coolmist humidifiers should I even bother?
 

upon reading the humidity link posted in the other thread
due to fans or forced air heating, the passive methods like the humidity trays appear to be of very limited value, if any, and room-type humidifiers might offer only a minimal improvement. If you really want to do this right, consider closing off the growing room, or find a means to humidify your entire home, and remember that for many plants it is not necessary to have tropical humidity, but that we are shooting for a sufficient humidity to keep the plants from desiccating

I have no way of closing off the growing room and all i have is one of these coolmist humidifiers...

should I even bother?

I have put all my plants on a shelving unit and took an inexpensive clear plastic shower curtain and covered all sides, i plan on getting adhesive velcro strips to hold it closed and a couple desk fans that i can put inside to keep up the air circulation. I also put glass containers of water on my baseboard heaters in the plant room and i keep the door closed. I doubt this helps much but certainly cant hurt

:photo: please attatch photos asap!

I don't like to use the cool mist humidifiers because they always leave a puddle on the floor. I wouldn't even bother. Do you have an idea of what the humidity is without the humidifier? I keep mine in the 40-60% range and have not had any bad reactions from the plants.

Will do :)

I actually do use a warm mist humidifier. Partly to help myself (skin & breathing) in the cold, dry winter months, but I've been using it year-round on the floor in front of my growing shelf. The mist travels up from the humidifier, and my fan helps kinda suck the mist into the growing shelf. It definitely helps me keep the humidity up around my orchids. I'm able to keep a good range of 50% – 70%, with spikes up to around 90% in the summer days after watering. If I weren't running it in the winter, and I know this from using a meter, the humidity level in my growing shelf would drop as low as in the 30% – 40% range.

A good humidity meter is an asset.
That way you know what the conditions are in every corner of your growing area - and they DO change!!
Without a lot of effort, I can't keep my humidity over 50% in the winter. Summer is easy, but the dry, cold air is a problem. I use a large mister/fogger that is capable of putting up to 0.5 gal. of water into the air every hour and typically go through 8 gallons of RO daily in my endeavor to maintain good growing conditions.
I monitor the humidity using several meters scattered over the growing area. The fogger is on a humidistat set at 60%.
Too low humidity for several species of orchids would not be appreciated and for most species, would invite increased pests (mites) and poorer performance.

I use a cool mist humidifier set on a timer for most of the year. In warm weather it helps enough in my front bay window, where I keep a couple dozen orchids. If I'm away and the windows are closed, I think it also helps a bit with air movement.

Just because you cannot close off the grow room does not mean you need not bother humidifying.

What it does mean is that you should be thinking in terms of more humidification capacity.

Keeping the RH in the 40-50% range is good for the plants, for you, and even your home.

I did something similar to "let it grow". I covered the window with plastic. Most of my pots are plastic so I place them inside terra cotta. I soak the terra cotta every time I water and I also place the pots in deep plastic containers with clumps of damp sphag. I make sure there is air circulation around the pots.

It sounds kind of complicated I know. My little humidity guage says it's 40-60% most of the time. It doesn't seem like the humidity is as much of an issue for the leaves as it is for the roots so I try to keep the moisture higher in that area. Everybody seems happy, new leaves and spikes are appearing.

http://www.orchidboard.com/community...010206edit.jpg
http://www.orchidboard.com/community...010203edit.jpg

maureen