To spritz or not to spritz

[Sawdust]

Hello Everyone. I was wondering if people spritz the orchid every day or on a cycle. Or not all. I don't have a misting system not sure how it would work in my set up. I have made a two level light thing. Its about 6 ft tall and 5 ft wide and 14" deep.

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[tmoney]

hey there,

im guessing it depends on what you are growing and your humidity. if it’s only phals in pots, you probly don’t need a mist system. if it’s like ghost orchids or something, or vandas that are mounted, then maybe you would need a mister.

if you tell people more about what type of orchids you r growing and how then you might get better responses! good luck with the setup!

[Ray]

Please read THIS.

[Sawdust]

I have a couple of phals, cattleyas, cymbidiums, several Dendrobium Kinggianum(sp), several Maxillaries Tenufloria(sp), the last two I have about 4 or 5, they are about 4 years the Dendrobium they have bloomed quite a bit, the Maxillairias have not as yet bloom, but are growing nicely.

[Roberta]

I think skip the spritzing... when you water, water well - so that it runs through the pot. This flushes out any "crud" and also pulls air into the root zone. Misting is useful for mounted plants, and those with lots of aerial roots. If they're in a pot, not useful. (Doesn't raise humidity for more than a few minutes so doesn't slow water loss by transpiration much or at all. Orchids absorb water through roots not leaves)

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[Leafmite]

I spritz the air plants, the terrarium of moss, mounted orchids and the Bulbophyllum that has many growths whose roots are entirely free of the medium. The rest get watered.

If your orchids have many roots outside the pot, then it makes sense to spritz the roots once a day but if you are doing this for humidity, it does not make much difference.

[tmoney]

hello again! i agree with the others that probly not worth it (or could be bad) to install a system. of the plants you listed, the only one i spray religiously is a maxillaria and that gets directed spray from a bottle right onto the growing “bulbs” because there are little roots in there...hard to explain in words. that plant really likes it. it is a max. variabilis. best of luck!

[dbarron]

Yes, depends on the plants.
If there are plant that benefit from it, an occasional soak in a bucket or a shot with the hose is better than 'spritzing' which would seem a waste of time to me.
More in the class of 'lets give him something to take up his/her time.'

[Ray]

Spritz the roots? Sure. Wetting the plants is the bas part. It doesn’t do diddly for the humidity and potentially provides incubators for pathogens.