in a mesh pot with medium bark and water it every other day or every 2 days. Checked the roots, they're all alive and growing. I've added a bit of sphag just to see if just needs more moisture in between watering. What do you think?

Thanks,

Phals

[Roberta]

If the roots look good, it has a good chance, though the leaves don't look great. If the leaves are on an old fan (I can't see a new one) the new roots could all be for the new one, I think that it is 'way too wet - tolumnias need to dry out pretty much completely between waterings. What are your temperatures? They typically don't want to get cold. They can grow pretty bright... filtered sun or bright shade.

[2SadDeadPhals]

Originally Posted by Roberta

If the roots look good, it has a good chance, though the leaves don't look great. If the leaves are on an old fan (I can't see a new one) the new roots could all be for the new one, I think that it is 'way too wet - tolumnias need to dry out pretty much completely between waterings. What are your temperatures? They typically don't want to get cold. They can grow pretty bright... filtered sun or bright shade.

Hi! Thank you for responding. Yes, the leaves look progressively worse every week

I have it where it receives 12 hours of supplemental grow light + natural filtered bright sunlight for maybe 3-4hours. Humidity here in NYC is very low in winter. It has been 25-40%. Temp has been 20-25C consistently, and I have been drying out completely between waterings. It just gets super dry super fast in my environment.

The new fan is VERY SMALL and is very dark in color, so it is very hard to see. It's been extremely slow growing.

Not sure what it wants, and I I am growing a ton of houseplants on the shelf (Hoya, peperomia, jade, palm) with no issues, so I am stumped. Poor little guy. I wish he could tell me what's wrong!

[Roberta]

Temperature is OK. I'm sure that it doesn't like the low humidity, but as long as it gets a good watering and then dries out it should be OK. The old fan may just be on its way out - as long as a new one is coming along it'll be fine. (and dark is good, leaves do tend to be dark as well as succulent) As for slow, that's what orchids do. Compared to those houseplants, the growth rate for most orchids is glacial. I think just be patient, let that new growth mature,

[2SadDeadPhals]

Thank you so much for the encouragement! I hope you're right, and I'm not somehow killing it. I was really confused when I checked the roots because they had grown and were very healthy. Am I supposed to allow roots to get crispy? Sometimes I worry I'm letting it dry out too much.

Here is the close up of the new growth.

[Roberta]

I'd let them get to the crispy stage but not for long... in nature, they're twig epiphytes, lead a pretty rugged life, but the humidity is higher. How open is your medium? If it is open and airy, you can water well (water flowing though), and end up with "humid air" around the roots... they want that rather than "wet".

[2SadDeadPhals]

Originally Posted by Roberta

I'd let them get to the crispy stage but not for long... in nature, they're twig epiphytes, lead a pretty rugged life, but the humidity is higher. How open is your medium? If it is open and airy, you can water well (water flowing though), and end up with "humid air" around the roots... they want that rather than "wet".

I hope they can hold on till summer! it gets super humid here. They will LOVE IT

The bark pieces are medium sized (.5 - 1"), and the pot is a mesh pot, so it's very airy. I do have it in a mug, so hopefully the air is moist in there a bit longer than just bare mesh pot? It looked like the roots on the outskirts of the pot were getting crispy quicker than the roots in the middle of the pot. I alternate between just running the water through the pot and soaking for 5-10 mins.

[Roberta]

I think that it will be OK. watch that new little fan. That's where the action will be.

[2SadDeadPhals]

Thank you so much! I will watch the new fan like a hawk.

[estación seca]

It's too wet. They prefer drying completely every 24 hours. Not many people succeed growing them in bark. Read again the Tolumnia link I gave in an earlier message.