Will one of those mist bowls raise the entire apartments humidity, or
just locally? I have a meter, (or I can get one here soon) How much can
I expect to raise the apartment by running one of those? What humidity
do those orchids enjoy?

I would expecta rise in the local humidity of the bowl, though if you wanted
to raise the humidity of the entire unit, I imagine that a humidifying unit
could be easily utilised for the purpose.

In my reading on Orchids, many seem to enjoy 70 or above. The apartment
is around 65 f most of the year, but right next to the windows tends to
be a bit lower than that.

Where you have a variance of a few degrees many of your plants will tolerate
it. There are Orchids which are suited to extremely low temperatures, to the
point that I have seen Dendrobium kingianum, growing and flowering with snow
on the ground all around and over it. It just depends on what plant you are
specifically interested in. Bear in mind that most growers focus on plants
that are exotic or tropical in origin as they have showier flowers and are
easier to get commercially.

PS Thanks for this discussion. I find great pleasure in the few plants
I have that do thrive, you are helping me find them some companions.

I am pleased that you are findiong this discussion of use. Should you ever
wish to speak in a less public forum, please feel free o reply to my e-mail
address. Just make the subject line something that I will notice amidst the
spam.

Kye.