Maintaining Humidity under Wonderlight - Orchid Board

sarahliz79 · #1 05-12-2011, 11:12 PM

Greetings all!!

Hoping for some tips on how to increase humidity under lights? I'm currently growing under a 160w Wonderlight placed 30" from the top of the humidity tray (still fiddling with this distance since I've only had the light 7 weeks). I have mostly phals and oncidium which are looking great, but also a miltoniopsis, a vuylstekeara, and what I think is a burregeara (all of which are pleating). Before I got the new light I was having a lot of problems with pleated leaves but was unable to increase watering much because of cooler temps during the winter which led to a mildew problem (lost a milt). Since then I've increased the lighting which has increased the temp, enabling me to water more (every 3ish days depending) but I'm still having pleating issues. I've added a fan about 5 feet from the growing area to increase air flow and also repotted many of the plants that are pleating just to check whether roots were rotted (which didn't seem to be the case). They're in clear plastic pots now (which so far I love!) At this point I'm seeing lots of new growth due to the increase in lighting and would really like to get the leaf thing sorted out so the new growth looks nice!

As far as I can tell the options are....

Mist through-out the day (something I've never done because of the potential for rot)

Leave the humidity tray full of water (which I tried once and was a bit worried about the scumminess)

Buy some kind of humidifier/fogger (potentially cost prohibitive since I just spent $$ on the light)

A moisture meter (does anyone use these/like them?? I thinking Momet?)

Sooooo......whatcha think? Anything I haven't thought of?? Suggestions?? Need more information?? I'd love a recommendation for a good humidity/temp meter so that I can monitor things better. Also.... on a somewhat unrelated topic... during the winter I was fertilizing 1/2 strength, biweekly with Grow More green (20,10,20)... should I be switching to a different formula to initiate flowering?? I've successfully reflowered all my phals and two of my oncidiums (twinkle, which I've heard are easy). Recently bought a Sharry Baby out of spike and would love to see it flower, the Milt and the Vuyl are new and the Burr I've had for over a year without it reflowering ( which I'm hoping may be a light issue). New to the forums so still working on adding all my info so y'all can see pics but heres one of the growing area....

Thanks!!

BTW... what's the easiest way to do pics... attach em to the thread or link to your profile??

WhiteRabbit · #2 05-13-2011, 03:16 AM

hmm - if the roots are ok, I'm baffled - it can be quite dry here in summer, and so long as I don't allow the media to dry out, I don't have problems with pleating - except for the one I apparently overwatered in winter, and the roots rotted - new growth was extremely pleated. I don't do anything to increase humidity. I don't grow under lights - but many in windowsills, and outside.
If you got mildew in winter, the fan may help.
What media are they growing in? Do you water before the media is completely dry?

I usually attach photo thumbnails directly to my posts, but you can also post from your gallery thru the link provided in the gallery.

sarahliz79 · #3 05-18-2011, 07:35 PM

Hey there.... thanks for the reply (sorry for the lag on mine)!!

Most are growing in a bark/shredded redwood combo. Some are only shredded redwood (the twinkles, the phals, and the milt) because thats what my local grower uses. When I repotted to check the roots I added some bark to the mix thinking that then I could water a bit more frequently. The redwood seems to hold water longer thereby increasing the chance of mildew??

I have some that I water before they dry out..... mostly the ones that are pleating but I also have a Rhynchostylis that I water every day.

Here's the pic of my growing area (hope it works!) Thanks.

WhiteRabbit · #4 05-19-2011, 02:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sarahliz79

Hey there.... thanks for the reply (sorry for the lag on mine)!!

Most are growing in a bark/shredded redwood combo. Some are only shredded redwood (the twinkles, the phals, and the milt) because thats what my local grower uses. When I repotted to check the roots I added some bark to the mix thinking that then I could water a bit more frequently. The redwood seems to hold water longer thereby increasing the chance of mildew??

I have some that I water before they dry out..... mostly the ones that are pleating but I also have a Rhynchostylis that I water every day.

Here's the pic of my growing area (hope it works!) Thanks.

hmmm ... I could see where maybe redwood might hold moisture longer, but I would think (tho I definitely could be wrong) that redwood would be resistant to molds/mildews - seems conifer wood usually is, and that's why, despite being very soft, that redwood is desirable for fences and decks ...
so, I'm baffled - sorry

I hope some others may see your post, and hopefully be more helpful than I

silken · #5 07-19-2011, 12:39 AM

I know lots of people hate sphagnum moss. But there are those who like it including myself for certain things. I plant my masdies in straight NZ sphag. My miltoniopsis (about 14) are in a mix of fine bark, moss, a bit of perlite and charcoal. My phals are in mostly moss with some medium bark chunks. Oncidiums are in a mix of bark and moss with a bit of perlite and charcoal thrown in usually. I find the moss helps hold the moisture a bit longer. I get the odd pleated leaf in the milts or oncids, but not many. And they seem to be blooming happily. My phals have masses of roots which I can see in their clear pots.

I have heard that New Zealand sphagnum is best as it doesn't break down as fast and that is what I use. I also use humidity trays full of water under all plants. I guess it is a matter of finding out what works for you. For me CHC held moisture too well, but that may be another option for you.

Your plants look very nice in their growing area.

Eyebabe · #6 07-19-2011, 11:24 AM

When I grew in the house with Wonderlite and fans, I used more sphag in my media and a humidifier.
It helped.

Ray · #7 07-20-2011, 11:21 AM

1) Your "humidity trays" are not doing squat at raising the humidity in your growing area. Not enough surface area. Since you added a fan, that actually defeats them even more.

2) When you mist, mist the air, not the plants. Wetting the leaves is a bad idea for their health, and it lowers the surface area of the water to slow the evaporation rate.

Read Evaporation, and get a humidifier.

Oscarman · #8 07-20-2011, 12:14 PM

You can get a cool mist humidifier on amazom.com for a little as $26.95 (KAZ 3100), your plants will love you for it. This is not a brand endorsment!

I also did the water trays in many of my setups, they dont really do much (except get scummy and full of algae). OK, sometimes the roots of my plants would grow down into the water and then they would go nuts! Especially my Cattleyas - tons of root branching.

There is one Oncidium (Odontioda Yellow Parade) in my collection which always pleats at the beginning of each growth. Its growing in NZ moss, evenly moistand with 60-70% humidity. Maybe this one is a genetic characteristic. We'll see after it is moved to S/H. I water frequently and S/H works well for me.

fishmommy · #9 07-20-2011, 12:26 PM

with miltoniopsis under lights what I do is soak the pot and medium in a bucket of water every day without getting the leaves wet (gently lower the pot into the water and hold for a minute) to keep the roots well hydrated.

my other solution is more extreme but works well for me - put the whole thing in a closet with a humidifier.