to mist or not to mist

[garyorchids]

is a daily misting of my phals a generally good idea. i live in england where the heating is on every evening. i water thoroughly by submersion evey week and wondered if a daily misting of the leaves is a good idea, should the flowers/buds be misted to ?

[mayres]

If you are going to mist I would only do it early in the morning while the temperatures are rising. Many people think that misting does US more good than our plants (?). If you have low humidity conditions the misting may prolong the life/encourage aerial roots to grow (?). I'm inclined to think the more plants you have bunched together the more a general heavy misting in the morning could raise the humidity in the entire area/room for a spell and be helpful (?). A plant or two being misted - probably marginal assistance. I've found placing plants on a gravel/rock bed to be of some help - it raises the immediate area humidity approx. 10% potentially (measured with an inexpensive digital hygrometer). I would NOT mist the flowers if you can help it.

[garyorchids]

thanks, i'll refrain from misting the flowers/buds. all of my non flowering phals (8) are on one widow sill above the sink in the kitchen, so i guess they will be well moisturised. the 2 flowering plants are seperate and will receive a good misting of the leaves and top medium. i think a pebble tray or two will be purchased aswell.

[Choodles]

I mist at least once a day. Everything gets hit- the roots, shoots, leaves and flowers (and the computer, stereo, tv, the windows, lights on light cart...) Other than watering, this is my only source of humidity (and maine gets mighty dry in the winter). As long as I mist once a day, I can keep most buds from blasting. I also don't worry too much about wet plants going into the evening IF the temps are high in that area (or at least appropriate for the specific plants in the area) AND there is really good air flow. I think some important general ideas are better than specific recomendations:
Wet and cold usually = bad.
Hot and dry " "
If you provide more humidity, you should provide more air flow, and vice versa. (Basically, temp, humidity, airflow and light GENERALLY should increase/decrease proportionally)

[Hummer344]

I don't mist at all. Right now I am watering once every 2 weeks, maybe longer. During the summer I water once a week during normal summer temps for my area. I stoped using the emersion method when I found it kept my potting medium to wet and the plant roots rotted. I have found that skewers, stuck in the potting medium, help out A LOT. I start checking them about 7-10 days after watering right now. When the skewers get a little on the dry side, I water.

[katrina]

I live in OH...heat is on this time of the year. I do not mist and the plants are just fine w/out the misting.

IMO, the misting does very little to actually raise the humidity level more than temporarily. Like Mike said, it probably does the grower more good from a mental standpoint than it actually does anything significant for the plants. It evaporates waaaaaaaay to quick to be of much benefit...IMO.

[syndywindy]

I'm like Katrina, the furnace is blasting and it tends to get dry in the house. I have never misted an orchid in my life, even mounted orchids. To me you would really have to mist the daylights out of the plant and if you are doing that, you might as well water.

[Ray]

Originally Posted by katrina

IMO, the misting does very little to actually raise the humidity level more than temporarily.

Amen, Kat.

A little basic science will tell you that is correct: Evaporation and Raising Humidity

[maiseymoo]

I read a book that suggested misting the plants everytime you walked past, but then thought that this would mostly be in the evening and it would only raise the humdity for a short time as had already been said above, then I read another that said only mist mounted orchids! So there is conflicting advice out there. I am in the UK, up North by quite a bit from you and my heating is on every night at the mo as well. The humdity trays are your best bet and quite cheap and easy to make to suit your own conditions I also grow most of my plants together (apart from the ones in flower which have pride of place in a different windowsill)

[mytwogirls]

I am not a mister.

[garyorchids]

any one wanna buy a mister ?

signed EX-MISTER Gary

[maiseymoo]

Originally Posted by garyorchids

any one wanna buy a mister ?

signed EX-MISTER Gary

LOL!!!

[mytwogirls]

Originally Posted by garyorchids

any one wanna buy a mister ?

signed EX-MISTER Gary

Geez, that is funny.

[Overgrown]

I think a tray of water is better than misting as it creates more humidity consistently throughout the day. I occasionally mist the lives and roots as a supplement.

[Ray]

Originally Posted by Overgrown

I think a tray of water is better than misting as it creates more humidity consistently throughout the day. I occasionally mist the lives and roots as a supplement.

Not really. Evaporation and Raising Humidity

[Ochin@]

Originally Posted by Ray

Not really. Evaporation and Raising Humidity

Thanks Ray, that was very informative!

[pugmom]

I used to mist daily but got sick of it.....

I recently put some sphag over all my orchids that are in bark mix, I found the top roots were getting quite dry, and I water a lot, probably every 3 or 4 days. But I do mist the moss if it gets dry, so I probably water the plant (letting the water run through) and then mist the sphag once in between watering.

I have just started doing this so I don't know if it has any benefits but we will see....

I also like to put all the plants in the sink or tub once or twice a month and really give them a good misting with warm soapy water.... but as the others have mentioned its more for me then my plants

[tclover]

Use math in your everyday life is good. However, you need to use it in correct way otherwise it could be misleading. It’s absolutely true that we can not create more humidity in a 10' x 10' x 10' room by hand misting but it’s not what we are interesting in. We are interesting in humidity few inches around orchid plant not 10’ far away from the plant. When we hand mist a plant humidity around plant, on roots, leaves, barks could reach 100 % RH and humidity near around plant is still high for a while. Is that what we want?

[katrina]

Originally Posted by tclover

Use math in your everyday life is good. However, you need to use it in correct way otherwise it could be misleading. It’s absolutely true that we can not create more humidity in a 10' x 10' x 10' room by hand misting but it’s not what we are interesting in. We are interesting in humidity few inches around orchid plant not 10’ far away from the plant. When we hand mist a plant humidity around plant, on roots, leaves, barks could reach 100 % RH and humidity near around plant is still high for a while. Is that what we want?

You MIGHT have that much humidity for all of about....half a second...maybe a couple of seconds. No way is it any longer because the surrounding air quickly dissipates it. Even right next to the plant.

The moisture on the leaves might last a few minutes but a few minutes...even 15 minutes...is not lot of help to the plants. And, a flash of higher humidity does absolutely nothing for the orchids. Sooo...we're back to it doing more for the grower than the plant.

[mrspontiac]

I don't really mist, I spray...with one of those big clear plastic spray bottles they sell for cleaning supplies. I set it on a medium spray so it's between a stream and a mist, but closer to the stream. I do this once a day in the morning. I only hit the roots and mix, and I spray until the mix on top is pretty wet. This is the only watering I do, because I found that watering any other way I tend to over water. I started this probably three or four months ago when my 'chids were just looking so sad. They've turned around completely since then and they're happy little 'chids putting on spikes and new leaves now!