How often to mist aerial roots if growing indoors.

[greenpassion]

I want to chime in here on this too. I have recently begun misting the aerial roots of my phalaenopsis orchids because the humidity is so low here. It's generally around 33 to 38% Max, unless I put a pot on the stove. And this is with three humidifiers running 24/7. I never paid attention in previous Winters, but now that I have I see that due to such low humidity the aerial Roots really struggle to stay plump. They become shriveled. So I too mist them once a day. I certainly hope it's not true that it would cause them to dry out faster.

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[Miss Havisham]

Why would a person want to coax "aerial" roots into the pot?

[SundayGardener]

Originally Posted by greenpassion

... It's generally around 33 to 38% Max, unless I put a pot on the stove. And this is with three humidifiers running 24/7. I never paid attention in previous Winters, but now that I have I see that due to such low humidity the aerial Roots really struggle to stay plump. They become shriveled. So I too mist them once a day. I certainly hope it's not true that it would cause them to dry out faster.

Don't I know it! Raising humidity in our winters is tough going. Most of my orchids don't need high humidity but a few do, and keeping them happy is about the same level of work that I imagine having mounted orchids is.

My perhaps uninformed understanding is that misting can increase dryness in air that is both dry and hot, because the combination of heat and dry air accelerates evaporation. My limited experience is that misting is beneficial for my orchids in the winter, but not necessary or even helpful in the summer.

Because our tap water is so bad, I have been "harvesting" and melting snow, then boiling it to sterilize, for the orchids, and I have to say that just boiling all that water really gives the kitchen a greenhouse feel and is also wonderful if you have the flu or a cold! I've also been heating water slightly before watering.

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[greenpassion]

Originally Posted by SundayGardener

Don't I know it! Raising humidity in our winters is tough going. Most of my orchids don't need high humidity but a few do, and keeping them happy is about the same level of work that I imagine having mounted orchids is.

My perhaps uninformed understanding is that misting can increase dryness in air that is both dry and hot, because the combination of heat and dry air accelerates evaporation. My limited experience is that misting is beneficial for my orchids in the winter, but not necessary or even helpful in the summer.

Because our tap water is so bad, I have been "harvesting" and melting snow, then boiling it to sterilize, for the orchids, and I have to say that just boiling all that water really gives the kitchen a greenhouse feel and is also wonderful if you have the flu or a cold! I've also been heating water slightly before watering.

Here Here! I keep my pre mixed gallon jugs of orchid water on a narrow heat Matt made for windowsills, on a narrow shelf just beneath them.

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[rbarata]

My perhaps uninformed understanding is that misting can increase dryness in air that is both dry and hot, because the combination of heat and dry air accelerates evaporation.

Mist will never increase dryness. Evaporation accelerates with hot and air dry because:

1 - Air is dry. In nature everything seeks equilibrium. If one puts water in contact with dry air it will evaporate faster because the equilibrium is to reduce dryness. Think of this analogy, between one heated room and another one cold, separated by a door. If you open the door, temp in the heated room will fall down while in the cold one will increase. This exchange will continue until the equilibrium temp is achieved.
Same happens with humidity and also happens with cold air but evaporation will have a lower rate because...

2 - ...cold air has a lower capacity to retain water vapour while hot air has a higher capacity.
Air is a mixture of gases, being water vapor one of them. In hot air the space between molecules are higher because its energy level is higher. If the empty spaces are bigger, then more water molecules can exist there.
In cold air, these spaces are smaller, so the capacity to recieve water is lower.
This is a simplistic view of it 'cause it's hard to explain, it's a subject related with something called thermodynamic. The equilibrium I told before, in this case, is influenced by temp, pression, etc, etc.

[Tetra73]

Misting the roots won't help if your humidity is low.. I would try to increase your humidity around the plants...Misting them won't hurt because the moisture would get evaporated pretty quick.

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