HUMIDITY. How important is it really . .?

[NeoNJ]

I have alot of Paphs. About 20. Mostly species, some hybrids. I have read all the "cultural" info on these and am amazed that they seem to require High levels of humidity. I can provide Humidity levels at 50-60% but really no higher.

Does anyone find Humidity levels to be a problem in growing and blooming paphs?

I have: Paph. lowii, haynaldianum, venustum, niveum, bellatulum, spiceranium, insigne, fairrieanum, charlesworthii; Paph. Jade Dragon, Lynleigh Koopowitz, Harold Koopowitz, Delrosi, Ho Chi Minh, Dellaina, Druid Spring, Leeanum, Vanda M. Pearman, Fumi's Delight.

I use supplemental fans, a cool-mist humidifer, and supplemental lighting with compact fluourescents, in addition to natural light on the windowsills
(SE and SW exposure).

 

[goldenrose]

If they're growing & blooming then apparently they're comfortable with what you're giving them. There will be some plants that may not bloom out as well & the duration of the flower will be shorter in lower humidity.

 

[Ross]

50%-60% humidity and even lower worked fine for me when I grew in the house. If your humidity drops in the winter, as it does here in the frigid north, reduce the air movement somewhat as your humidity around the plants drop. The higher the humidity, the higher your air movement should be. As the humidity drops, reduce air movement proportionally.

 

[Rick]

Humidity/temp/light all work together.

Under lights and indoors, which are relatively low(er) light levels and temps compared to GH potentials, the 50-60% range can work out ok. Especially for hybrids.

As Ross noted, humidity values can plummet in winter without resorting to additional enclosure and technology.

As Rose said, don't fix what ain't broken, but when I made the efforts to keep humidity higher than 50/60 (about 8 years ago), it was like a switch thrown on my collection. Things that did OK (or at least by my 2 years experience at the time) were doing good, did significantly better. There were many other species that were struggling or doing poorly (in my opinion) that took off like gangbusters.

Seeing the difference between running from 30% (winter low) to 60% (summer best) to a constant 70-90% has convinced me to make humidity monitoring and control a priority.

After 10 years now, I spend less time watching the numbers and machines, and turning into a regular "it feels right" or "watch your plants" type of GH grower. So my "watch your plants" version would be a Vanda growing on a coat hanger in the bright corner, and a plaque mounted phal in the dark corner as my environmental control plants as to whether or not my basic heat/light/humidity levels are good.

 

[emydura]

50-60% is still a pretty good level of humidity. I have real humidity problems in winter as the heating dries out the air (30-40%). This really affects the mottled leaf species. The stress causes many of them to flower on immature growths.

David

 

[NYEric]

Fans can lower humidity. How are the roots?

 

[W. Beetus]

50-60% is a good amount. I was growing mine in levels of about 30% for a few years, and they still bloomed. I would definitely not recommend levels that low, however.

 

[Ernie]

It is my observation that if your Paphs have healthy, active root systems, and you water properly, your ~50% humidity will be just fine.

 

[NeoNJ]

Re: HUMIDITY

It's difficult to examine or observe roots on potted plants .... Most of the Paphs are multi-growth plants that obviously were well taken care of by the nurseries that grew them. I have not seen any 'root rot" problems thus far.
I'm going to keep them a little more on the dry side this time around ----
to much water is what killed most of my Paphs the last time I had a collection of them - but they were all large multi-floral Paphs. They grew and grew, but didn't "bloom and bloom" ..... typical of multiflorals who may take a year off from blooming, and/or they just really didn't have the number of mature growths necessary to bloom.

 

[Ernie]

It's difficult to examine or observe roots on potted plants

If these are new acquisitions, you might want to knock them out of the pot just to check the roots out. It is a good time to repot anyway- lots of Paphs will send new roots in spring. IMO better to do this now than wait until fall/winter and have plants going down hill in old mix and into a root rest at the same time.

Most of the Paphs are multi-growth plants that obviously were well taken care of by the nurseries that grew them.

I'm sure the nurseries took very good care of them! However, a windowsill is very different than a greenhouse! On a windowsill or in a light garden, we rely on very healthy roots to compensate for lower than desirable humidity. I've seen perfectly gorgeous plants with few/no roots grow and bloom in a greenhouse just because they were taking up moisture from the air. Greenhouse grown plants can sometimes mask that "the curtains don't match the carpet". Under lights/windowsill, you'll quickly notice the dye job. :rollhappy:

Repotting will also give you a chance to put them in a consistent mix that you are familiar with.

Certainly not saying your plants are rootless!!! Just trying to stress how important roots are to non-greenhouse growers.

You also need to water properly. It is very easy on a windowsill/under lights to simply dribble a little water on the plants once in a while. You want to drench the heck out of them when you do water. Attempts to keep the windowsill from getting all messed up with water will lead to dry spots in the pots that will cause bone dry roots which die. Take 'em to the sink and flush them heavily. That'll drench those roots and wash out any metabolites and fertilizer salts and bring in fresh air.

 

[NeoNJ]

Re: Humidity

Humidity has always been my challenge, even with using a cool-mist humidifer - that does not compare to orchids growing in a greenhouse.

Right now the orchids on one of my windowsills is at a level of 34% - granted they get good Afternoon natural light, but with a temp of 84 and a humidity level of 34% that spells T-R-O-U-B-L-E. The use of Fans seems to work against rising Humidity levels ......so you need good air circulation plus good humidity .... the fans blow away the moisture in the air ! Ugh. Geesh.
This gets very complicated.

 

[Rick]

Humidity has always been my challenge, even with using a cool-mist humidifer - that does not compare to orchids growing in a greenhouse.

Right now the orchids on one of my windowsills is at a level of 34% - granted they get good Afternoon natural light, but with a temp of 84 and a humidity level of 34% that spells T-R-O-U-B-L-E. The use of Fans seems to work against rising Humidity levels ......so you need good air circulation plus good humidity .... the fans blow away the moisture in the air ! Ugh. Geesh.
This gets very complicated.

Yup, can you enclose the space with plastic sheets? Then you can end up fighting higher temps. Sometimes its push me pull you.

 

[NeoNJ]

Yup, can you enclose the space with plastic sheets? Then you can end up fighting higher temps. Sometimes its push me pull you.

Yep, you got it ! On one of the windowsills, I use a curtain and tape it to the side Walls to enclose the windowsill - which is great for the overnights - it provides the plants with 62% Humidity - but during the day, yup, you got it - the plants would BAKE ! So with the curtain open, and the fan and humidifier going, there is essentially no benefits to the plants !

 

[Ernie]

We feel for you and speak from experience. It can certainly be done though! Just remember healthy root grow great plants. You might also try a plant or three in semi-hydro. Very conducive to windowsill growing!

 

[Eric Muehlbauer]

I have found humidity to be far less of an issue for paphs and phrags than other orchids. Maybe crazies like sangii, but most paphs and phrags seem fine with ordinary household humidity.

 

[Bolero]

Depends on the hybrid or species, some seem to prefer high humidity but some paphs don't really care. I grow some outside in low humidity and I have no problems at all. Others I grow in higher humidity......not sure if it makes a difference or not to be honest.

Not sure if this is a big deal or not really. I think many paphs grow well regardless of humidity as long as you get the watering right. I think the term is 'gently moist'.

 

[emydura]

Some of them do grow OK at lower humidities. But there is a difference between surviving and thriving. They will do better at higher humidities. I guess it all depends on how serious you want to take it.

David

 

[Rick]

Depends on the hybrid or species, some seem to prefer high humidity but some paphs don't really care. I grow some outside in low humidity and I have no problems at all. Others I grow in higher humidity......not sure if it makes a difference or not to be honest.

Not sure if this is a big deal or not really. I think many paphs grow well regardless of humidity as long as you get the watering right. I think the term is 'gently moist'.

That was the crux of the problem I had before humidity control. During the winter with less than 60%, some species (most frequently Barbata types for me, especially purpuratum) would loose lots of water through foliage, and the top of the potting mix would dry very quickly. So I'd water more, but the bottom of the pot would stay very wet, and rot roots. Maybe if I had used the sphag/basket system back then, I would have more even root zone moisture and aeration, and higher humidity around the base of the plant as evapotranspiration from the moss.

This was also occuring in my old leaky GH, so like I said, it was a whole new era for me when I automated to force it up to 70-90%.

 

[NeoNJ]

Re: Humidity....How important is it really?

Some of them do grow OK at lower humidities. But there is a difference between surviving and thriving. They will do better at higher humidities. I guess it all depends on how serious you want to take it.

David

Well, yeah, growing them and blooming them is a big difference. The last time I had a collection of Paphs, I merely grew them, and never bloomed them again after getting them (they were in bud when I got them).

Right now I use 2 humidifers - one on each windowsill .... and I can't really say they do much if anything during the day ---- however, at night they manage to get the Humidity Levels up to 60%+ overnight.

So without a GH, and automation, I'm not quite sure how else to get the Humidity levels up beyond what they are currently ........

 

[Rick]

Well, yeah, growing them and blooming them is a big difference. The last time I had a collection of Paphs, I merely grew them, and never bloomed them again after getting them (they were in bud when I got them).

Right now I use 2 humidifers - one on each windowsill .... and I can't really say they do much if anything during the day ---- however, at night they manage to get the Humidity Levels up to 60%+ overnight.

So without a GH, and automation, I'm not quite sure how else to get the Humidity levels up beyond what they are currently ........

And keep from growing mold/algae on your walls and furniture.:sob:

Some of the basement growers (like Wendy) have much better handle on indoor growing than me. Ernie wrote an article about indoor growing in his Chicago appartment (if I remember correctly). NYEric has turned his appartment into a jungle, and I don't think he worries about the mold growing on his furnitureoke:oke:

A lot of folks move away from the hot windows and end up using artificial lighting to be able to reduce heat and seal up the area for better humidity control. Seems like I've seen several articles on different ways of setting up a good indoor environment in Orchids over the last couple of years, 2 of which are by Ernie and Wendy. They may be helpfull in sizing up equipment needs for the size of your space.