help with humidity - Orchid Board

imgliniel · #1 01-07-2019, 12:43 PM

Alright, it is my first winter with orchids in Los Angeles, and I need some help.

quick backround - I used to live in San Diego and had a collection of about 30 orchids. Being a beach city I never really had any issues with humidity and it's pretty temperate so we didn't blast the heater in the winter. I have since moved (life circumstances, had to give away the whole collection) and have started over.

what going on currently - I am now in a lovely new house in west Los Angeles county, right near the ventura county line, and holy dry air Batman! We have actually had nights dip into the 30's the last week, and boy has the heater been blasting..... Everything is dry.

I had a lovely light pink Phal I got at the downtown flower market and it was in bloom (forced I am sure) I got it in late september and it had been happy as a clam up until early dec when the heater kicked on. Within a week, complete bud/flower blast. My girlfriend got me a semi minature for my birthday, (mid december) and within 2 weeks it was also blasting flowers. The plants themselves look/seem healthy, good roots, no rot issues, properly watered, not drowned, etc. But recently I am noticing some slight floppy leaves. just very slight, and they seem to firm up as soon as I let the room get steamy from a shower. I've been misting (not great I know) putting everything on a humidity tray with lava rocks in it, leaving out little cups of water, and leaving the door open when I shower, but now the little pink one has one leaf slowly yellowing. It only has 4 leaves and a fifth that is mid growth so I am a bit concerned it is more then standard ageing of that leaf. I broke down and borrowed the cool mist humidifier we have for the toddler and when someone is sick. But getting things balanced has been hard. Either it seems to dry, or it seems musty.

Help? suggestions? What do those of you with low humidity do to keep things comfortable for your plants? Recommendations for a good room humidifier with a humidistat? Frankly, I would benefit from a room humidifier too, so I have am not opposed to buying a good and versatile one. I have asthma, and was dealing with dry eyes, the occasional nose bleed, and a very uncomfortable sore/dry throat and cough. All of which have gotten better since I have been using the cool mist humidifier. 3% humidity isn't great for me either it seems, haha! One issue with the cool mist one is it makes the room feel colder. And as it is cold enough! So something that does warm mist for the winter, cool mist for the summer, and has someting that measures the room humidity and comes on and off accordingly would be great, so I don't ping pong from dry to oversaturated and back like is happening now.