Is this a good idea to increase humidity

[estación seca]

Do you think that ever was water-tight? It might have been an under-the-bench bed.

I agree with the above posts about climate - you should be able to grow a lot or orchids where you live. I suspect you can grow a lot of orchids outside on trees. Is the structure enclosed on all sides? It might be useful in winter to have a space you can keep a little warmer at night.

[ArronOB]

Originally Posted by estación seca

Do you think that ever was water-tight? It might have been an under-the-bench bed.

I agree with the above posts about climate - you should be able to grow a lot or orchids where you live. I suspect you can grow a lot of orchids outside on trees. Is the structure enclosed on all sides? It might be useful in winter to have a space you can keep a little warmer at night.

I have no idea if it was designed to be waterproof or not.

I filled it up to the inch mark 2 days ago and about half has gone but whether it’s leaked or evaporated I don’t know.

It wouldn’t have been a garden bed because it’s on a concrete floor so drainage would always have been poor. Baffling.

Arron

[Orchid Whisperer]

Originally Posted by Subrosa

Filling the trough with gravel would eliminate areas of standing water and still provide the humidity.

Yes.

I was going to say sand (or soil). . . Seed that sand with literally anything that is leafy (grass, etc., anything) and the leaves will greatly increase the rate at which water is put back into the air (transpiration).

If your shade house is open to the air, you should probably have enough air movement. As a test, hang something like plastic flagging from the ceiling, if it moves at all, it is probably getting enough air movement.

[ArronOB]

Well now that my little shadehouse has been running for a month now, I can see that with near-daily watering and ocassional rain then the trough below the benches never dries out. I mention this because I guess it means it must have been designed to retain water.

I also see that I was wrong about the humidity being too low. Now I’m thinking maybe it’s too high. It’s hard to give figures because there isn’t a really close weather station, and I think the nearest one would be misleading.

Anyway, the little cattleyas are growing wonderfully well, so things must be ok. So are the mosquitos.

Cheers
Arron

[bil]

Originally Posted by ArronOB

Anyway, the little cattleyas are growing wonderfully well, so things must be ok. So are the mosquitos.

Cheers
Arron

If you have a water tank with mosquitoes. why not put a couple of guppies in there?

[Orchid Whisperer]

Originally Posted by bil

If you have a water tank with mosquitoes. why not put a couple of guppies in there?

In the tropics, hardly anyone keeps a water tank for liestock without putting a few fish in it. Keeps out the mosquitoes, and is a primitive indicator as to whether your water supply has gone bad.

[ArronOB]

It’s a bit cold here for guppies but a lot of people have used Mosquitofish (Gambusia) as a DIY mosquito control. This has led to a devastation of our local wild fish, frog and freshwater invertebrate faunas. Now it’s illegal.

You can read about it here
Mosquitofish in Australia - Wikipedia

The mosquitos don’t bother me much and would be present here no matter what I do as there’s is other standing water around. Were too far south for dengue or Ross River fever or any of the other insect-bourne viruses anyway.