Orchid Pots & Humidity Tray

[Newfound Orchidlove]

I have a couple specialized orchid pots that i'm using (picture attached). I made a humidity tray since it's still very dry in the house - the heat and humidity of spring/summer hasn't kicked in yet . Since there is no hole directly on the bottom of this type of pot - does the humidity tray even help? Just wondering. Thanks!

[Emma Grey]

I'm no expert, but I think it helps because as the water evaporates it floats in the air all around the plant, not just in the air in the pot. :0)

[kid a]

it looks like it has a drip tray attached thats pretty cool! i think it helps. I live in Indiana and I use a tray full of fish tank gravel on my bottom shelf it has boosted the relative humidity in that area by a lot! (Its a big tray) Normally it would be around 20 to 30 % until the humidity and heat kicks in outside but right now its at 56%. I have a digital monitor right beside the tray on my shelf to track min and max temps and humidity lol!

[Dendian]

On those type of pots I would put either rocks or Styrofoam on the bottom - because you don't want your media (and roots) to be sitting in the water. I haven't used them because of two reasons: you can't wash out the drip tray - so the water will be stale unless you tip the pot to dump it out, and they are glazed - which doesn't allow water to be absorbed in the clay to keep the humidity up without being soaking wet. The sure are pretty though.

[Ray]

...and now for the rest of the story...

Considering the dry conditions you described, I recommend against using that pot at all, unless you can water very frequently. Yes, we want the plants to get lots of air flow to the root system so its gas exchange can freely occur, but that has to be balanced with the ability to adequately provide food and water.

"Humidity trays" are virtually useless - except maybe for catching drips.

First is the minimal evaporation rate. The amount of humidity coming from a few hundred square inches of surface area is minimal.

Second is the fact that the laws of nature and physics "hates" a gradient. Folks talk of trays raising the "local environment" around the plants, even though nature wants to take the minimal amount of water vapor and spread it uniformly around the room, essentially rendering it useless at raising the humidity. Add to that the fact that your room is not totally sealed off from the rest of your home, and that walls are meant to "breathe", allowing the moisture level to be shared with the earth's atmosphere.

If you want to raise the humidity, get a humidifier.

[Carkin]

Hello! I have been using a number of those decorative pots, without any problems. I keep the orchid in the clear plastic pot and just place it inside the decorative pot, it helps to keep the plant from being too top heavy when it flowers. I have also used sphagnum moss and planted a couple of my orchids directly in the pot. The many holes help in the pot help with air flow (because sphagnum can take a long time to dry out) and in our dry climate it help keep humidity up. Bark mix just falls out of the holes and makes a mess, and dries out too quickly. I usually keep a little bit of water in the bottom of the attatched drip tray too. So far my plants are loving it. Hope that helps!

[kid a]

i have to refill my humidity tray every day because the water evaporates so fast. In my case at least..I can tell it is increasing the humidity in the immediate area surrounding the tray. I have a fan placed on the shelf underneath the tray pointing upward, which I would think would blow the humidity upward before it starts to disperse throughout the room. I can move my digital hygrometer to another location in my room or part of the house and see a huge decrease in the humidity.

Yes humidifiers are more ideal than a humidity tray and much more effective. My preference is not to use it if I don't need too because it uses electricity. It probably depends on the setup and the rest of the room whether or not the tray will do anything.

[Newfound Orchidlove]

Thanks for all the info everyone! That's a great idea to keep some water in the tray of the existing pot. Then, it is it's OWN humidity tray! Carkin, I'll have to try the moss with these pots - as the bark IS very cumbersome and falling out of the holes. Moss just scares me a bit with being wet too long, but i'm sure you're right and these side holes will help with that lot. Great info!

[Samuel]

I am a newb, but for what it is worth I use these types of pots with good success, but I am constantly monitoring my medium, and I also make sure I give the orchids a good soak once a week because the medium does dry out so easily.
If you are a 'leave it and forget it' type of waterer, I wouldn't use them. However, if you are like me and are constantly checking your orchids (drives my wife nuts) then you can use these with confidence. And as someone said previously, put something in the bottom of the pot (I use river rock) so that it drains easily.

[jayfar]

Originally Posted by Samuel

And as someone said previously, put something in the bottom of the pot (I use river rock) so that it drains easily.

And this is a tangent, but for me river gravel is far superior to styro peanuts for bottom of the pot drainage for one simple reason. A top heavy, lopsided phal is far less likely to tip over if it has substantial weight in the bottom of the pot.

[maria1971]

I don't think those pots would raise humidity AT ALL. I use them as cachepots (decorative pots) for work and at home. My inside orchids are usually potted in moss to keep the roots moist.

As a matter of fact, I use them only for their decorative use. Mine are all brown to match my office furniture.

just my 2cents.

[Carkin]

Originally Posted by Newfound Orchidlove

Carkin, I'll have to try the moss with these pots - as the bark IS very cumbersome and falling out of the holes. Moss just scares me a bit with being wet too long, but i'm sure you're right and these side holes will help with that lot. Great info!

I was afraid of sphagnum moss before too because the very first orchid that was given to me came packed tightly in old moss without enough drainage holes and of course I had no experience with orchid care, so I just followed the instructions on the tag and ended up almost killing it before I realized that something was wrong!

After experimenting with different potting mediums I have gone back to sphagnum moss with a number of my Phals and Oncidiums and they love it! You just have to make sure that you don't pack it down too tight and moniter the watering to make sure it isn't kept wet. We have a dry climate and my orchids in bark dry out so fast but the ones in moss don't need to be babied as much. But you do have to repot the ones in moss more often because it breaks down faster than bark.

I also mist my orchids first thing in the morning and that really helps increase humidity.

All the best!