Is daily top-misting OK for Phragmipedium besseae?

[Another_World_Terraria]

I created a cloud forest grow tent with cool temps so I can grow INT-COOL growers. It has a humidifier, frequent air movement from fans, frequent ventilation, and cool air supply intermittently.

There are a lot of plants hanging all over the walls of the tent (in pots and mounted) and so I installed a misting system. It's not as effective and controllable as I'd hoped but it does reduce the need for me to manually water the smaller plants too frequently.

I got Phragmipedium besseae and have it potted on the bottom of the tent. The misting system turns on once per day for about 20 seconds. The water will land on the Phrag and may collect in the crevices of the leaf growth. The air flow is good and it might dry out but I don't know how fast and I can't guarantee the drying out / air flow will always reach the inner crevices of the growth tips so there could be some persistent water.

Is this going to be a problem for that species? I know it likes to grow wet, but I also know in nature it probably gets most water at the roots from seepages. I'm not sure how often that species gets top watered by rain in its natural habitat. I'm worried with frequent water in the growing tips between the leaves, it could rot. But I also know there are some cloud forest and wet growing orchids which wouldn't care in the least about something like that.

Thanks for any help

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[estación seca]

Welcome to the Orchid Board.

Two issues here: Will there be enough wster to the roots? Phrags take up water through their roots, not leaves. Second, will the cool wetness on the leaves harm the plant?

I can't address the first, since I don't know how wet the medium becomes with your regime. But you say 20 seconds of misting per day is not enough for the mounted plants, so I'm almost certain it's not enough for the Phrag. The medium needs to get wet when you water.

As to the second, how long does it take for the Phrag leaves to become dry after a spray?

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[Another_World_Terraria]

Originally Posted by estación seca

Welcome to the Orchid Board.

Thank you

Originally Posted by estación seca

I can't address the first, since I don't know how wet the medium becomes with your regime. But you say 20 seconds of misting per day is not enough for the mounted plants, so I'm almost certain it's not enough for the Phrag. The medium needs to get wet when you water.

I will still be manually watering some plants and usually check on them every day. If I notice something not as moist as it should be, I manually water. For things like this Phrag I will be sure to keep the substrate wet. I can easily sit the pot in a shallow tray of water as well.

Originally Posted by estación seca

As to the second, how long does it take for the Phrag leaves to become dry after a spray?

I will have to observe that over the next few days to get an idea of the average time to dry out. If I had to guess, I would estimate that the main leaf surfaces should dry out within a few hours. As noted though, water might remain in the crevices, where the leaves meet, for longer than that. I will observe for a few days and comment back.

Unfortunately the plant suffered significant stress on its way to me because the package got lost and then delayed, so it was in the box for 2.5 weeks (and that's not even counting the initial import trip from Ecuador). The leaves already have some black patches and other issues from the long trip without air flow. The roots and plant base seem healthy though.

[Ray]

While the conditions may not directly transfer, I once had a very warm "orchid incubator" chamber that was watered exclusively with a misting system.

The chamber was saturated with mist for 1 minute every morning about 5 am, before the lights came on, and again for 30 seconds about noon.

Small fans maintained air movement, not drying.

Any plants in pots had media that stayed airy while saturated, but none of the plants every dried out and I experienced no rot issues.

Keep in mind that I did add probiotics to the water supply periodically, so that may have the most significant protective factor.

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