# How to keep hummidity high?



## Tanner. C (Jun 8, 2017)

Curious on thoughts for improvement of my paph set up. As it gets hot my room (no AC sadly in my apartment) gets up to 80+° I keep my window open to allow cooler air in and run the cealing fan for air circulation. 

My hummidity runs around 35+% where it use to be 55+% during the winter. 

Should I try to add more hummidity trays to my set up or get a humidifier? 

Also would it help to increase my watering more as it seems the plants go dryer....I'm doing twice a week now should I maybe do three times? I don't want my plants to get droopy like a couple did


----------



## abax (Jun 8, 2017)

Set a humidifier right under the plants if they're on a
windowsill. I have three in my greenhouse and a decorative fountain which keeps my humidity at 90%.


----------



## Tom Reddick (Jun 9, 2017)

Agreed. If your humidity is running at 35%, I think a humidifier is the most efficient way to get the boost you need.


----------



## Ozpaph (Jun 9, 2017)

Buy an evaporative cooler (which auto refills)


----------



## naoki (Jun 9, 2017)

Humidity tray doesn't work well in an open area, but if you enclose it, it works reasonably well. If you don't have a lot, the large (tall) rubbermaid-type container can work. Here is an example (link), but something taller like this is better for orchids. You can put water at the bottom, and raise the floor with something (e.g., small yogurt containers and cedar board or "egg crate" lighting panel). If it gets direct sun, you should keep it open-top (less effective, but it is better than nothing). I use these as quarantine areas.

If you have a large collection, a grow tent is a cheap way. I get 75%-90%RH (ambient is 25-40%) without an active humidifier. Each tent has two levels of floor/water tray. Here is my 4'x4'x8', where you can see the water tray (not the green stuff, the brownish white shelves holds the water):


----------



## AdamD (Jun 10, 2017)

In the house it's hard to keep humidity high on a main floor, as it should be. Your house shouldn't be too humid, it can encourage mold growth behind the drywall or in carpet pad. Like naoki said, grow tents are a good way to go. It keeps the humidity from dispersing. Do you have basement space available? I gutted a room in my basement and built it back with mold resistant drywall, FRP panels (like you see in commercial kitchens), and tile floor. Luckily my room has a window for air exchange and natural supplemental light. 

Another thing I did was build a shade house for the plants to summer outdoors. I know plenty of paph species would be quite happy with Wisconsin summer weather. I have a few just hanging under pine trees. They love it. 

Before I had these spaces though, I tried trays, humidifiers, spraying as often as possible. None of them really cut it for me. So get creative. I've seen your pumpkin pics, I know you have some good old fashioned American ingenuity!

Edit: just saw you were in an apartment. Ok, I was once too. Do you have deck space with sun? This can help. If not, grow tent.


----------



## Tanner. C (Jun 10, 2017)

AdamD said:


> In the house it's hard to keep humidity high on a main floor, as it should be. Your house shouldn't be too humid, it can encourage mold growth behind the drywall or in carpet pad. Like naoki said, grow tents are a good way to go. It keeps the humidity from dispersing. Do you have basement space available? I gutted a room in my basement and built it back with mold resistant drywall, FRP panels (like you see in commercial kitchens), and tile floor. Luckily my room has a window for air exchange and natural supplemental light.
> 
> Another thing I did was build a shade house for the plants to summer outdoors. I know plenty of paph species would be quite happy with Wisconsin summer weather. I have a few just hanging under pine trees. They love it.
> 
> ...






I do have a tiny deck every one shares :/ so I don't trust my plants out there. I might just have to keep doing what I'm doing till I really have a permanent place. I like the idea of the grow chamber but that is just da costly and I love being able to see my plants at all time. 

Someday I'll hopefully build a greenhouse!


----------

