Importance of humidity

[grumpysan]

Hello,
I've always been fairly careful about maintaining high humidity levels for most of my orchids. A little over a year ago I moved to a very dry part of Northern Canada into a well heated apartment building - most of the orchids that I kept in a small greenhouse were suddenly forced to live in a very dry room (some got a terrarium). Despite the presence of humidity trays, humidity has been in the 20-30% neighbourhood for over a year.

I've noticed almost no effect on the orchids themselves. They are all very healthy and most are blooming on schedule so far. I need to water more often (twice a day for some of my mounted orchids) but haven't had any problems. Obviously I've grown a little skeptical about published info on humidity levels and I was just wondering what other growers more experienced than I thought about it.

[Fabolusus]

I think you've answered your own question. Watering twice a day is ridiculous

[grumpysan]

Misting twice a day. I don't think that's unusual with orchids mounted on bark. I had to do it once a day when they were in a greenhouse with 65% humidity. Most of these are Angraecum.

The orchids potted in sphag are watered once a week, those potted in bark maybe twice. I don't think there is anything ridiculous about it.

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

Some species are very sensitive to humidity, but not many, and certainly not the common ones.

[Fabolusus]

You're watering twice as often due to low humidity. Most "published info" is based on time honored methods that have been used by proffesional growers for decades. Most orchids grow in tropical/subtropical regions where the humidity tends to be high.

[grumpysan]

Yes I realize what the optimal conditions for orchids are, but I live in strange circumstances and have to adapt somehow. I don't have a terrarium large enough for all of my orchids. I was more curious about long term health effects or something else I haven't considered but if it simply means I have to water more often, I'm not going to worry about it any more.

Anyway, I see that this isn't the place to discuss unconventional growing conditions. Thanks for your ideas.

[greg_s]

I am in a very similar situation. When it gets cold here and the heat kicks on the humidity gets really low. I keep my ghost orchid in a terrarium because it is so sensitive but the others are out in the open. I tried misting with my normal waterings and keeping them together in groups to bring up the humidity a little but all that bought me was rot on a couple of them. I would think as long as you don't mind the extra waterings and the plants seem happy shouldn't be anything to worry about.

[arleneg]

Fabolusus -- I think you misunderstood what grumpysan said about watering twice a day. He waters the mounted orchids twice a day, which is sometimes needed.

Just my .02 cents.

[Aniko]

Grumpysan, Welcome to the forum!.
I was stressed, too - at the beginning I taught that air conditioning or heating will affect my orchids.They seem to be very adaptive to my home conditions.
Aniko.

[Buttercup]

I hope I don't sound mean by saying this but sometimes it seems someone posts an innocuous question and gets belittles here. It seems to me all grumpysan was saying was that he does not see a difference. How can this be seen as ridiculous? It's just his opinion. I am completely new to orchids but this response makes me not want to post any question. I'm sorry, but why make other people feel stupid? (Grumpysan, I am NOT saying this was a stupid question), I don't even know what medium to re-pot a phal in! This whole series just kind of upsets me.

[Aniko]

Buttercup, I feel like You, so I tried to compensate the unfriendly answer by welcoming Grumpysan in the forum.(It seems I'm not alone! )

[tillystuff]

Buttercup, Aniko and Grumpysan, Don't let the remarks of some discourage you from being involved in these forums. Some are just down right rude while most others just don't put there thoughts into print very well and come off as being brash with no intention of doing so. These forums are a great way to get some simple down to earth answers from folks who have been in similar situations or have problems that manuals or instructions just don't cover. I have been a member of other forums and have learned to move past the BS to get to some very good comments and ideas from the others. As far as the humidity, Cynthia is absolutly right. Depending on what you have, they should adjust over time. To develope or duplicate the natural environment for orchids is difficult to do. If you can come close your doing good. If you can't, just do the best you can. Most orchids will do just fine. Just use common sense and don't over do it.

[pikevi]

Hi grumpysan,

I live in SE Canada. I use a cool mist humidifier which is on for 24 hours a day. Moisture is around 60-65 percent. Since I am new to orchid growing I can't tell you if I might need a humidifier in the summer too.

I have a mixture of orchid species , collected over the last six months and they seem to be doing very well, at least in terms of growth. Three of them have new blooms but pretty weak in number of buds.

I had trays of water and water-gravel drain trays which did not help much, since the root tips became shrivelled and brown but I am not experienced enough to tell you if the set up was enough for a room of size: 3.6m x 2.7m (approx.).

I have been reading quite a bit on Orchids and I have not come across a single article which stated that humidity is irrelevant.

Good Luck

[Fabolusus]

It was not my intention to be rude. This forum is frequented by alot of newcomers to the hobby. Posting a comment like "Obviously I've grown a little skeptical about published info on humidity levels" would be very misleading for a newbie to read.

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

I think when it comes to culture, we need to put things in the proper order of what is really important. It is amazing what misconceptions new commers can be saddled with from who knows what source. We hear that orchids come from hot steamy jungles, and immediately we think they must have high humidity. So, in order of importance:

1) Watering. Watering too much (too often) is THE fastest way to kill an orchid short of severe sunburn or freezing. Get the watering right, and you have time to work out the rest.

2) Light. The wrong light can shorten the life of an orchid. Too much light can put the plant under stress, and leave it vulnerable to disease. Too little light will first restrict flowering, but a further reduction will leave the plant becoming weak, smaller, and again prone to disease.

3) Temperature. The wrong temp will prevent the plant from thriving, and leave it weak and prone to disease again.

4) Here I might put things like avoiding pests, which can kill plants, like scale on Catts, sow bugs that eat all the living eyes out of a plant, fungal growth near the base that ruins the eyes, aphids that transfer virus to healthy plants, and maybe avoiding accidents like sunburn, frost, severe heat... .

5) Humidity. Well, you can see how important I think it is. We grow orchids in homes here in Arizona with out any special arangements for humidity, and most orchids are oblivious to the conditions. Now, there are a few exceptions that I keep in a baggy in a greenhouse, but maybe ~0.3%. So there is a lot more to worry about than humidity in growing orchids.

[daytriper]

Do not let one smart remark discourage you from this forum. It really is the best on the internet--best--not perfect. My first response to a question asked by a newbie was a smart aleck remark. It was about growing vandas--a question I knew something about and I have a few ribbons to back my mouth up. Here a moderator was telling a newbie it was OK to grow a vanda in a plastic pot. ---I thought--surely here is a lady who needs her eyes opened. No where--no place is it recommended to grow vandas in plastic pots!!! So here came my smart aleck remark---But within a few weeks it was me who had my eyes opened as I learned that their are many ways to grow orchids and people do it differently all over the country. Their is alot of knowledge in this forum so do not let one remark discourage you. This is a good place to visit if you grow orchids!

[pikevi]

Hello Daytriper,

That was so nice of you to say what you said.

It is heartwarming to see people like you in this day and age!

There is still hope for humanity, after all!!

Keep up the integrity and nobility!!!

Good luck

[Fabolusus]

Honsetly I was just trying to point out that you shouldn't jump to conclusions about things. I am working on my bachelors in horticulture, and we are learning about transpiration. A plant maintains water loss through water uptake from its roots, and in some plants through their leaves. If a plant is subjected to a dryness that it is not accustomed to, it has to put forth more effort just to equilibriate an osmotic balance. Orchids are somewhat different, as most have pseudobulbs and thick, fleshy leaves that store water and aerial roots which absorb water from the air. Can you maintain/grow/flower orchids with 20-30% humidity? Yes, of course (well, most of them anyway). However, if you want the maximum growth potential for a given orchid, humidity levels should be somewhat higher, with alot of moving air. Every conservatory and proffesional nursery I have ever been to has conditions like that(Longwood, Mary Selby, Waterloo, Parkside, Akatsuke, Meadowbrook). I am truly sorry if I have offended anyone, and if I ever post on this forum again, I will make sure not to be "rude", "impolite", "smart aleck" and I sincerely hope that "there is still hope for humanity"

[Anton]

Look, this is getting out of hand.

Sometimes things are said here with one intention and misinterpreted as another. I find that using these little emoticons puts your thoughts into perspective.eg

I occaisionally let my warped sense of humour get the better of me and make a sarcastic comment that is tongue in cheek, so this would be followed by 2 emoticons to get this accross, eg at the end of the "sarcastic witty comment" I would put followed by

That way people can actually see that it is a comment not to be taken so seriously. Maybe if more people used these, we could "see" their emotions.

Just a thought to try to settle the dust.

We are all working to a common goal, looking after our "little Precious" and helping others. But, sometimes it is hard to put your thoughts on paper in such a way as to not intentionally upset anyone.

At times I have written something which I thought quite inoxuous in forums, but got my head bitten off because it was misinterpreted.

So PEACE to all and lets get on with the job at hand, helping each other in our quest to get that "perfect" flower.

[Aniko]

Anton, you said what I wanted to say - I agree with you 100%.
Aniko.

[pikevi]

I am so sorry, Fabolusus.

I did not find anything offensive in this thread. And I 'd never have said anything to even remotelt 'brand' anyone as 'anything'.

The comment about humanity was directed at daytripler in appreciation of his/her humility.

I agree with Anton and Aniko. I think we all can take what we want from the statements made here and leave the rest.

Words don't always reflect the sentiments.

[Buttercup]

I definitely agree. I'm sorry too, I did not mean to make a huge fuss. Fabolusus I have seen lots of great posts from you, you obviously know your stuff. I will definitely try to keep an open mind. I am going to take Anton's advice too and use more of these Please forgive a beginner, I really think this is a great forum

[Anton]

All I have to say on the matter now is.............
and

[Fabolusus]

Keep on growing, friends

[ceciliaL]

Can anyone give me any tips on growing a ghost orchids on in a terrrarium? The terrarium is 2ft. wide by 4ft high, has a top with a grow light mounted in the inside top. It is made of plexie glass and wood, has a container of water in the botton with a small recycling pump. There is a small dead japanese maple in it with a line to run water over the trunk of the tree to (hopefully to keep the humidity up.) The water container of water covered with rocks. Question will this be too much water & how large of a grow light bulb will I need? How often do you need to water the orchids? These are small flas ghost orchids which will be mounted to the upper part of the tree above the water flow. I would appreciate any help.

[jerrymeola]

I am far from a newbie as I am a commercial nursery and I think humidity is not anywhere near as important as you are led to believe.

Temperatures this month in Florida is in the 90s, light levels over 12,000 foot candles and humidity in the afternoon around zero.

Orchids are growing faster this year then ever before.

I water at least every day and often twice a day. Many commercial nurseries water multiple times a day, partially for cooling and partially to allow roots time to absorb water.

It is so dry here the control plants for the Phal Naples Nights, that we are using for our hybrid growing project, is potted by me in Sphagnum and still needs to be watered every day.

I think grumpysan's results are very accurate.

[PhalPal]

I live in an area where 20-40% humidity is the norm. We rarely get above 50%, and when that happens we are all complaining about 'how humid it is.' I grow orchids indoors and out and after trying to increase humidity from nothing I finally gave up the battle. My orchids have just gone on singing and I have not noticed one ounce of difference.

[FLaCo]

Here in Miami at 55-65% right now...I my Vanda and mounted orchids every morning. If it is raining or its a dark day then I might hold back. My potted plants get water every 2 days and get misted lightly every morning.

[brookn]

88% here, I haven't even bothered filling the humidity trays.

[kmarch]

Originally Posted by grumpysan

I've noticed almost no effect on the orchids themselves. They are all very healthy and most are blooming on schedule so far. I need to water more often (twice a day for some of my mounted orchids) but haven't had any problems. Obviously I've grown a little skeptical about published info on humidity levels and I was just wondering what other growers more experienced than I thought about it.

All orchids need to retain enough moisture internally to survive. In low humidity situations plants loose moisture through their leaves and this moisture needs to be replaced. You mentioned that you're watering them much more, thus making more moisture available for them. In other words you've compensated for the low humidity by watering more and this is clearly working for you. This doesn't mean the humidity advice you read is untrue or unreliable. It just means that you have had to make an adjustment to keep your orchids growing. It's the same as if you had moved from a house with a bright sunny sun-room to a basement apartment and therefore had to add lights to give your orchids enough light.

[FLaCo]

Great point Kevin.

You are simulating the orchid's natural habitat in a place where it wouldn't grow. So if its dry you add humidity, if it is too sunny you add shade tarps, etc. Same affect in a green house ...you are creating the "perfect scenario" by controlling all aspects of plant growth...light, humidity, air circulation, and media.

[made4engineering]

A bunch of my buds blasted on a couple of my plants when the humidity got into the 30s (too busy with finals to address this). Low humidity can result in some more exotic problems than just needing to water more. How about crinkled leaves? Brown leaf tips? Buds sticking in sheaths? Remember? Those who replace low humidity with extra water at the roots walk a fine line between growth and rot. What was the number one killer of orchids? Oh, I remember now.

[sandra]

I get a lot more positive results when the humidity is turned up. Roots take off in high humidity and grow (almost) wild here during summer. On the down side, a lot more fungal problems.

[solay]

I don't know much to comment on the humidity debate but I fuss with the orchids I got every free moment I get. I'd be willing to water 4 times a day if that's what it takes to get them growing and blooming. I will see if adding a tray of pebbles and water will help. Although I enjoy misting them.