# Growing paphs in low humidity



## leeaun (Jan 26, 2017)

Hi, I tend to grow most of my paphs in my home where the humidity fluccuates from 30 to 45% at most. Has anyone had any experience with coping with lower humidity in the home and still grown their multiflorals successfully? Mine are windowsill grown and receive no supplementary lighting and the temperature is about 20C all year round rising to 24C on the very rare hot days in summer. I just mist my plants a couple of times a day and set them on trays with some water to increase humidity. Any tips?


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## Linus_Cello (Jan 26, 2017)

Humidifier. Lots of plants (create micro climate of higher humidity); can be non-orchid plants (not cacti). Pebble tray.


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## melisa (Jan 27, 2017)

Like Linus Cello said, I use an ultrasonic humidifier next to the plants and a small fan to gently blow the humid air towards them. The humidity stays high around them, but relatively low in the rest of the room. My multiflorals are happy with that.


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## Justin (Jan 28, 2017)

It can definitely be done. In the winter use a humidifier for a few hours during the daytime only. Keep the roots moist and dont let the plants get bone dry ever. A very light fan in the room to ensure some air movement is good too.


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## leeaun (Jan 28, 2017)

Thanks for all the advice. I am misting the plants with good air movement several times a day. I was also thinking of putting live sphagnum moss just as a top dressing of the pots and mist it frequently to keep the humidity high - is that feasible?


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## Justin (Jan 28, 2017)

Yes you can grow moss on the pots but you need to use very low fertilizer rates if you want to keep the moss alive.

I would not mist them so much. You could cause bacterial or fungal rots.


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## abax (Jan 28, 2017)

Amazon has a nice selection of ultrasonic humidifiers for
sale. I have two in my greenhouse, but I can't recall at
the moment the name of the manufacturer. If you're
interested, I can look tomorrow to see who the manufacturer is.


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## Ozpaph (Jan 28, 2017)

abax said:


> Amazon has a nice selection of ultrasonic humidifiers for
> sale. I have two in my greenhouse, but I can't recall at
> the moment the name of the manufacturer. If you're
> interested, I can look tomorrow to see who the manufacturer is.



please share the link/info


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## abax (Jan 29, 2017)

Ozpaph, I thought I had the paper work on file in the house, but the packet must be in the greenhouse. I'll
stomp through the snow and check tomorrow.


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## Ozpaph (Jan 30, 2017)

snow..................its 90 degrees here! Dont go out on my account, please.


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## abax (Jan 31, 2017)

Ozpaph, I was exaggerating. We had a tiny drift of show
over night and the sun actually came out today...whoopee!

The humidifiers I have are Heaven Fresh HF710 and are
digital. The older one is about five years old and the
newer about two years old. They have to be cleaned
occasionally, but work very well with both warm and cool
settings. The website is [email protected] and
the phone is 1-800-642-0367. My greenhouse is 12' x
28' and this time of year I only use one to keep the
greenhouse close to 90% humidity. In summer, I use
both due to heat and exhaust fans. Amazon doesn't have
them available right now as of last night anyway. I hope
you can find one...or two. 90 degrees!!!!!


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## Kalyke (Feb 9, 2017)

I am in a desert here in SW USA. I grow my phrags as semi-aquatic. I have them in pots and the pots are in a second pot with water in it. The top gets misted. I put them outside most of the year next to a little pond, and they are watered daily as well. I feel that evaporation from the pond causes humidity. Also I keep them very close to the ground because the ground is kept damp, also for evaporation reasons. (I have the pond inside of a shade house with about 40 more orchids of different kinds.


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## Ozpaph (Feb 12, 2017)

Its over 100 degrees here - can we come to your place?


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## paphioboy (Feb 17, 2017)

In my experience growing paphs indoors by an apartment window for 1 year now, I have no issues with multiflora seedlings or brachys. Several multiflora hybrids which I got as large seedlings have nearly doubled in size in 1 year. The ones that suffer most are thin-leaved barbata types, except callosum (typical large-flowered variety), which has thicker leaves. I have them in sphagnum + perlite, watered twice a week.


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