Misting orchids.

[Winterwhite]

I think when I first joined the forum I may have raised the question of misting my orchids. It almost seems intuitive that orchids should be misted and yet someone responded with that isn't always a good idea nor is it necessary.I have a cattleya and a dendrobium that I would love to mist. Is it a problem to mist them early in the morning? They are under grow lights and the heat and light does dry them so there is no residual water staying on the leaves or on the crown. The room my orchids are in is the kitchen which has a wood stove in it. It is actually a wing to the house but the woodstove keeps this side of the house between 70 and 80 degrees. Never above 80 though and drops to the high 60's at night. The point is I suspect the orchids like it a little cooler and because of the dry air, I have this urge to water them; at least some of them. All my orchids are on a three tiered plant stand with grow lights and unfortunately, they need to stay in the kitchen. Any comments you might have would be appreciated. Thank you. Winterwhite

[Sharyn]

I mist my orchids every morning, although not the flowers. With dry heat in your home, you might try setting your plants on pebble trays filled with water for extra humidity. Sometimes I even fill up plastic containers with water and set them about. Very helpful this time of year. Good luck.

[new_keiki]

I thought misting the aerial roots of my cirrohpetalum was a good thing. But 4 of them turned yellow and I had to cut them off eventually... what did I do wrong, or does it not like to be misted like phal? Help!?

[Fabolusus]

Misting is good for cleaning leaves of dust, especially the stomata on the underside of the leaf. However, it would only raise the humidity for a few minutes and should not be done as a substitute for humidity trays or humidifiers.

[Ellen]

Orchids don't need to be misted. Fabulosus is right that spraying the leaves off occasionally is good for cleaning them and helping keep them free of pests, but I would use a fairly strong spray, such as the "shower" setting on a hose nozzle, not a delicate mist and do it only at the time they are watered. It's possible that misting the roots of your cirropetalum caused a buildup of some sort of salts from hard water, or maybe they would have died anyway, even without the misting. It's impossible to know. Plants growing in baskets without medium do need to have the aerial roots watered on a near-daily basis, but I doubt that any of your plants are in that category. Try to resist the urge to fuss over your orchids excessively - more orchids have probably been killed by too much care than by benign neglect. Most importantly, don't water them until the medium is dry. But you probably know that.

[rmoen]

I quit misting mine, too. Still looking for reasonably priced humidity trays that are not ugly.
Rick

[Fabolusus]

I bit the bullet a few months ago and bought a high capacity humidifier. It gives me alot more piece of mind, knowing that my orchids aren't being subjected to extreme fluctuations in humidity.

[Sharyn]

Originally Posted by rmoen

I quit misting mine, too. Still looking for reasonably priced humidity trays that are not ugly.
Rick

Rick: Ellen has some nice ideas about making your own. I just purchased a piece of light diffuser grate at Home Depot - need to cut it to fit my trays. The grate is white so it's decent looking. I also use humidifers.
Check out her ideas http://www.orchidgeeks.com/forum/gen...humidity+trays

[rmoen]

Great idea! Time to shopping! Thank you.
Rick