Lack of humidity.

[Winterwhite]

As I may have shared before, I have my orchids on a cart in the kitchen. It is a large very utilitarian kitchen and the only room that could accommodate a 60 inch cart. Anyway, I have a wood burning stove in the kitchen that dissipates all the moisture in the air. I have humidity trays on each of the shelves on the cart. I do believe that the lack of humidity does effect the health of the plants especially the leaves. I don't have the luxury of moving the cart to another room. The humidity gage indicates a level of 30. Any suggestions that I might consider? I know misting is not something that many of you prefer not to do, other than that, what are my options? Thank you. Winterwhite (Mary)

[mayres]

Have you considered a room humidifier? Some of them are fairly inexpensive. I've considered this myself but so far have not made the move.......

[kmarch]

I used a small humidifier (I think the resivoire held 2 gallons) for my orchids and it kept the humidity at no less than 50% in winter. I did not have a large open kitchen though. I had a friend who made a clear plastic "tent" to cover her kitchen grown orchids. She made it look attractive enough and it kept the humidity up.

-Kevin

[janet_a]

what about one of those nifty cast iron kettles (come in various shapes, one i saw was a dragon) that are designed to sit on wood burning stoves and just... boil? they hold a couple gallons i think and their sole purpose is as a humidifier. it'd be good for your sinuses too.

http://www.davidmg.com/keandst.html

[Ellen]

Good idea, Janet!

[Aniko]

Hi Janet, congratulations.
The simplest idea = the most efficient.

[Vivienne]

I just purchased a 2 gallon warm mist humidifier from Walmart to raise the humidity by my paphs and mounting. Seems to be doing the trick for that small area.

How about a table top water fountain?

You might consider using a plastic slipcover over the whole cart. You would have to put something in each corner of the top shelf to hold the plastic away from the leaves.

[Maddy]

I had several of mine bagged for awhile - not pretty, but it saved a couple of spikes. I still lost one altogether, though.

I've got another phal just starting a spike though - it's the one that came in the pot with the other orchid that was just a spike - no leaves. I have no idea what it's going to look like. However, by the time it's ready to bloom, it'll be mid-spring, so I think it'll do fine.