Moving to a grow tent

[Dusty Ol' Man]

Originally Posted by Orchid Whisperer

With or without water in the pebble trays, your humidity will increase substantially because the plants will transpire water, and the tent will retain it to some degree. The fan(s) will move air (good), but probably are not needed to move humidity around, plants will do that on their own.

Heat rising from the heat mat could potentially move a little air due to convection, but minimal compared to what fans can do.

Thanks. While caring for these plants isn't exactly new to me, this will be a learning experience in winter care. When the weather warms enough everyone will be going back outside. Fortunately for me, this should not be too long. Thanks for the help,

[Dusty Ol' Man]

A little update. Got the light and heat mats in and a humidity tray. Filled the tray half full of rocks and added water to about half the height of the rocks. Placed that on a heat mat on the bottom shelf. (This is where the phals will go.) Hung the light from the top in the middle. Dens and vanda will end up on top. Plugged in the light and heat mat, placed the temp/humidity meter on the top shelf (about 3' above the bottom shelf or approx. in the center of the tent) and let it go for 2 hrs. When I checked it, the temp had only risen 2° but the humidity went from 60% to over 90%! So, we have half a success. (I was hoping for 10° rise) Once the fan arrives the plants can go in it.

[WaterWitchin]

'ol Man... I've looked at this thread prior. Truly, I don't understand why you're doing what you are. Your climate, from what I can understand, is already practically perfect for many orchids. What in the heck are you trying to accomplish? No offense intended, but???

[Dusty Ol' Man]

Originally Posted by WaterWitchin

'ol Man... I've looked at this thread prior. Truly, I don't understand why you're doing what you are. Your climate, from what I can understand, is already practically perfect for many orchids. What in the heck are you trying to accomplish? No offense intended, but???

I am dealing with room issues and night/day temp fluctuations of maybe 4-5 degrees F. Very low humidity is also a problem lately. Indoors it has been in the low 30 percent range. Some days even lower. Plus I want to give this sick vanda every chance to recover. If I can get it into a warmer, more humid environment, it may come back. The dendrobuims I'm not worried about. I've been growing them for several years with no problems other than they get huge! The most recent canes are 18 inches. And with spikes can easily reach 28 inches. Everyone goes back outside when the night time temps stay above 60F.
And I like playing with this stuff. If I can create the right environment, I may be able to move into new alliances I've been afraid to attempt with the conditions I have.

And no offense is ever taken. Your comments and questions come from a much more experienced base than mine.

[WaterWitchin]

Well, huh. Another member here, SaraJean, is in Louisiana... New Orleans maybe? And I think she grows outside year 'round. I could be mistaken though. And I thought southern Louisiana was always very humid. I'm confused.

Now if the idea is getting to play with big boy toys, with the readily available excuse of having a sick vanda, I got yer back!

Ahem... you make me sound like an experienced grower. However, I'm more of a dabbler with a very green thumb. Most of how I grow, I wouldn't recommend for the faint at heart.

[Orchidtinkerer]

WW what dusty says is all very valid for a grow tent. It prevents the orchids humidty escaping thus creatng a more stable environment but at times the humidity can shoot up to dangerous levels which is frustrating and might seem like its not worth it which might be true, grow tents certanly need more maintenance than freestanding orchids!
But there are advantages, humidity is the least important advantage and might be the first logical thing people think of but they are actually designed for the outdoors where their main function is to trap the heat of the sun.
Same indoors. They can be great at raising temps by 5 or more degrees on top of what the sun would normally heat the plants by. But they can overheat easily too so need to be monitored more.

I think the humdity tray might be overkill, in some places I need them, others I don't. 90% is too high (just leave it dry). Also watering will affect humidity considerably - it will go up after watering and go down as pots dry out. If humidity is an issue place the fan sucking air in from the bottom, ie place the fan facing upwards on to the lowest shelf so it sucks air in.

Water trays absorb a lot of heat, once they are warmed up they release the heat, so after 2 hours your reading will have seemed low and although heat mats don't raise temps by a lot it will raise it more after more time.

[Dusty Ol' Man]

Originally Posted by WaterWitchin

Well, huh. Another member here, SaraJean, is in Louisiana... New Orleans maybe? And I think she grows outside year 'round. I could be mistaken though. And I thought southern Louisiana was always very humid. I'm confused.

Now if the idea is getting to play with big boy toys, with the readily available excuse of having a sick vanda, I got yer back!

Ahem... you make me sound like an experienced grower. However, I'm more of a dabbler with a very green thumb. Most of how I grow, I wouldn't recommend for the faint at heart.

Southwest Louisiana gets very dry for part of the late fall/winter. Once spring hits it gets very wet and humid very quickly. Since the two phals are new to me, I wanted to give them a bit more warmth and humidity. I really didn't expect over 90%

---------- Post added at 12:34 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:21 PM ----------

Originally Posted by Orchidtinkerer

I think the humdity tray might be overkill, in some places I need them, others I don't. 90% is too high (just leave it dry). Also watering will affect humidity considerably - it will go up after watering and go down as pots dry out. If humidity is an issue place the fan sucking air in from the bottom, ie place the fan facing upwards on to the lowest shelf so it sucks air in..

That was exactly what I was thinking. It depends on how much air the ordered fan moves. If it isn't enough, I have two 4 inch muffin fans I can set up at the bottom.

Originally Posted by Orchidtinkerer

Water trays absorb a lot of heat, once they are warmed up they release the heat, so after 2 hours your reading will have seemed low and although heat mats don't raise temps by a lot it will raise it more after more time.

After another hour the temp hadn't changed, and with the addition of air movement it probably won't by much. We will see. This is all experimenting to see what happens.
Thanks for the information. I will consider it while watching the outcome.

---------- Post added at 12:37 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:34 PM ----------

After turning the light and heat mat off last night, 12 hours later the RH/temp is 70/74. That is with water in the tray. If it stays there I'll be good without the heat. There has been no sign of sun today and the tent is near an east facing window. More to come as the experiment continues.