"Tom Randy" wrote in message
news
On Sun, 19 Dec 2004 16:59:28 +0000, K Barrett wrote:

Why do you think you need a humidifier? What kind of orchid do you own
and
where do you live? many common orchids grow fine in 50% humidity, that
is
what is commonly avaliable in most climates.


Not during the heating season in the north...



Well she's in the deep south of Texas

K barrett

"Tom Randy" wrote in message
news
On Sun, 19 Dec 2004 16:59:28 +0000, K Barrett wrote:

Why do you think you need a humidifier? What kind of orchid do you own
and
where do you live? many common orchids grow fine in 50% humidity, that
is
what is commonly avaliable in most climates.


Not during the heating season in the north...



Well she's in the deep south of Texas

K barrett

"sandra" wrote in message
oups.com...

My orchid will be in Deep South Texas, I do have central heat in that
home


Do you have any sort of a gauge to determine the humidity in your home? I
like the one from Radio Shack. Costs about $25, runs on batteries and will
keep track of the minimum and maximum humidity. There are probably other
stores that sell them if you look around your town. Or maybe you have one
of those wall weather stations that give you some sort of an idea what your
ambient humidity is.

The reason I ask is because many orchids are bred for the home and do not
need fancy equipment for successful growing. Maybe they only need to be
over the kitchen sink, or near the shower in order to get some moisture in
the air.

Frank Fordyce (a well known orchid breeder) told me the story about how he
was lecturing in Houston Texas on orchid culture. Someone asked a question
and Frank automatically answered maybe the plant needed more humidity -
which is usually the answer here in California, but in Houston, which is
usually wringing wet, the ambient humidity is adequate. His audience
laughed and Frank learned a valuable lesson. Know your conditions.

So my only point was do you know if your conditions warrant the expense of
buying a humidifier? You may have adequate humidity and not know it. So
get a gauge. Borrow one, or ask for one for Christmas (as well as a second
orchid to keep the 1st one company)

One of the nicest books I ever got about growing orchids was one written by
Bob Gordon called Phalaenposis Culture - or something like that. He has a
down to earth way of writing that gets you to think like an orchid. You can
get it from Amazon.com or the American Orchid Society or directly from Bob.
I want to say he's Laid Back Press.

Good growing

K Barrett

Me too.
On Sun, 19 Dec 2004 12:15:43 GMT, Tom Randy
wrote:

On Sat, 18 Dec 2004 23:09:34 -0500, John DeGood wrote:

danny wrote:
The Hunter "Care-Free" humidifiers that don't need replaceable filters are
very nice.

I'll second that. This is the third winter for the Hunter humidifier in
my piano room. They are very nicely engineered. I wash the base
section weekly, but it otherwise requires almost no maintenance. They
sell for about $50 at warehouse clubs.

John


I have a 2 gallon Hunter that works really well. The niteglow model.

If you are working of a small scale, such a terrarium perhaps this would
work.
One way of increasing humidity is using stones (decorative) in the bottom
and having a layer of water, if that's insufficient get an aquarium pump and
place a couple of long air stone under the stones. Cheap and works.

dadvon96720 from the wet side of the Big Island of Hawaii.

"sandra" wrote in message
ups.com...
Hello I was wondering....can anyone please suggest a room humidifer for
me that works exceptionally well with orchids.
I've been reading some reviews, and I've gotten a lot of mixed signals
about some of the humidifiers I've been looking at.
I'm leaving my very first orchid at home with my sister until I can
obtain a nice humidifier that works well with it.
-Sandra