humidity tray

[clusty]

Hey,

I was curious about the efficiency of a humidity tray to raise the humidity locally around the orchid.
Is the effect significant given the air movement from fans ?

[lornaheath]

My hygrometer regularly reads around 72 degrees most mornings. I don't use a humidity tray tho. I water into the attached saucer and that circulates very well.

Lorna
x x x

[No-Pro-mwa]

I would love to know the answer to this as well. I think yesterday it was Rosie that said they did not help that much. Which of course just made me go ...well crapper. As I have in the last 3 months just got some new ones that I thought I liked very much. Now maybe they weren't necessary.

So before I get any more I will see what others say about it.

[naoki]

The effect is easily measurable with hygrometer. It basically depends on the ratio of the surface area of the trays to the volume of air in the room (well, other factors do influence the evaporation rate such as temp and air pressure). In most living room (unless you live in a small closet), you can get only 1-5% increase in RH. So it is not so effective, but it may make you feel better. In an enclosed space, it can increase the RH dramatically. My grow tent is 4'x2' and the height is 5'. I have humidity trays covering 4x2' area. With this, I can grow many orchids easily; RH inside the grow tent is 65-90% without active humidification while the RH of the room is 10-40% (very tough to grow any orchids). To get similar effect in a living room, you probably need to cover entire floor with humidity trays, and live on top of it.

But a bit of humidity boost (1-5%) could be better than nothing (especially if you consider the cost of "operating" humidity tray is pretty affordable).

[Bud]

I have centralized temperature controlled environment with automatic dehumidifiers. I have to resort to trays of water and electric humidifiers with oscillating fan. My apartment is very dry in the summers in spite of the high humidity outdoors yet I have boiling water heater steam in the winter months so it is not so dry for me and my plants.
My humidity trays get dry in 48 hours so I have to refill water every other day....at least there is water evaporating inside my apartment than nothing....

[Ray]

You might find THIS of interest.

[Bill U.]

Originally Posted by Bud

I have centralized temperature controlled environment with automatic dehumidifiers. I have to resort to trays of water and electric humidifiers with oscillating fan. My apartment is very dry in the summers in spite of the high humidity outdoors yet I have boiling water heater steam in the winter months so it is not so dry for me and my plants.
My humidity trays get dry in 48 hours so I have to refill water every other day....at least there is water evaporating inside my apartment than nothing....

Bud, I like to use humidity trays just to try and make things a little more bearable for ME in my dorm room- let alone my orchids! Something you may want to look into are the "cool-mist" humidifiers that don't increase the local temperature. I have recently invested in one and it has done wonders for me and my orchids! * a bonus is that I can use it year round as well

[clusty]

During summer, I keep with windows wide opened so humidity is around 50-60% most of the time.
Come winter, I am running my humidifier 24/7.

By the smell of it, a humidity tray will not be doing a whole lot, unless it is in a very confined space.

[Bill U.]

No, they really don't. The only way that they do a whole ton is if you have a heating mat under them, but for that energy cost, it's normally more effective to just run a humidifier. Not to mention, warm water and little air movement provides a great environment for slimy algae to grow... :P

[Calbears]

I use mine as a drip tray indoors. It gives a point higher humidity versus the rest of the room. I do use a cool mist humidifier and find I can get a 5-10% boost from it in my setup.