humidity level in my new orchidarium - Orchid Board

failingflopsis · #1 (**permalink**) 02-28-2007, 07:56 PM

My wonderful husband bought me a Grand Cayman Orchidarium. I just got it up and running last Sunday. My question is should I keep the mister and fans going 24/7? During the day the temp gets up to ~77 with the humidity in the 50's-60's. At night the temp goes down to 60 and the humidity falls to about mid 30's. I am growing phalaenopsis, dendrobium and oncidiums. Any thoughts?

Alexis in Redland · #2 (**permalink**) 02-28-2007, 08:24 PM

Congratulations! I have the Bimini that lives in my air-conditioned living room, and I love it! I run the misters for 4 minutes in the morning, and another minute in the afternoon. And I'm growing orchids that like a lot of water.

The plants you're growing do not like to be wet all the time, so I don't recommend running the misters 24/7. That will be way too much moisture, especially for the Dends and Oncs.

It's curious that your humidity falls at night. Usually, cooler air holds more water, and therefore, the humidity reads higher.

I grow in South FL, which is notoriously humid. And even though my Orch is in my A/C'd house, maybe that affects my humidity levels. Mine ranges from 70 to 100% and I only run my fan for about an hour a day.

Part of the joy of growing orchids is figuring out what works in your conditions, so you'll just have to fiddle with your setup until it feels right. But your question about whether you should run your misters and fan 24/7...I'd say "no."

Clear as mud? ;-)

Alexis

failingflopsis · #3 (**permalink**) 02-28-2007, 08:48 PM

Thanks Alexis. I'm not sure about the humidity either. It has been really cold outside (-4F) and between the furnace and fireplace the humidity levels are pretty low in the house. I'll try not running the fans at night and see if that makes a difference.

Tindomul · #4 (**permalink**) 02-28-2007, 11:37 PM

You don't want to run the mister 24/7. Thats way too much. I would mist a few minutes in the morning and early-mid afternoon, and run the fan for a few hours at a time, usually during the hottest time of the day, and at night as well to make sure everything is nice and dry to avoid rot. Basically what Alexis said.

Ross · #5 (**permalink**) 03-01-2007, 10:26 AM

I run mine for 5 seconds every three hours. I have a 3" fan inside that runs 24/7 and dries off the plants at night. Mine is in basement where ambient temps are about 62F. and tank gets down to that and humidity jumps to 90% at night but NO misting! I keep backing off the water and think mine is pretty-well dialed in now.

failingflopsis · #6 (**permalink**) 03-02-2007, 01:14 PM

Thanks for the info. I'll keep playing with the mister/fans. Right now with the mister going a couple of times a day the most humidity I get is 77%. There just isn't any moisture in the air outside right now (it's all frozen). I'm glad I found this forum.

Ross · #7 (**permalink**) 03-02-2007, 02:47 PM

Humidity upstairs in my central-heat home is about 25%. Humidity in basement is not much better than that. So I have similar issues. I believe you can dial it in, but keep trying different things. Mine is not a commercial tank - it's home-made, but would have similar issues. If it were my tank, I would increase the misting cycles during day keeping the fans running and end the misting cycles when the lights go out and still keep the fans running to dry off the plants. When the temps go down, the humidity should rize (theoretically).

Ross · #8 (**permalink**) 03-02-2007, 02:55 PM

Forgot to say my humidity registers about 82% immediately after the misting cycle dropping to 68-69% just before next cycle. That should be plenty of humidity. The temperature in the tank runs approx 72-73 degrees F during lights-on period and 62 degrees during lights off cycle.

Lin · #9 (**permalink**) 03-02-2007, 06:38 PM

I have the Maui (Christmas present this past year, yippee). While no where near as large as the Grand Cayman, I absolutely love it. You must have been a very good girl

Just the daily spritzing of the mounted orchids goes a long way in keeping up the humidity of the Maui. If it seems to be too low (under 50%) I run the misters for just a few minutes. Some days they are not run at all.

JM2C

failingflopsis · #10 (**permalink**) 03-03-2007, 03:27 AM

Could someone post an image of their "mister"? I'm beginning to think I may have a different device. With my mister running for over an hour the humidity only raises to 50%. If I use a spray bottle on the plants the humidity raises to 77%.

This is mine.