humidity concerns with my grow stand-phalanopsis

[ladyslipper]

Hi all, here is a picture of my current grow stand. Its just a copy/paste but i wanted to give an idea of what I was talking about. http://www.leevalley.com/garden/page...,44716&p=10549

I grow mostly Phals, both species & hybrids. When I set the grow area up, I included a backdrop of plastic that extends 1/2 way around both sides. I have recently lowered the lights to try to give more light to the smaller ones and to address a concern about humidity, I have hung a few clear plastic dry cleaning bags because I wanted to have alot of control over how much humidity was in the stand being in that I grow phals. I found the humidity shoot up from 30 to 35% to over 50% (it was a little shocking to see the humidity level climb like it did). What I was thinking was that I would move the plastic across the front to the side when the lights shut off to allow the humidity to drop with (hopefully) the temp. Now I have to get used to watching for things like crown rot whereas before the water dried pretty fast (its really dry here in the winter). I want to find a small/weak fan to move the air around when the plastic is down. I do have a few places where I have left it open thinking it might give a least a little bit of movement.

Is there any issue I might be getting with (1) moving the plastic aside in the evening when the lights are off, or (2) not having a fan inside but do have several holes for possible air movement? When it gets warmer here, I will be cranking the window open a little bit so that will help a bit, but because the plastic is light, that will be an issue in itself.

Regards, mary

[FinnBar]

hi Mary,

even several holes won't contribute to air movement the same way a fan does. i'd recommend a small one at the end of each shelf.

from what i've understood high humidity is more important at night than during the day, as orchids don't usually "breathe" during the day. but maybe someone else can confirm this.

the grow-stand looks awesome, by the way!

[gmdiaz]

Could you just add a humidifer nearby? And add an oscillating fan? I don't know about all that plastic lifting and regulating but I do know they like fresh, moving air.

I've got my plant stand set up this way to grow mostly Phals and it's been working like a charm. My humidity, here in super dry Colorado, stays only around 45% with the humidifier. I keep the humidifier on the top shelf of my stand. Nearby, I have the oscillating fan. . .so it's not blowing on them constantly but it is blowing across them regularly.