What are the results of inadequate humidity?

[stylingpat]

What happens to an orchid when all other culture conditions are met but humidity?

[Ray]

That's going to depend upon the particular orchid, of course, but in general, you will see a dull surface appearance, as the cells are losing water through their membranes more quickly that they are designed for.

That can also lead to wrinkling or pleating of leaves, stunted growth, dried-out roots, or "burnt" leaf tips.

Everything is a balance, and throwing off one things can upset the entire apple cart.

[NYCorchidman]

Where do you live? Unless it is severely dry, I find humidity not that important.

Humidity was one thing that concerned me the most about growing orchids.

I grow my orchids indoor and it can get quite dry. I do not run humidifier for my plants. All grow and flower fine.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

For most Jewel Orchids, such as Macodes petola, inadequate humidity leads to its decline up until the orchid dies. That's why most Jewel Orchids, with the exception of Ludisia discolor, a great majority of the times should ideally be grown in a terrarium or vivarium type of setting when they are grown in areas where humidity can get rather low.

For certain species of Dracula, not all, it has the potential to lead to either bud blast, inability to bloom, or slightly malformed flowers.

It really does depend on what kind of orchid you're talking about.

[Skayc1]

Is there an easy way to know if the room the orchids are in is humid enough? my mom's back bedroom gets hot n stuffy feeling- which I think is because of humidity. some bathrooms tend to be more humid as well.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

I recommend a min-max thermometer with hygrometer.

The min-max thermometer for reading the high end and low end of the temperatures for the day, and a hygrometer for the relative humidity.

Using your sense of touch is deceiving. Your body gets used to certain ranges of temperatures and/or humidity.

[Bud]

humidity from moisture in the air....even young human skin needs moisturizer or it easily dries out and gets itchy....plants need humidity because they have pores in the leaves that needs moisture to help them with processing food with the help of sunlight....the roots need humidity most of all to help absorb nutrients

---------- Post added at 02:59 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:54 PM ----------

*Humidity is the amount of water vapor in the air. Water vapor is the gas phase of water. Humidity indicates the likelihood of precipitation, dew, or fog. Higher humidity reduces the effectiveness of sweating in cooling the body by reducing the rate of evaporation of moisture from the skin=for plants moisture from the leaves. This effect is calculated in a heat index table, used during summer weather.
as Ray indicated: without humidity you upset the balance of nature.

There are three main measurements of humidity: absolute, relative and specific. Absolute humidity is the water content of air. Relative humidity, expressed as a percent, measures the current absolute humidity relative to the maximum for that temperature. Specific humidity is a ratio of the water vapor content of the mixture to the total air content on a mass basis.