Hey, my dumb idea worked! (raising local humidity)

[Orchidementia]

A while ago I asked if a small fountain would help raise local humidity. Well, I got a wall fountain, installed it over the orchid table and yes, it does raise the humidity to 65-75%, and that's with central air conditioning* and a fan pointed on the orchids 24/7. It doesn't look half bad, avoids the overly-medical look (I have that in enough areas of my life, thankyouverymuch), and the plants seem to enjoy it.


So, in conclusion: a small fountain that cycles about a liter of water is enough to add to the local humidity of a table where orchids are being grown.

*the ac does not blow directly on the plants

[kmarch]

What was the humidity without it?

[Orchidementia]

Originally Posted by kmarch

What was the humidity without it?

49%-55% ish; never above 60%

[digitalgate]

this is cool! sound of dripping water, sound like somewhere familiar (Planet Yaba?)

[patticake]

Awesome!!! I love fountains! I don't have room where I am, but down the road, I would love to have a larger one in a growing area.

[psyc1210]

can you show a picture of your fountain? I might like to look into getting something like that so I can worry less about humidity.

[Orchidementia]

[evagentry]

My, that is a very nice looking set up, very tasteful!

[mayres]

Wow! That is one excellent looking group of blooms! Cool fountain too......

[jay]

Very nice group photo there. I think I have seen several of them individually, but what a great show there.

[Orchidementia]

Thanks! Actually, I have even more in bloom - two in the kitchen, one on my desk, and more on the table to the right of the one in the picture ... plus the ones on the balcony.

[katrina]

I love the fountain! Looks great w/the blooms/plants. I'm sure the sound of it is also an asset to the space. Makes it very zen-like and relaxing.

I have a 75gal cichlid aquarium in my grow area and it does a pretty good job of adding humidity during the colder months but...I believe I will have to borrow your idea for a couple of the outer edges of the room.

[Orchidementia]

Originally Posted by katrina

I have a 75gal cichlid aquarium in my grow area and it does a pretty good job of adding humidity during the colder months but...I believe I will have to borrow your idea for a couple of the outer edges of the room.

We got a 47-gal tank this weekend. It's in another part of the living room, but I suspect it won't hurt anything!

[katrina]

An aquarium definitely adds moisture (the bigger the tank surface area = the more moisture) into the air when the heat is running. During the summer it really makes no difference if the a/c is on.

What type of fish are you getting?

[Orchidementia]

Right now, we have flame dwarf gourami and we'll probably get more later today.

[katrina]

Ahhh....very pretty fish. I kept community fish several years back. I used to have 7 tanks...spread around the house. It got to be too much work so I downsized over the years. Then...the orchid bug bit me! And...well...orchids do take up time and resources (ie $$) but...believe it or not...they aren't as much work as multiple laaaarrrrggge tanks.

One thing is for sure...if you have 7 large tanks spread around the house in the winter...ZERO probs w/low humidity. As a matter of fact, the room that had 3 tanks would have sooooooo much humidity in it that during the winter the windows would steam over w/condensation. Now that would be orchid heaven!!

[NancyG]

Lovely arrangement of orchids and your fountain.

NancyG

[psyc1210]

orchidementia- Where did you get that fountain, if you don't mind me asking?

[kid a]

That fountain is really beautiful! Even it didn't add humidity it would still be soo worht installing it. I thinks it makes your beautiful blooms stand out even more. I want a fountain too!

[Orchidementia]

JoBeth, I got it at Longs, of all places!

[Sassismom]

Wow that is really beautiful, do you think a table top fountain would do the same thing? I have one and was thinking of putting it among my orchids, but never did.

[psyc1210]

What is Longs? I don't think we have a store like that around here....

[PhalPal]

Psyc1210 - Longs is a drug store chain.

I love your idea!! I finally got around to setting up an orchid room in my house and a fountain would just be lovely up there. Is it battery powered??? I don't see aplug...or did you get fancy and put it into the wall???

[psyc1210]

fooey. No Longs around here. I'm going to have to search for a decent fountain. I would have to have mine in a room with carpeting, so I will have to find one that definitely doesn't make a mess.

I was also wondering about the power for it. Let us know Orchidementia!

[Orchidementia]

It plugs into the wall. If you look, you can see the cord next to the Den Meesangnil. I have carpeting, and the table the plants are on is mango wood, and the fountain isn't a problem for either; it re-cycles the liter or so of water it uses and very little splashes (and what does goes on the plants).

[PhalPal]

Okay! So now I am off fountain hunting! (online of course) Believe it or not, a good place to look for table or small wall fountains are at beauty conventions. I owned a business until I sold it two years ago and I had a small fountain in every room. The prettiest and best bargains were at these shows. I will clue all of you in to websites/stores when I find one. Yippee! Just when I thought I was done shopping for this orchid room.....

[solay]

I see the plug now. It was so well hidden. That's a great idea. Pretty too. I guess one of those flat rock waterfall fountains would be nice too. More surface area of water.

[Orchidementia]

I was considering that kind of fountain, but I didn't see one I liked (plus that's a console table the plants are on - it's not super deep, and a table fountain would mean fewer orchids, and I can't have that!!).

[psyc1210]

I copied you and got a fountain.

[kid a]

That is so cute! I have about a bajillion spare fountain pumps lying in a box in the garage from ones I have dismantled that were cheapies. But no fountains to put them in lol! I keep thinking I'll put one in with the tree frog but I never get around to it.

[Orchidementia]

VERY cool!! I like it a lot!!

[PhalPal]

I like yours psyc! Very pretty and it appears to be just about the right size.

[patlee]

Coincidentally, we presently have seven large aquariums scattered throughout the house We also have three cats, so there is a hooded-type cover on each aquarium--that didn't matter much when our eighteen pound cat jumped up on the thin glass covering one of our largest tanks. CRACK!! Never saw that cat move so fast in my life
I love the idea of a fountain and the sound of running water Would love to set one up, but I can just see the cats drinking from it Ah well, it was a nice idea anyway

[Orchidementia]

We have four cats, and (so far, knock wood) they're not interested in the fountain or getting into the aquarium. The aquarium is 'cat TV' but none of them seem to be interested in making a 5' vertical leap!