Question about humidity solution

[greenpassion]

Hi all. Living in Vermont I struggle with keeping my humidity up, pretty much from October thru may. I grow all my orchids in my house-living room, kitchen and bedrooms. I've been thinking about getting a whole house humidifier this year, but am not sure of several things. One, will it keep my humidity levels where I want them, and would it somehow cause disease via the moist air ?? I guess I mean could bacteria grow in the humidifier without me realizing it, and cause an issue with my plants?

[fishmom]

I don't know anything about whole-house humidifiers. But my kid who lives in L.A. has 4 units distributed around her 2200 sq.ft. home. They help keep the humidity at a level that makes it easier to breathe and keeps sensitive skin from itching. The digital read-out on the units aim for around 40%, but I'd say the accuracy is questionable. My husband (asthamatic) could tell the difference when the unit was and was not in our bedroom for sleeping.

The units need to be refilled every 2 or 3 days, with the reservoirs cleaned at that time. It's not hard, ;but just needs to be done.

[greenpassion]

Thank You Fishmom. Maybe I should get several. Does anyone have a recommendation on the most efficient one?☺

[Ray]

What to get is determined, to some degree, by your heating system, but you need to shoot for about 45%-55% RH for typical room temperatures.

When I lived in a house for forced-air heating, for example, I installed a humidifier in the plenum that humidified the entire house. Being a mist of (relatively pure) tap water, it never needed any maintenance. When I moved to PA, I used console units that used a fan to blow air over a wet wick.

If you are limited to stand-alone units, there are all sorts to choose from, but things to consider are their output capacity and their sound levels, since they'll be in your living space.

[greenpassion]

Thank you Ray for your response. I think I can sacrifice noise levels in lieu of giving my orchids what they need! I'll start shopping online now I suppose. I do have forced hot air heating and I don't think misting the air roots in the morning and when I get home from work at midnight would be enough. In past years come spring many of the air roots that are outside of the pot are shriveled, and I do believe this is due to lack of humidity. Despite this they are all very healthy growing new Roots new leaves and sending up spikes predictably. I just want to get better for their sake.

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[estación seca]

Will you have orchids in multiple rooms? It is often easier to humidify just one room rather than the whole house. You can put the orchids in one area, and partially enclose that area with clear landscaping plastic sheeting to keep the humdity inside.

If your water has a lot of dissolved minerals, that will build up on everything, and need cleaning frequently. If you have relatively pure water it will not be as much a problem.

Empty and clean humidifiers regularly. The bacterium that causes Legionnaire's disease grows in heating/cooling equipment water reservoirs.

[greenpassion]

An answer to your questions, I have dendrobiums and Hoyas in my bedroom, and my kitchen living room is one large area / an island on which I have 12 or so phalaenopsis orchids, and my living room window I have another 9 phalaenopsis. So my thinking is I would get a large room humidifier to try to humidify that area the kitchen living room, and a smaller one for my bedroom. But here's a question for you. For some reason I realize that I thought dendrobium kinganium's don't need as high humidity as phalaenopsis. Maybe I think that because there care is so different from phalaenopsis. I'm assuming I'm wrong about that? I also wanted to mention that I have a reverse osmosis countertop set up, so the water I will be using in the humidifiers should be without all the mineral deposits.

[estación seca]

The Hoyas won't care about low humidity unless they're some of the difficult jungle ones like H. curtisii. They are tough house plants everywhere.

D. kingianum prefers cool, very bright, very dry winters. They are fine outside here most of the winter, with relative humidity 10% or under. You will have more trouble giving enough winter light with this plant.

The other Dens may vary depending on what you have. Some prefer warmth and humidity all year; others don't.

The Phals will benefit from more humidity.

[greenpassion]

Got it. Thanks Estacion

[jkofferdahl]

While it sounds like Ray's plenum-based humidifying system did an acceptable job, but most whole-house systems will only raise the humidity to 35 to POSSIBLY 40%. The idea behind them is to raise humidity enough that it's easier for residents to breathe, and the air is moist enough that residents don't get overly dry skin. With some exceptions, orchids prefer a much higher humidity level.

Your Phalaenopsis plants will absolutely want the higher humidity. I also grow mine in my house and use humidifiers to raise the level of their rooms to between 65-70%.

I use room humidifiers like these. They last about 24 hours between fills, and I check them for cleanliness at each filling.