I want to buy my wife a misting system for her orchids as a surprise
present. Any recommendations? She has about 40 orchids, probably about 15 of
which are hanging in pots or on sticks and need regular misting, provided
now from a squirt bottle. All of them are in a heated, shaded, ventilated
sunroom.

I don't know a whole lot about orchids. The Pro Mist system
(http://www.pro-products.com/promist.html) seems really nice, but everything
on their website is oriented toward reptile owners.

Dan Marker

I have read here and elsewhere much discussion about the pros and cons
of misting. What I get from that is this, if you enjoy misting go ahead
the plants won't notice either way. If you automate your wife's misting
you just may remove a simple pleasure from her. IMO which is just that,
an opinion. How about a gift card from Juno Orchids or a box of the new
improved PA from Ray's? ;-))
Joe T

Dan Marker wrote:
I want to buy my wife a misting system for her orchids as a surprise
present. Any recommendations? She has about 40 orchids, probably about 15 of
which are hanging in pots or on sticks and need regular misting, provided
now from a squirt bottle. All of them are in a heated, shaded, ventilated
sunroom.

I don't know a whole lot about orchids. The Pro Mist system
(http://www.pro-products.com/promist.html) seems really nice, but everything
on their website is oriented toward reptile owners.

Dan Marker

"jtill" wrote in message
ups.com...

What I get from that is this, if you enjoy misting go ahead
the plants won't notice either way. If you automate your wife's misting
you just may remove a simple pleasure from her.


Whether or not she wants the misting system is not up for debate. I know she
wants it. Whether or not misting has any effect on orchids is also not up
for debate. As far as she's concerned, misting is necessary, and her opinion
is good enough for me.

That said, I know very little about misting systems and/or orchids. Does
anyone have a misting system? Can anyone recommend a particular one?

Dan Marker

Your post asked for "any recommendations". I gave you mine and it bent
your nose out of shape a bit. Sorry bout that, I withdraw my
recommendations.
Joe T

Dan Marker wrote:
"jtill" wrote in message
ups.com...

What I get from that is this, if you enjoy misting go ahead
the plants won't notice either way. If you automate your wife's misting
you just may remove a simple pleasure from her.


Whether or not she wants the misting system is not up for debate. I know she
wants it. Whether or not misting has any effect on orchids is also not up
for debate. As far as she's concerned, misting is necessary, and her opinion
is good enough for me.

That said, I know very little about misting systems and/or orchids. Does
anyone have a misting system? Can anyone recommend a particular one?

Dan Marker

My nose is fine. No offense taken.

Any ideas about where else to ask around? This was the only obvious-to-me
orchid newsgroup. Maybe all the misty types hang out somewhere non-Usenet?

Dan

I enjoy misting my orchids, and as my collection grew I went from a quart
mister to a half gallon pump and now - at 60+ orchids - I use a 3 gallon
hand pump sprayer that I got an extra long hose for.

I'm just glad you aren't jealous of your wife's orchids as I know my
spouse and many other orchid lovers spouses are. I don't think my wife would
ever buy me anything orchid related.

"Dan Marker" wrote in message
m...
I want to buy my wife a misting system for her orchids as a surprise
present. Any recommendations? She has about 40 orchids, probably about 15
of
which are hanging in pots or on sticks and need regular misting, provided
now from a squirt bottle. All of them are in a heated, shaded, ventilated
sunroom.

I don't know a whole lot about orchids. The Pro Mist system
(http://www.pro-products.com/promist.html) seems really nice, but
everything
on their website is oriented toward reptile owners.

Dan Marker

"Dan Marker" wrote in message
om...
I want to buy my wife a misting system for her orchids as a surprise
present. Any recommendations? She has about 40 orchids, probably about 15
of
which are hanging in pots or on sticks and need regular misting, provided
now from a squirt bottle. All of them are in a heated, shaded, ventilated
sunroom.


Dan - The thing that stops most of us is your use of System and Sun
Room. Most of the sunroom growers prefer to hand mist so they use a
pump sprayer, a battery operated sprayer or a squirt bottle.

Those with systems usually are spraying a greenhouse for heat control
and humidity or we are watering mounted plants and have large volumes
of water that then drains across the floor or into gravel or tile beds
on the floor.

We don't think of systems as indoor and we do think of sunrooms as
indoor.

Don't be limited by what a vendor does with a system. IF it puts our
the type of mist your wife wants and the volume is controlled enough
that you can live with it in a sunroom, That is it. We all are
adapting. Right now I supplement the humidity in my "grow under
lights" case with 2 fish tank air-stones bubbling away in margarine
tubs of water. They are not as effective as a small fog mister, but
they are cheap and were available when I needed them. I have seen
misters during the summer that are meant to humidify a patio area as
"outdoor air conditioning." They may be the right size for your use.
I have only seen them in the big box stores during the summer - but
you may find something like that on the net out of season.

Good Luck.
SuE
http://orchids.legolas.org/gallery/orchids

Maybe I just missed it, but did you mention the size of the collection,
where the plants are grown, and where you live?

Also, as Sue mentioned, it the misting for humidification, cooling, or what?

There are a wide range of available techniques, and it's hard to make a
recommendation without the target in mind.

--

Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com
Plants, Supplies. Books, Artwork, and lots of Free Info!


"Dan Marker" wrote in message
...
My nose is fine. No offense taken.

Any ideas about where else to ask around? This was the only obvious-to-me
orchid newsgroup. Maybe all the misty types hang out somewhere non-Usenet?

Dan

"Susan Erickson" wrote in message
...

Dan - The thing that stops most of us is your use of System and Sun
Room. Most of the sunroom growers prefer to hand mist so they use a
pump sprayer, a battery operated sprayer or a squirt bottle.


She has about 15 mounted orchids that get their water only from misting.
They're all hanging in a line in the sunroom, and, yes, a certain amount of
water ends up on the tile floor and on the cover of the hot tub that's
partially under them. She has some plastic tubs set up to get the worst of
it, but the sun is pretty good about drying up whatever water we leave lying
around in there. She has about 30 more potted orchids that sit on humidity
trays on racks in front of the windows. She sprays only a few of these.

We're going away for a week in February, and she feels like she's worn out
her welcome asking friends, family, and neighbors to come over here and
spray her stick orchids. A misting system would free her from asking for
help when we go away, and would probably free up some of her other time as
well (here's the jealous spouse part), so I would get to see more of her.
:^)

We're in upstate New York, and the misting is simply to get water to the
roots of her mounted orchids. They don't get water any other way.

Dan

On Wed, 03 Jan 2007 20:17:48 -0700 in Susan Erickson wrote:
tubs of water. They are not as effective as a small fog mister, but
they are cheap and were available when I needed them. I have seen
misters during the summer that are meant to humidify a patio area as
"outdoor air conditioning." They may be the right size for your use.
I have only seen them in the big box stores during the summer - but
you may find something like that on the net out of season.

If you mean a swamp cooler, farmtek sells them.
If you mean a fan with misting ring... farmtek sells those too and
wants a lot for them...

Me, I want a nice spinning disk/impeller style humidifier like I had when I
was a kid. However, I never seem to find them in wally world or lowes.

--
Chris Dukes
elfick willg: you can't use dell to beat people, it wouldn't stand up
to the strain... much like attacking a tank with a wiffle bat

Based upon that Dan, I would suggest that she may think she wants an
automated mister, but it's not a good idea. For a week's absence, the
prudent action is to dunk and soak each plant for about 15 or 20 minutes,
then not worry about it.

Orchids are a remarkable resilient group, and a week is close to
meaningless.

--

Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com
Plants, Supplies. Books, Artwork, and lots of Free Info!


"Dan Marker" wrote in message
m...
"Susan Erickson" wrote in message
...

Dan - The thing that stops most of us is your use of System and Sun
Room. Most of the sunroom growers prefer to hand mist so they use a
pump sprayer, a battery operated sprayer or a squirt bottle.


She has about 15 mounted orchids that get their water only from misting.
They're all hanging in a line in the sunroom, and, yes, a certain amount
of
water ends up on the tile floor and on the cover of the hot tub that's
partially under them. She has some plastic tubs set up to get the worst of
it, but the sun is pretty good about drying up whatever water we leave
lying
around in there. She has about 30 more potted orchids that sit on humidity
trays on racks in front of the windows. She sprays only a few of these.

We're going away for a week in February, and she feels like she's worn out
her welcome asking friends, family, and neighbors to come over here and
spray her stick orchids. A misting system would free her from asking for
help when we go away, and would probably free up some of her other time as
well (here's the jealous spouse part), so I would get to see more of her.
:^)

We're in upstate New York, and the misting is simply to get water to the
roots of her mounted orchids. They don't get water any other way.

Dan

If I understand your need correctly, I would look at the windchaser
misting fan. http://www.nextag.com/misting-fan/search-html
If you put the input hose on a timer to mist once or twice a day, you
wouldn't have to worry about filling a reservoir. The fan could be
left on all the time for air movement, then the mist would activate
based on your timer setting. It has 6 (I think) low volume nozzles.
Water accumulation would be reduced to a minimum. I bought two last
fall (close out) and haven't used them yet. A friend in the club had
one in his greenhousewith a timer for water as described. His was
programmed to mist several times a day for temperature control.

I saw one they set up for demonstration in a department store. It was
outside in the summer and it looked like the volume was pretty low.
The spray was a fine mist moistening an arc about 10' x 6'. You may
want to consider a pre-filter, to help keep the nozzles from clogging.
You hose should support the volume of the timer/spray without a
changing temperature. If the stores still have them in stock, I guess
they cost about $100, the water timer would be about $10, filter $40.

Not a totally outrageous price for a little freedom and peace of mind.
Would do double duty in the summer also. Of course, It may be a little
over-kill and give your wife an excuse to buy more orchids so it gets
used to its maximum capability. ;0) If nothing else, gve the orchids
ridiulous names, T. does, so you can remember them. So far I've got a
Pothead, Barney (purple like a dinosaur), and a Blushing Bride(those
are the clean names), there are others.

Best wishes,
Nancy

Dan Marker wrote:
"Susan Erickson" wrote in message
...

Dan - The thing that stops most of us is your use of System and Sun
Room. Most of the sunroom growers prefer to hand mist so they use a
pump sprayer, a battery operated sprayer or a squirt bottle.


She has about 15 mounted orchids that get their water only from misting.
They're all hanging in a line in the sunroom, and, yes, a certain amount of
water ends up on the tile floor and on the cover of the hot tub that's
partially under them. She has some plastic tubs set up to get the worst of
it, but the sun is pretty good about drying up whatever water we leave lying
around in there. She has about 30 more potted orchids that sit on humidity
trays on racks in front of the windows. She sprays only a few of these.

We're going away for a week in February, and she feels like she's worn out
her welcome asking friends, family, and neighbors to come over here and
spray her stick orchids. A misting system would free her from asking for
help when we go away, and would probably free up some of her other time as
well (here's the jealous spouse part), so I would get to see more of her.
:^)

We're in upstate New York, and the misting is simply to get water to the
roots of her mounted orchids. They don't get water any other way.

Dan

On Fri, 05 Jan 2007 02:22:49 GMT, "Ray B"
wrote:

Based upon that Dan, I would suggest that she may think she wants an
automated mister, but it's not a good idea. For a week's absence, the
prudent action is to dunk and soak each plant for about 15 or 20 minutes,
then not worry about it.

Orchids are a remarkable resilient group, and a week is close to
meaningless.

In my under lights case I often have the humidity drop to 30% and I
find that once a week watering is plenty often even thou these plants
have much more intense light than what your talking about. I agree
with Ray. Dunk them completely. Put the entire mount under water and
let it soak up what it will. Then hang them and go -- enjoy your
week. When she gets back the dunk trick will again provide needed
extra water to those that are a little dry.... But a week away should
not hurt any of them. That is not to say a limp leaf or two will not
develop, they may or they may not. It certainly should not put the
plant off its bloom cycle.

I grow orchids because they can take the forgetful owner. After all
most all of them naturally grow where there is a dry season and a WET
season. Most of us as owners forget to or are afraid to grow them
with the dry season.

The Hot Tub is going to add humidity even with a cover over it.

July or August I might suggest someone check that they are not getting
too hot. But February.. They are fine. Mine in the greenhouse are
finding it a bit cold this last couple of weeks. A blanket of snow
has cut the solar gain. They only got to 67 degrees F. today.


A quick visit to check that the house is OK in mid week should do for
the visitor and your wife's nerves. House sitters often cause more
problems for Orchid collections than they prevent. Over watering will
cause death faster than a long dry.
SuE
http://orchids.legolas.org/gallery/orchids

My wife came home with a hand pump pressure sprayer last night, something
with a directional, extensible head so she can reach around the back of the
plants or spray them from the top. After spraying everything in the sunroom
she ran around the house chasing the kids with it. When I asked her if her
mounted orchids would survive for a week with a 20 minute dunk before we
leave, she said "Sure. Why not?".

So I guess a misting system is overkill. It seems it was a momentary fantasy
of hers and I mistook it for a real need.

Thanks to all for the suggestions.

Dan Marker

Dan Marker wrote:
I want to buy my wife a misting system for her orchids as a surprise
present. Any recommendations? She has about 40 orchids, probably about 15 of
which are hanging in pots or on sticks and need regular misting, provided
now from a squirt bottle. All of them are in a heated, shaded, ventilated
sunroom.

I don't know a whole lot about orchids. The Pro Mist system
(http://www.pro-products.com/promist.html) seems really nice, but everything
on their website is oriented toward reptile owners.

Dan Marker




Amazon has a few indoor watering systems:

http://www.amazon.com/OASIS-AUTOMATI...&s=electronics

--Kurt