Floor material in new shade house to keep up humidity

[Adrian]

Hi all,

I have just finished building a shade house here in Perth , West Australia. we are having a scorching summer and i am hosing the shadehouse down and misting the air with a hose wand in an attempt to keep up the humidity.

At the moment the floor is just dirt and grass. From my research it seems that a variety of materials are used to cover the floor of a shade house.

Can anyone point me to their experiences with different floor material?

I have read that both gravel or wood chips are a good covering. someone also said that using builders plastic as a base with gravel/wood chips on top is a way to keep the water from soaking into the ground.

I keep mainly native Aust species such as dendrobium speciosum as well as some cymbidiam hyrbids and soft cane Dends. I am a beginner but learning everyday.

thanks for you help

Adrian

	Mistking Looking for a misting system? Look no further. Automated misting systems from MistKing are used by multitude of plant enthusiasts and are perfect for Orchids. Systems feature run dry pumps, ZipDrip valve, adjustable black nozzles, per second control! Automatically mist one growing shelf or a greenhouse full of Orchids. See MistKing testimonials

[Stray59]

Adrian:
I have used pea gravel with no plastic liner and it was a problem due, as you said, the water seeped into the ground. The pea gravel worked well except for the seepage, but then I had ground hogs and moles that borrowed in. I had a very difficult time getting them out as they really enjoyed the environment, so you may want to put down a heavy wire screen first.
As far as wood chips, they break down and if there is any water standing under it, this might cause fungus and such to start up.
Another covering would be lava rock - others may have experience with this, and I hope someone brings in other suggestions.
As far as being a newbie - I have grown orchids for 35 years and today I was introduced into two different ones that I had not idea existed. We all newbies to some orchids, so don't let this stop you!!
Best of luck,
Steve

[greengarden]

LOL, not too many ground hogs or moles in Perth Maybe the odd brown rat but they aren't fans of burrowing through gravel. My neighbours have a gorgeous greenhouse which has a gravel floor and it seems to work really well.

[nlm2951]

I use large gravel rocks and its work for me fine, I use a plastic liner under to control the weeds. norma

[Stray59]

greengarden:
A little off topics here but -
Do you mean to tell me that there are no borrowing pests in Perth - Oooh I am so wanting to visit Australia and this is just another plus in my book. Not that I would be troubled by borrowing pests on a visit, but this is just another good thing about Down Under. It seems every little pest we have borrows, roots around, eats roots and bulbs, and basically destroys every type of garden that is put in the ground in the Central U.S. (Ha)! Now they say we are possibly going to invaded by Armadillos (HUGE borrowing invaders) soon as they are moving their territory Northward. AAARRRGGGHHH.
with envy!!
Now, resume topic ----
Several suggestions for a floor covering here, but it sounds like plastic is a must no matter what you cover it with.
Steve

[james mickelso]

You should put down a couple of layers of plastic sheeting and then put down gravel. That way you can flood the gravel and it will keep the water in and humidity up longer. If you can find lava cinder that has lots of tiny holes it will be even better.

[greengarden]

Rats only really burrow to get access under a fence, etc not to actually create burrows that much. We have rabbit which are a pain but they are easily managed.

[Adrian]

Originally Posted by Stray59

greengarden:
A little off topics here but -
Do you mean to tell me that there are no borrowing pests in Perth - Oooh I am so wanting to visit Australia and this is just another plus in my book. Not that I would be troubled by borrowing pests on a visit, but this is just another good thing about Down Under. It seems every little pest we have borrows, roots around, eats roots and bulbs, and basically destroys every type of garden that is put in the ground in the Central U.S. (Ha)! Now they say we are possibly going to invaded by Armadillos (HUGE borrowing invaders) soon as they are moving their territory Northward. AAARRRGGGHHH.
with envy!!
Now, resume topic ----
Several suggestions for a floor covering here, but it sounds like plastic is a must no matter what you cover it with.
Steve

Here in WA we have venomous snakes, Great white sharks, deadly spiders, venomous jellyfish (box jellyfish is a good example), blue ringed octopus, stonefish etc.
so my orchids are safe. however, due to our hostile wildlife, i have never set foot outside of my house....

on a serious note, thanks to everyone for helping a newbie out. just this morning i have laid down some black plastic, curled up at the edges to create a dam effect. I am going to get some gravel this afternoon and spread it over the plastic. hopefully it will be a good start to my orchid growing in a shade house.

next on the list is some sort of misting system.

cheers
Adrian

	Mistking Looking for a misting system? Look no further. Automated misting systems from MistKing are used by multitude of plant enthusiasts and are perfect for Orchids. Systems feature run dry pumps, ZipDrip valve, adjustable black nozzles, per second control! Automatically mist one growing shelf or a greenhouse full of Orchids. See MistKing testimonials

[greengarden]

Ha ha, yes often getting to my greenhouse or aviaries requires negotiating a venomous snake... Thank goodness we don't have ground hogs though

[Adrian]

Well, after shifting and shovelling a trailer load of pea gravel using a wheel barrow with a flat tire I have covered the shadehouse floor with a covering of around 20 cm. I wet it down in the arvo and before i went to bed.
How can you tell if the humidity is correct? I must admit I couldn't tell any difference.