I have High Temps with Low Humidity for my Paphs

[DenmanNJ]

it's a bit of a struggle going on for this windowsill grower - My Paph collection in set back from the windows - with a Humidifer and a Heater going. The Heater is doing a good job of raising my temps (which used to go no higher than 70-degrees), but the Humidifier is only providing 26%, 31%, 45% levels of humidity. Something just isn't in balance here. My grow lights are on high. Can anyone help me with this ?

[Kruger]

I have not found a good way to make up for low humidity. Aside from collecting orchids that are tolerant of low humidity, I would work on increasing that number to at least 55+ during the day and 70+ at night.

What humidifier are you using?
Can you isolate that room so the humidifier has a smaller area to work on?

I'm not an expert but good, fresh air movement and high humidity can't be understated.

[Fairorchids]

You do not mention which Paphs.

For sub-genus Paphiopedilum (insigne, barbigerum, villosum, etc.), 70F is adequate.

For sequential bloomers, multi-florals, Maudiae types and Brachypetalums, slightly higher would be good.

In the Parvipetalum group, there are both cool and warmer growers.

[rbarata]

In general, the ones with mottled leaves are warm growers. The others with plain leaves are more or less cool growers.

[DenmanNJ]

I'm sorry .....I grow only Multifloral paphs.

[thefish1337]

If your humidifier isn't doing raising humidity substantially you need a better humidifier or a smaller room to contain the humidity (as mentioned by others). I noticed major improvements over the winter by adding a humidifier and keeping humidity between 45-60%. I struggled with keeping a smaller humidifier topped up and with its generally low output. This humidifier finally did it for me:

6L humidifier

Note that this humidifier has a max room size of 430sqft. I'm able to keep my humidity up in a room a bit larger than that but it takes some time if starting at a low level. The humidifier runs for 20 hours on high and 60 hours on low. I use high to get the humidity up then I refill and run on low- this has been a game changer for me. Remember to clean your humidifier at least monthly (with bleach) as they can easily grow moulds and mildews.

[early]

Originally Posted by thefish1337

If your humidifier isn't doing raising humidity substantially you need a better humidifier or a smaller room to contain the humidity (as mentioned by others). I noticed major improvements over the winter by adding a humidifier and keeping humidity between 45-60%. I struggled with keeping a smaller humidifier topped up and with its generally low output. This humidifier finally did it for me:

6L humidifier

Note that this humidifier has a max room size of 430sqft. I'm able to keep my humidity up in a room a bit larger than that but it takes some time if starting at a low level. The humidifier runs for 20 hours on high and 60 hours on low. I use high to get the humidity up then I refill and run on low- this has been a game changer for me. Remember to clean your humidifier at least monthly (with bleach) as they can easily grow moulds and mildews.

Ditto for keep up with 2 small ones, Tx for the referral to Amazon. Mine will arrive Friday Along for some summer sheers , so I can move my small collection back across LR.

[thefish1337]

Originally Posted by early

Ditto for keep up with 2 small ones, Tx for the referral to Amazon. Mine will arrive Friday Along for some summer sheers , so I can move my small collection back across LR.

i also found it a pain to fill up the smaller units as they had minimal output control and would last less than 20 hours. This led to me forgetting some days or just not having time to fill them on a busy morning. I doubt there was much benefit to rapidly fluctuating humidity under my previous humidifier regime.

[early]

Originally Posted by thefish1337

i also found it a pain to fill up the smaller units as they had minimal output control and would last less than 20 hours. This led to me forgetting some days or just not having time to fill them on a busy morning. I doubt there was much benefit to rapidly fluctuating humidity under my previous humidifier regime.

ditto again..I live in a 40 yr old adobe home, with LR, dr an kitchen all open space.Moving orchids to my plant atrium near front door all in the same space. Hope they will do well there with lots of windows and space for NEW orchids by then

[DenmanNJ]

My orchids are in my LR. My LR is 336 sq. ft.
My Humidifier I also got on Amazon - it is 6L and can handle a room that is 500 sq. ft.
Since it arrived, I am able (at times) to get the Humidity level up to 58%. Now, I do not run the humidifier overnight. Am I supposed to run it overnight? I read that you shouldn't.