Stuffing it will probably be a good idea. It will dry out too quickly to keep the moss alive by just misting, you'll have to soak it periodically. I would be a bit leary of mounting two different types of orchids on the same mount since they may have different needs at different times of year. I would also be slightly concerned if the roots of the two are widely different in terms of thickness. Thicker roots will want to dry out more between waterings as compared to thin ones. I don't have a tolumnia but don't they have very thin roots? Whereas phals tend to be thick in the root dept. I'm not saying it will be trouble...but it could be. Maybe stuff more moss on the side with the tolumnia. A pic would be fun. I don't know what a "twig ball" is.
-MB

I'm not sure that Phal.violacea and Tolumnia is a good mix. Over to the under light growers, has anyone grown and flowered these together?

My Several hundred Tolumnia Hybrids are down the backyard in a glasshouse while my lone Phalaenopsis violacea is in this room with strips of sunlight on its leaves through the matchstick blind. It is in a pot. Current temperature where it is sitting is 26.3C Humidity 53%. No doubt it could do with more warmth and humidity. But i'm not prepared to sit here typing, pausing to wipe the sweat from the brow.

If I was you I'ld take the Phal off the ball and pot it up then put your new Tolumnia on the ball with the other. Stuff the ball with Sphag to help it retain water a bit longer ang keep the live moss going but be careful...The Tolumnias like to have thier roots dry out rapidly. Generaly tolumnias like to get watered early every morning but be dry before nightfall. IF you have really good air circulation and really high light levels then you can water like I do...

I have my Tolumnias mounted on Treefern plagues with sphag padding under and on top of the roots. As new roots grow out of the sphag I leave them exposed to the air. When I water my sphag stays moist for about 2 days then I wait one more day before watering again...it works for me but I have to watch carefully in the winter to keep from overwatering. Just remember to provide lots of light and air flow. I have mine growing indoors in a 2'X4' area with enough CFLs to provide the equivalent of 1200 wts of light in that area and the Tolumnias are 6 to 10 inches under the lights depending on how they responded when I put em in there. Some like to be closer and others need to be a little further in my set up but they all grow and flower well.

Every grower has different conditions and needs to adjust thier system to what they have so my way may not work well for you but it gives you an idea as to what Tolumnias like....lots of Air and light....remember that they are Twig epiphites found growing on the small twigs in the outer most part of the tree canopy in nature.
I hope this helps, Adam

I've grown and flowered both phal violacea and a tolumnia under lights. I say "a" tolumnia because the others I tried would not bloom - probably needed more of a winter than I could provide. My conditions are more suited to the violacea.

I think it's possible to grow both on the same mount (put the phal on the shady side), but one or other might be unhappy some of the time. In other words, not the best combo, but you could try it for a while to see how it goes.

I'm certain the phal will survive if you give it the same watering schedule as the tolumnia, but the tolumnia will deteriorate if kept too moist.

As for the other healthy tolumnia, I vote for leaving it alone until it is way past potbound, and then mounting it. By then, you'll have figured out the mounting thing.

The essential problem is that i would say that Phalaenopsis violacea needs tropical lowland conditions while Tolumnia do need some sort of cooling off in winter.
There might be a meeting point, a compromise, a set of conditions where both would be happy and that is what i am seeking here.
Down the backyard, in the glasshouse, where several hundred Tolumnia live is a death zone for Phalaenopsis violacea.

"There might be a meeting point, a compromise..."

either that, or it's possible that the particular Tolumnia does not need the cool down - like my particular one. I wish I could grow more of them, but until someone posts a list of Tolumnias that don't need a cool down, I'm stuck with the one I've got. *sigh*

Hi Guys,

Thanks so much for the responses. I originally intended to mount both the toluminias on the moss ball but I received the one I ordered from Hausermann's (yes, it finally came last Thursday!), I couln't get it out of the pot--it was so happy-looking being pot-bound. The Phal Violacea was coming out of its pot as well--the roots were coming out the bottom so I thought I'd mount it with my original tolumnia instead. I had no idea that this combination was going to get the responses it did.

Both tolumnias and my Phal would have been in the same West-facing windowsill anyway. I know, I know...but my NYC apartment is very limited in what it can provide for orchids. In any case as Komi said, I'll try this and see what happens for now. They look so cute together--I wish I could figure out a way to upload a picture with my Mac.

If it doesn't work out, I'll mount the other tolumnia--which has got a very long spike and is about to bloom. It's in much better condition than I expected--with lots of white roots and multiple growth points. I tried to pull it out of its pot and it wouldn't budge! As for now, I'll keep the Violacea side wetter than the tolumnia side...

Thanks again, and if I'm not mistaken, I've seen your tolumnia wall, Arthur, and I can only admire and drool from afar...

Komi, which one do you have that doesn't need a cool down?
i thought that Tolumnia hybrids as a group would be better if i had warmer growing conditions in winter as it is there is not much in flower outside their flowering season which is mid spring to early summer.
One that seems to flower without a cool down is Zelemnia Liz 'Full Moon' an Australian production that i think is available in the USA.
Must take a better photo of this orchid without fungus spots on the flower.

Here is a link that might be useful: Zelemnia Liz 'Full moon'

Heavens, the Vandopsis lissochiloides in your photostream is lovely.

I don't think there are too many Tolumnia hybrids in the US yet, and some of the import sources seem to have unreliable tags.

The one I have left is Tolumnia Ralph Yagi 'Jon' - one of three in a grower's choice special. It does get a marginal cool down for 2 weeks in the winter - about 65F/18C - during which time it gets no water and almost no light. (This is because I usually travel for 10-14 days in the winter and no one plant-sits.) However, 2 weeks is usually too short for anything that really needs a cool down. The flowers are splotched differently every time, and I wouldn't say it's a beauty ;-)

{{gwi:153258}}

Well I don't really know all that much about winter cool downs but I can tell what my conditions are ...In the Summer my Orchidarium gets up to a daytime high of about 94 F with a low of 74 F...My winter Temps are highs around 74 F and lows around 60 F ...My humidity varies from 50 to 70 percent depending on temps and watering frequency. IT would stay more constant but I have a fan that constantly blows in a small amount of fresh air through a 2" hole in the lidwith an identicle sized hole at the opposite end. I would like to have less air exchange to stablize the humidity but my summer temps will climb over 100 F if I don't run the exchange fan all day.

Komi, the photo of Vandopsis lissochiloides and some other interesting orchids was taken at the Montreal Botanical Gardens by my daughter in law. Must be a great place for orchid fanciers to visit.
Getting back to the Tolumnia. i rather like Tolumnia Memoria Ralph Yagi 'Jon' and that colour pattern comes out in many hybrids.

Hybrids are hard to find here too, perhaps because nurseries are wary of selling them and then having to give refunds because they die usually due to over watering. The tropical myth dies hard.
Pointless giving my conditions in detail but my guess is that a minimum of about 50/55F with a big lift in day temps might be the go. Having said that mine have to put up with something like 40/50F minimums before the fan heater comes on to lift the day temps as the sun rises.
The thing about the dew and the humidity rising at night must be important because they never survive if tried in a shadehouse exposed to dry winter air. A place where it is easy to grow various other orchids including nobile type Dens. The other Fundamental seems to be that you need a fan running 24/7. Another grower I know grows them warmer, but the air movement in his house is so strong that it feels like a gale and you feel cold.
There must be a lot of orchids that grow in sub tropical places where the nights are quite cool but day temps lift quite a deal in "winter" .