help with humidity - Orchid Board

imgliniel · #1 01-07-2019, 01:43 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.

rbarata · #2 01-07-2019, 03:16 PM

Be prepared...I don't know the climate in your area but I think in summer things will get a lot worse.

First thing is to get plants that can cope with low humidity. It will save you a lot of problems.

I have phals that thrive in humidities as low as 15% in summer and 30% in winter. Maybe their genetic background allows it but I suspect they are adapted as I have several different ones.

I use a cool mist humidifier with a humidistat might not give you what you want...30% humidity is too low. It depends on the equipment and room dimensions but I think it will be difficult to achieve something around 60%.
What are the dimensions of your room?

My trick is to keep the room door closed with the A/C on set to 23ºC and the fan at medium speed for air movement. When I go to bed I turn it off and with the air temp going down HR will increase from mid 50's into 60%.

fishmom · #3 01-07-2019, 03:53 PM

I have a daughter that lives in Woodland Hills, and their cool-mist humidifiers help, but I doubt you will reach 60%.

I have an "indoor greenhouse" which is basically a plastic cover over a shelf structure. It sits on a table, and I keep humidity trays under the bottom shelf. I can keep 50-70% humidity in there, depending on the temperatures and how recently I watered.

rbarata · #4 01-07-2019, 04:07 PM

In another room I also use a setup like the one fishmom's showed.
I can reach 70% easily but as I don't have any fans inside it has small vents. Obviously humidity keeps falling due to that but a water spray by the end of the day does the trick (I don't have nany water trays, I spray everything inside, plants included...my oncidium loves that in summer).

Roberta · #5 01-07-2019, 04:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fishmom

I have a daughter that lives in Woodland Hills, and their cool-mist humidifiers help, but I doubt you will reach 60%.

You probably don't need 60% RH, if you can keep it in the 30%-40% range during the day (it will go higher at night if the temperature drops) plants should be OK. It's the single-digit humidity (especially with high temperature) that they hate. Summer very likely won't be as bad - At least the last couple of years, the monsoonal weather pattern started in the L.A. area right after June Gloom passed. (Warm to hot, but muggy) It's the Santa Ana winds in the fall that are the killers. (For those not in southern California, these are eastern winds, often very strong, that gain heat and lose humidity as a high-pressure area hits the hills and the air currents flow downhill compressing the air. Think "fires") Lots of places have a similar weather pattern under a variety of names. When the humidity drops, don't be afraid to water - copiously and often.

Zindaginha · #6 01-07-2019, 04:46 PM

I'm really new to orchids (going on six weeks, maybe!) but I second the suggestion to get a mini greenhouse. I bought a tented shelf for around 35$ from Target and I easily achieve 80% or higher humidity just by running a tiny humidifier a couple of times a day for maybe 15-30 minutes. (I also have a bunch of sundews sitting in a tray of water, so that helps. And my indoor RH tends to be around 40% or higher here in Oregon.)

You would probably need to get grow lights, if you don't have them, and that will alter the temps, along with just having everything under a tent. You'll also need a small fan or two.

Alternatively, would it work to have the orchids in the bathroom with a grow light?

If you are doing grow lights, you could also try to move your orchids into the bathroom.

TamiP · #7 01-07-2019, 08:30 PM

When I'm really having issues in the winter I just keep a pan of water on the stove steaming.

Ray · #8 01-08-2019, 10:00 AM

It is important to realize that humidity is not a localized thing unless you're working with a closed volume.

Nature "hates" gradients. That's why a high pressure system adjacent to a low pressure one creates wind - nature's effort to evenly distribute the molecules of air.

When you try to boost the humidity around your plants, unless they are enclosed in a tent or tank, you have to try to boost the humidity of that entire room, and if that is not closed off from the rest of your home, all of it must be humidified.

imgliniel · #9 01-08-2019, 02:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ray

It is important to realize that humidity is not a localized thing unless you're working with a closed volume.

Nature "hates" gradients. That's why a high pressure system adjacent to a low pressure one creates wind - nature's effort to evenly distribute the molecules of air.

When you try to boost the humidity around your plants, unless they are enclosed in a tent or tank, you have to try to boost the humidity of that entire room, and if that is not closed off from the rest of your home, all of it must be humidified.

Generally speaking my room is closed off from the rest of the house. Door closed most of the time. While I am at work all day, and overnight. Open maybe a few hours a day while I am home doing chores, etc, and perhaps a bit more on the weekends.

Roberta is probably right, I don't need to get to 60% in my entire room. But as I mentioned, even my own respiratory system is not happy with single digit forced heat. So keeping things up around 40% to even 50% is probably more then fine. Sadly, I do not have enough space in just my bedroom to get a grow tent type set up. Although something along those lines somethere else in the house may be an eventual edition.

SOMEONE **cough, girlfriend, cough** walked in yesterday evening with a huge healthy dark puple nobile dendrobium, that apparently had just come in on a shipment at a good garden center, and they hadn't priced them yet, so it was um, not as expensive as it should be, haha

estación seca · #10 01-08-2019, 02:58 PM

Have you considered closing the heat vent to your room? You could use a portable electric space heater, an ultrasonic misting device and an air purifier. If you did this it would also be a good idea to put some tight weatherstripping on the door and any windows. This might also help your asthma since a lot of central heating blows dust and allergens that can be trouble for asthmatics.

Is there enough light in your room for a Dendrobium nobile plant? Do you have an outdoor area in which you can grow? I think it will do fine outside all year for you, so long as you water it enough in summer and bring it inside on nights when frost threatens.