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Sunday, March 25, 2012

Tolumnia Red Berry out of bloom

Mounted tolumnia with dead roots peaking through live moss

     It seems that within a couple weeks, my tolumnia red berry went out of bloom.  The flowers lost their vibrance, and rapidly dropped to the ground.  I don't know how long tolumnia blooms usually last, but I suspect it's longer than a week.  However, the stress of travelling from the nursery to the store to my house--coupled with the multiple repotting/mounting attempts likely had drastically shortened the blooms' lifespan.

     As you can see in the picture, although all the leaves remain green and firm, the roots of the tolumnia are not doing too well.  You can see the pale white roots through the green moss.  All of these are dried and dead.  I am not too disappointed, because they didn't look too healthy even the first day when I brought the orchid home. I can see one green root higher up near the base of the orchid (hidden under moss), and hopefully there are others, alive and out of site.

     Hopefully the tolumnia won't suffer too badly a decline from the apparent root loss.  At least a couple healthy roots should still remain, and since the orchid is mounted, I can water daily to provide regular hydration without risk of root rot.  I remain thoroughly charmed by the miniature orchid, and last week ordered 2 more tolumnias from Orchids by Hausermann.  My plan is to mount all 3 orchids on the same piece of driftwood and hang it off the side of the plant shelves to save space.

Coincidentally, I was extremely tempted by add a Phaius tankervilliae to my order (I loved the one I saw at the NYBG) but the prolific size of the plant and my unfamiliarity with phaius care dissuaded me from the purchase.

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