Humid winter aquarium setup

[Dalachin]

Hi all. I finally set up a cool humid winter grow area in a small fish tank. Any suggestions? Do you think this is better than just sticking them on the windowsill and hoping for the best?

It is cool by virtue of the fact that it is in a converted porch room with no heating mat right against a window. I expect that in winter night temps will drop to the high 50s, right now I’m seeing 65 as a night low. During the day it heats up to 68-70, maybe more if it is sunny. There is one mister that goes off for 3 min in the morning and 30 seconds at 5pm. Two computer fans. One botanical leds light. I do have s second one that I could add.

Humidity reads 80-90% , is that too much? I could leave the top off (it us just a piece of plexi laid on top)

Current species:
Sarcochilus ceciliae
Paphiopedilum micranthum
Dendrobium hekouense
Dendrobium aggregatum
Dendrobium kingianum
Dendrobium parishii
Neofinitia falcata
(Maybe add sediera japonica?)

[Roberta]

Nice setup! I think that humidity is too high if it is 24/7. It's OK for night but during the day, I would suggest letting it drop as the temperature warms. You don't want to start a fungus factory. So opening it up would let you get some air exchange as well as air circulation.

[estación seca]

I would take the Neofinetia out of there. It expects a cool, dry and low-humidity winter. It would likely do better on the windowsill. Damp and cool for extended periods of time may lead to rot.

I would take all three Dens out of there for the same reason.

These four species come from monsoonal climates with hot, wet, humid summers and dry, cooler and low humidity winters. Dens. aggregatum and parishii don't need to be very cool in winter to flower but they want a distinct drying period. That room might not be cool enough for Den. kingianum to flower well.

[Roberta]

The Den. kingianum should be OK with the expected winter temps. What it will need, along with cool and somewhat dry, is bright light.

[Dalachin]

Thanks for the input. I have rearranged… the mister is off indefinitely(seems unnecessary) and I’m leaving the top off, and humidity is around 70. The mounted plants are arranged so that I can selectively water them… my thinking is that I’ll ease off the watering of the dendrobiums, and perhaps move them in January when they are dormant to avoid watering mistakes. Or maybe just leave them there unwatered to benefit from the humidity. I added encyclia mariae and Cattleya jongheana.