Tolumnia Midas root problem

[theflowerbread]

I finally got a tolumnia, they are so cute! And this one is peloric form.. Just I doubt the root and substrate it came in quality so i took it out... actually it wasn't too difficult as it seems the plant was potted in just right before shipping.. The roots are too few imho and the substrate (small size bark, pieces of sphagnum and small bits of pumice) didn't dry by the night and stayed wet even in the 2nd day.. I really dunno how long the plant was in this substrate but one week for sure... I hope it was just for transporting purposes only, weird though..
One part of the plant fell off with one bulb but no roots but I didn't have the courage to toss it so I planted it in a small basket with some sphag moss and keep it in a mini "greenhouse" - a plastic tray with a lid, opening for an hour a day to ventilate it.



So far many leaves have fallen off since I got this tolumnia..
The day I got her


The other part, the biggest I put in the same size basket with big chunks of bark and some of its pumice bits. Watering by spraying completely wet with rain water and let it dry by the night.

They grow in vanda light I read but I was scared to put on my East windowsill, i don't want them to become cooked especially the one in the tray. For now on the West w/s with no direct sun rays till they get better...hopefully.
Am I doing correct? I know these guys grow better mounted but no way Im gonna mount it in my environment, and I can not keep up with the watering..

[theflowerbread]

PS. Sorry for the huge pics previously

[raybark]

I think your problem is one of continuing moisture, possibly with low temperature thrown in (just a guess).

In nature, tolumnias live on tiny twig branches of shrubs on the windward side of Caribbean islands. They get frequent, drenching rains, but are continually swept with warm, tropical ocean breezes, so don't stay wet for very long.

I have often had issues when trying them with any growing medium, but they do well for me growing on bare cedar slabs or in tiny clay "thumb pots" (about big enough to fit your thumb into) with no medium at all.

About the only exception is a plant I have now, planted in wood fiber in a plastic net pot, but it looks like all the roots in the fiber have rotted, so the plant has resorted to growing on the outside, instead.

[Mike H]

Ray is correct, most of my tolumnias are out of any type of soil. I did receive a couple planted in tree fern which seems to be OK as it drains immediately.
On a side note, mine are getting WAY too much light and are now mostly purple but are growing and look healthy so I'm not going to fool with them.

[theflowerbread]

Do you keep the slabs in a terrarium? If not, how do you provide the necessary humidity?

[raybark]

In the summer, they are outdoors, about 75 feet from the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, so humidity is no problem. In winter, I have a plexiglass enclosure with wet LECA on the bottom.

[Dorsetman]

I used to grow them in plastic pots with medium bark - 10-15mm size, hanging up in the roof of my greenhouse, where they got far too little water, but flowered well. Alas they succumbed to gross overheating (45 ˚ C.for days on end) when I had family problems so that did not visit the greenhouse,and a software failure which kept the heating system running non-stop for who knows ? Up to a couple of weeks maybe...I have not seen them on offer very much to be able to replace them.