"Bolero" wrote in message
u...
I couldn't tell you what "home" growers get because in this country most
of
us grow our plants outside and try to maintain ideal conditions.

Oh, where are you from, Bolero?

Me, I dream of someday in the future owning a house with a garden and being
able to afford a greenhouse within commuting distance of Washington, DC (US)
/ Northern Virginia. For now, my orchids will have to be satisfied with 4
north-facing windows supplemented by grow lamps in a rented 1.5 bedroom
apartment. And they are doing well, not ideal, but well enough to be a great
joy in my life.

Happy New Year!
Joanna

"Bolero" wrote in message
u...
I couldn't tell you what "home" growers get because in this country most
of
us grow our plants outside and try to maintain ideal conditions.

Oh, where are you from, Bolero?

Me, I dream of someday in the future owning a house with a garden and being
able to afford a greenhouse within commuting distance of Washington, DC (US)
/ Northern Virginia. For now, my orchids will have to be satisfied with 4
north-facing windows supplemented by grow lamps in a rented 1.5 bedroom
apartment. And they are doing well, not ideal, but well enough to be a great
joy in my life.

Happy New Year!
Joanna

Sorry, but humidty trays do very little good in an open room.

Copying from my own page on humidty:

"A general caveat about all of the humidity-enhancing methods described for
in-home growing: remember that unless your growing area is sealed off from
the rest of your home, any effort to raise the humidity level around your
plants is actually trying to raise the humidity of your entire house!
Because of that, especially if there is air circulation due to fans or
forced air heating, the less active methods like the humidity trays appear
to be of very limited value."

Copying an Orchidsource.com post by Todd Zimmerman:

"I am sorry, but "Hmidity trays add 10% to 20% humidity to your room
humidity." is just not possible unless your room is an aquarium.

I have been distressed about this bit of published folk lore ever since I
began growing.

Without going into the physics of it....

I have sat in a small, room with no ventilation, taking readings every five
minutes (trials of ten readings) from a hygrometer suspended 10" above an
open seedling tray of water (leaf height), and found no difference
(statistically significant or even imaginarily noticable) when compared to
readings taken above the same tray when it was dry. The hygrometer was
tested between trials and the room allowed to vent fully.

In addition to the vapor input to the room from the tray (surface areas
about 1.5 square feet), my lungs (surface area coparable to that of a tennis
court) were actively pumping warm air, at a humidity of 95%, into that same
room. Even that did not increase the humidity readings more than 2% from the
beginning of a trial to the end (equally for both wet and dry trays).

Pots over the tray would reduce the effective evaporative surface area of
the tray. Plants will increase humidity by transpiration and by slowing air
movement. Fans will move water vapor away from the plants.

Someone said that there was a similar study published in Orchids magazine
several years ago (with the same conclusions)."


--

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

.. . . . . . . . . . .
"John M. Gamble" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Bolero wrote:
FIne for what?


Getting the air above winter-dry and making the orchid less
uncomfortable.

40% is below the ideal in any sense of the word.


Ideal, yes, "achievable by mere mortals who don't own a greenhouse", no.

Humidity trays don't work in my opinion either.


This is flatly untrue. One can reach %40 humidity given
humidity trays and some pebbles (which help with the surface
area that exposes the water).

--
-john

February 28 1997: Last day libraries could order catalogue cards
from the Library of Congress.

Sorry, but humidty trays do very little good in an open room.

Copying from my own page on humidty:

"A general caveat about all of the humidity-enhancing methods described for
in-home growing: remember that unless your growing area is sealed off from
the rest of your home, any effort to raise the humidity level around your
plants is actually trying to raise the humidity of your entire house!
Because of that, especially if there is air circulation due to fans or
forced air heating, the less active methods like the humidity trays appear
to be of very limited value."

Copying an Orchidsource.com post by Todd Zimmerman:

"I am sorry, but "Hmidity trays add 10% to 20% humidity to your room
humidity." is just not possible unless your room is an aquarium.

I have been distressed about this bit of published folk lore ever since I
began growing.

Without going into the physics of it....

I have sat in a small, room with no ventilation, taking readings every five
minutes (trials of ten readings) from a hygrometer suspended 10" above an
open seedling tray of water (leaf height), and found no difference
(statistically significant or even imaginarily noticable) when compared to
readings taken above the same tray when it was dry. The hygrometer was
tested between trials and the room allowed to vent fully.

In addition to the vapor input to the room from the tray (surface areas
about 1.5 square feet), my lungs (surface area coparable to that of a tennis
court) were actively pumping warm air, at a humidity of 95%, into that same
room. Even that did not increase the humidity readings more than 2% from the
beginning of a trial to the end (equally for both wet and dry trays).

Pots over the tray would reduce the effective evaporative surface area of
the tray. Plants will increase humidity by transpiration and by slowing air
movement. Fans will move water vapor away from the plants.

Someone said that there was a similar study published in Orchids magazine
several years ago (with the same conclusions)."


--

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

.. . . . . . . . . . .
"John M. Gamble" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Bolero wrote:
FIne for what?


Getting the air above winter-dry and making the orchid less
uncomfortable.

40% is below the ideal in any sense of the word.


Ideal, yes, "achievable by mere mortals who don't own a greenhouse", no.

Humidity trays don't work in my opinion either.


This is flatly untrue. One can reach %40 humidity given
humidity trays and some pebbles (which help with the surface
area that exposes the water).

--
-john

February 28 1997: Last day libraries could order catalogue cards
from the Library of Congress.

On Mon, 29 Dec 2003 16:20:05 -0500, "Claude"
wrote in Message-Id: :

What is the best percentage of humidity to grow Phal and Paph!

I just bought an hygrometer and it shows 40% of relative humidity. Is this
good?

Increasing the relative humidity in your indoor grow area is going to
require a whole house humidifier, or you're going to have to enclose
the grow area with some clear/translucient impervious material such as
plastic film or plexiglass. If you are using free standing shelving,
you can make a plastic sheet cover for it and put an ultrasonic fogger
inside. This amounts to an inexpensive Warden Case. Here's a link to
commercially manufactured units:
http://www.carter-and-holmes.com/cgi...or+Greenhouses

Ultrasonic foggers http://www.mainlandmart.com/foggers.html will
raise the realtive humidity in such an enclosed area to 100% very
quickly.

I find Phals grow fine in my home without suplemental humidity.
However providing a growing environment of 70% to 80% realitive
humidity seems to prevent wrinkled/pleated leaves, bud blasting, etc,
and encourage lush new growth in other genera.

Claude,

The same applies to S/H pots effect on humidity as it does for trays - they
are adding some humidity, but you're in effect, humidifying the entire room
and home or apartment. In other words, the effect is minimal. Minimal plus
minimal is still minimal.

I suppose that a phalaenopsis with its leaves spread out flat over the
medium are seeing a localized boost in RH, but as little as a few inches
above the medium and the effect pretty much vanishes.

Two more comments:

1. How are your plants doing? If the answer is "well," then don't
fret. If the answer isn't that positive,
2. Consider getting a console humidifier with sufficient capacity to
raise the RH to somewhere in the 50% - 60% range. Not only will your plants
like it, but you will, as well.

--

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

.. . . . . . . . . . .
"Claude" wrote in message
.. .
Thank you everyone!

I must say that I grow all my plant in S/H culture and I`m wondering if
humidity is an issue with that method of culture.

My pots are on wooden shelve with fluorescent light. During the day, the
humidity goes aroud 40 to 45 % and at night goes up to 55 %.
Should I be concerned? Should I put all my pots on trays with water
knowing
they are already in S/H culture????

Thanks

Claude

Happy New Year to all!
Bonne et Heureuse Année à Tous!

Claude,

The same applies to S/H pots effect on humidity as it does for trays - they
are adding some humidity, but you're in effect, humidifying the entire room
and home or apartment. In other words, the effect is minimal. Minimal plus
minimal is still minimal.

I suppose that a phalaenopsis with its leaves spread out flat over the
medium are seeing a localized boost in RH, but as little as a few inches
above the medium and the effect pretty much vanishes.

Two more comments:

1. How are your plants doing? If the answer is "well," then don't
fret. If the answer isn't that positive,
2. Consider getting a console humidifier with sufficient capacity to
raise the RH to somewhere in the 50% - 60% range. Not only will your plants
like it, but you will, as well.

--

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

.. . . . . . . . . . .
"Claude" wrote in message
.. .
Thank you everyone!

I must say that I grow all my plant in S/H culture and I`m wondering if
humidity is an issue with that method of culture.

My pots are on wooden shelve with fluorescent light. During the day, the
humidity goes aroud 40 to 45 % and at night goes up to 55 %.
Should I be concerned? Should I put all my pots on trays with water
knowing
they are already in S/H culture????

Thanks

Claude

Happy New Year to all!
Bonne et Heureuse Année à Tous!

Thanks Ray!

My Phals are in active growing and they have all new growth of roots, leaves
or spikes.

I did add a console humidifier in my appartement to raise the relative
humidity at first for myself, then I was just wondering about my phals.

This morning, I just misted my phals with some water and the RH went up to
60 %.
I think I will add some trays under my pots, just to give them a boost!

Thanks again

Happy New year

Claude

Sorry, but humidty trays do very little good in an open room.

Copying from my own page on humidty:

"A general caveat about all of the humidity-enhancing methods described for
in-home growing: remember that unless your growing area is sealed off from
the rest of your home, any effort to raise the humidity level around your
plants is actually trying to raise the humidity of your entire house!
Because of that, especially if there is air circulation due to fans or
forced air heating, the less active methods like the humidity trays appear
to be of very limited value."

Copying an Orchidsource.com post by Todd Zimmerman:

"I am sorry, but "Hmidity trays add 10% to 20% humidity to your room
humidity." is just not possible unless your room is an aquarium.

I have been distressed about this bit of published folk lore ever since I
began growing.

Without going into the physics of it....

I have sat in a small, room with no ventilation, taking readings every five
minutes (trials of ten readings) from a hygrometer suspended 10" above an
open seedling tray of water (leaf height), and found no difference
(statistically significant or even imaginarily noticable) when compared to
readings taken above the same tray when it was dry. The hygrometer was
tested between trials and the room allowed to vent fully.

In addition to the vapor input to the room from the tray (surface areas
about 1.5 square feet), my lungs (surface area coparable to that of a tennis
court) were actively pumping warm air, at a humidity of 95%, into that same
room. Even that did not increase the humidity readings more than 2% from the
beginning of a trial to the end (equally for both wet and dry trays).

Pots over the tray would reduce the effective evaporative surface area of
the tray. Plants will increase humidity by transpiration and by slowing air
movement. Fans will move water vapor away from the plants.

Someone said that there was a similar study published in Orchids magazine
several years ago (with the same conclusions)."


--

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

.. . . . . . . . . . .
"John M. Gamble" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Bolero wrote:
FIne for what?


Getting the air above winter-dry and making the orchid less
uncomfortable.

40% is below the ideal in any sense of the word.


Ideal, yes, "achievable by mere mortals who don't own a greenhouse", no.

Humidity trays don't work in my opinion either.


This is flatly untrue. One can reach %40 humidity given
humidity trays and some pebbles (which help with the surface
area that exposes the water).

--
-john

February 28 1997: Last day libraries could order catalogue cards
from the Library of Congress.

Claude,

The same applies to S/H pots effect on humidity as it does for trays - they
are adding some humidity, but you're in effect, humidifying the entire room
and home or apartment. In other words, the effect is minimal. Minimal plus
minimal is still minimal.

I suppose that a phalaenopsis with its leaves spread out flat over the
medium are seeing a localized boost in RH, but as little as a few inches
above the medium and the effect pretty much vanishes.

Two more comments:

1. How are your plants doing? If the answer is "well," then don't
fret. If the answer isn't that positive,
2. Consider getting a console humidifier with sufficient capacity to
raise the RH to somewhere in the 50% - 60% range. Not only will your plants
like it, but you will, as well.

--

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

.. . . . . . . . . . .
"Claude" wrote in message
.. .
Thank you everyone!

I must say that I grow all my plant in S/H culture and I`m wondering if
humidity is an issue with that method of culture.

My pots are on wooden shelve with fluorescent light. During the day, the
humidity goes aroud 40 to 45 % and at night goes up to 55 %.
Should I be concerned? Should I put all my pots on trays with water
knowing
they are already in S/H culture????

Thanks

Claude

Happy New Year to all!
Bonne et Heureuse Année à Tous!

Thanks Ray!

My Phals are in active growing and they have all new growth of roots, leaves
or spikes.

I did add a console humidifier in my appartement to raise the relative
humidity at first for myself, then I was just wondering about my phals.

This morning, I just misted my phals with some water and the RH went up to
60 %.
I think I will add some trays under my pots, just to give them a boost!

Thanks again

Happy New year

Claude

On Mon, 29 Dec 2003 16:20:05 -0500, "Claude"
wrote in Message-Id: :

What is the best percentage of humidity to grow Phal and Paph!

I just bought an hygrometer and it shows 40% of relative humidity. Is this
good?

Increasing the relative humidity in your indoor grow area is going to
require a whole house humidifier, or you're going to have to enclose
the grow area with some clear/translucient impervious material such as
plastic film or plexiglass. If you are using free standing shelving,
you can make a plastic sheet cover for it and put an ultrasonic fogger
inside. This amounts to an inexpensive Warden Case. Here's a link to
commercially manufactured units:
http://www.carter-and-holmes.com/cgi...or+Greenhouses

Ultrasonic foggers http://www.mainlandmart.com/foggers.html will
raise the realtive humidity in such an enclosed area to 100% very
quickly.

I find Phals grow fine in my home without suplemental humidity.
However providing a growing environment of 70% to 80% realitive
humidity seems to prevent wrinkled/pleated leaves, bud blasting, etc,
and encourage lush new growth in other genera.

On Mon, 29 Dec 2003 16:20:05 -0500, "Claude"
wrote in Message-Id: :

What is the best percentage of humidity to grow Phal and Paph!

I just bought an hygrometer and it shows 40% of relative humidity. Is this
good?

Increasing the relative humidity in your indoor grow area is going to
require a whole house humidifier, or you're going to have to enclose
the grow area with some clear/translucient impervious material such as
plastic film or plexiglass. If you are using free standing shelving,
you can make a plastic sheet cover for it and put an ultrasonic fogger
inside. This amounts to an inexpensive Warden Case. Here's a link to
commercially manufactured units:
http://www.carter-and-holmes.com/cgi...or+Greenhouses

Ultrasonic foggers http://www.mainlandmart.com/foggers.html will
raise the realtive humidity in such an enclosed area to 100% very
quickly.

I find Phals grow fine in my home without suplemental humidity.
However providing a growing environment of 70% to 80% realitive
humidity seems to prevent wrinkled/pleated leaves, bud blasting, etc,
and encourage lush new growth in other genera.

Thanks again Ray!

I didn`t ask for that much info :-)

I will let my plants the way they are now! they seem happy!

I think we do care too much for them!

thanks

Claude

I agree trays don't raise the humidity that much ,but they make it easier to
maintain your plants when misting & watering + raising the humidity
slightly.I personally think it is going overboard sectioning off orchids in
the home,this can only look unsightly and will possibly lead to other
problems with pests & diseases.Especially if it is a very small space that
is being sectioned.It would need constant monitoring.
kenty
"Larry Dighera" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 29 Dec 2003 16:20:05 -0500, "Claude"
wrote in Message-Id: :

What is the best percentage of humidity to grow Phal and Paph!

I just bought an hygrometer and it shows 40% of relative humidity. Is
this
good?

Increasing the relative humidity in your indoor grow area is going to
require a whole house humidifier, or you're going to have to enclose
the grow area with some clear/translucient impervious material such as
plastic film or plexiglass. If you are using free standing shelving,
you can make a plastic sheet cover for it and put an ultrasonic fogger
inside. This amounts to an inexpensive Warden Case. Here's a link to
commercially manufactured units:

http://www.carter-and-holmes.com/cgi...or+Greenhouses

Ultrasonic foggers http://www.mainlandmart.com/foggers.html will
raise the realtive humidity in such an enclosed area to 100% very
quickly.

I find Phals grow fine in my home without suplemental humidity.
However providing a growing environment of 70% to 80% realitive
humidity seems to prevent wrinkled/pleated leaves, bud blasting, etc,
and encourage lush new growth in other genera.