How do I keep humidity trays clean?

[Sun rm.N.E.]

Hi Karen

I agree, Physan is probably much less toxic to inhale than bleach, which should not be used without good ventilation in the house.

Just to remind everyone, measurements of the benefits of "humidity trays" to raise humidity show that, in most circumstances, they do not raise humidity significantly for the plants.

There was an article in the orchid society magazine years ago about this, but did not seem to make much of a dent on the popularity of this myth. A better name would be drip tray. So the simpler to clean the better. For this reason, I do not put gravel, leca or anything on the bottom, since it would require more harsh poisons or boiling to kill most of the bacteria and fungi hiding in it after a while. An empty tray can be kept clean with simple detergent. You can even get trays that are dishwasher safe. A lot of people use a grid, like the common ones made for fluorescent lights, on top of the trays to keep the pots out of the water.

I hope this helps.

Addendum: I just noticed there are links to previous posts on this topic on the bottom of this page.