How often to mist aerial roots if growing indoors.

[Tamilynn]

Real newbie question...sorry. I just read a thread about misting aerial roots, which I don't do and never have, and am wondering how often you mist and does it matter which type of orchids. My Phals mostly have long aerial roots.
I live in New England. Thanks for reading.

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[camille1585]

If your Phals have an otherwise healthy set of roots in the pot, there is no need to mist aerial roots. I very rarely mist any aerial roots on healthy plants, they only get wet when I water the plants (by soaking).

Curious to see what others say about it, but I just see it just as something nice to do, but not necessary.

[jcec1]

Same as Camille - I don't mist aerial roots either, I try and coax them back in the pot though, so will soak them and make them more pliable to get them back in - when repotting I try and get as many into the media too - I haven't had any issues with these roots rotting - I think that may be a myth.

[SundayGardener]

I am also new at orchids, so my experience is very limited. I live in Wisconsin, zone 5A-B.

I do not mist during the summer, but I have found that I pretty much have to mist certain plants during the winter months, when the air is really dry and cold. You mentioned phals, I typically do not mist their aerial roots, but the exception for me is two species phals which I do mist once daily. They are very small; if they were bigger, I might not mist them. It's also helpful for me to mist the really small plants in place of watering them, because then I am less likely to overwater them.

I've read a lot about how misting can actually increase dryness, because the water will evaporate rapidly when the air is dry and just make roots drier. Based on this, I started the winter off not misting. But I have orchids in their growth cycle, and I found that if I don't mist the new root tips lightly, they will die. It's about 67 degrees F and 40-50% humidity where I keep them (I have 2 humidifiers going full steam and they are under plastic...the highest humidity I have been able to reach is 80 and that was from misting a lot under the plastic).

I will say that winter is when my phals really take a nose dive, and I think it is probably me not watering them correctly so you may want to say to yourself, this is a person to ignore!

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[Roberta]

Originally Posted by SundayGardener

I am also new at orchids, so my experience is very limited. I live in Wisconsin, zone 5A-B.

I do not mist during the summer, but I have found that I pretty much have to mist certain plants during the winter months, when the air is really dry and cold. You mentioned phals, I typically do not mist their aerial roots, but the exception for me is two species phals which I do mist once daily. They are very small; if they were bigger, I might not mist them. It's also helpful for me to mist the really small plants in place of watering them, because then I am less likely to overwater them.

I've read a lot about how misting can actually increase dryness, because the water will evaporate rapidly when the air is dry and just make roots drier. Based on this, I started the winter off not misting. But I have orchids in their growth cycle, and I found that if I don't mist the new root tips lightly, they will die. It's about 67 degrees F and 40-50% humidity where I keep them (I have 2 humidifiers going full steam and they are under plastic...the highest humidity I have been able to reach is 80 and that was from misting a lot under the plastic).

I will say that winter is when my phals really take a nose dive, and I think it is probably me not watering them correctly so you may want to say to yourself, this is a person to ignore!

I think that the 40-50% relative humidity is plenty. If 67 deg F is the daytime high, that's a bit on the cool side for Phals, they will tolerate it but probably not grow much. A heat mat (to at least warm up the roots) or a small space heater with fan to get the daytime temperature in their neighborhood above 70 deg. F (or perhaps a bit more) might be helpful. (In fact, I'd be more concerned about temperature than humidity, which is going to drop if you add heat, of course) For night, even 65 deg F is OK, if plants are dry. Instead of misting for fear of overwatering, I suggest that it might be better to just pot the plant in fairly large bark, so that after thorough watering the roots are guaranteed to dry out faster. If Phals dry out after watering, that is what they want to do. And if they do that, it is nearly impossible to over-water.
If you can pot (bark size, container material) to get the effect that you want for each plant while watering everybody the same, you have laid the groundwork for a nice, big collection without stressing each day that you are addressing a bunch of different needs. (It's a lot easier to make that decision every 2 or 3 years at potting time than every day or two when you're watering! )

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[rbarata]

I always mist aerial roots. I think they serve a purpose, probaly to absorb air humidity. So, I mist them.
When they get too long and difficult my watering, if I see their becoming brown and dying, I call my mean side and give them a help by not misting them.

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[Tamilynn]

Thank you all..thought I was missing something. Great tips and I appreciate them all. I like the idea about trying to coax the arial roots back into the pot. I guess it's one less step because I'm now up to 20+ orchids and it's time consuming. So addicting and I still want to buy more and will. We have an Orchid Show coming up in Feb. Help!!

[estación seca]

In high humidity the aerial roots can remain healthy without water. But in low humidity the tips will die, then the entire root. Many people growing them on the windowsill will have low humidity. I would consider wetting them with one or two spritzes from a spray bottle every day or two in this setting.

[Leafmite]

Good luck! Orchid shows are fun!

[Mountaineer370]

There seems to be a variety of feelings and practices on the subject, understandably so, since each of us has different growing conditions.

I do mist aerial roots. I grow strictly in a windowsill, and the plants have to get by with the humidity in my house in the winter, which has been running in the 20s. Any aerial roots would quickly start to dry up under those conditions. I actually really like the way they look, so I mist them pretty much every time I water, which seems to keep them happy. And this winter I have been watering a LOT. Everything I have is just soaking up the moisture any way they can get it!