Daily misting in a dry climate?
 

Hi - this is my first post here

I have some orchids that seem to like a warm environment, and some cool. (Laeticattleya, Oncidiums, Polystachas, and then a few Phalanopsis - can't spell sorry.)

I have read way back that it is good to spray these plants with a water mist often (twice daily?) in a dry climate. This I have been doing for a few months since summer.

The plants are ok-ish (the phals - their older leaves have wrinkles) to pretty good (the others) after a year or so. Most of my plants seem to be growing nice new roots this summer.

Is this right? I read something today that said it is not good to spray these plants, as they stop photo-synthesising. The stomata or whatever close when wet?

I dont know much about plants, so not really sure what is best in a dry and warm house.

Phalanopsis gets wrinkled leaves when it's lacking water. Try to spray the medium that the plant is in rather than the plant..... Also Phal. don't like water in the crown as it starts to rot.

I'm in hot conditions here too, and i water well once a day...... and i'm not talking misting either.... My plants get the wet end of a hose

Is it best then never to wet the leaves, but only make sure the gravel and bark gets wet and is allowed to dry out (takes about a week here) before a proper watering again?

I am damn cautious about over-watering - that killed one of the first plants I ever had a few years ago within a few days!

Welcome to the board Sardine. Glad to have you here.

Please read carefully the following primer on humidity. Spraying the plants does practically no good but can harm them by leaving water in the crowns leading to rot.

Thanks Ross.

On your blog (is this the link about humidity?) you mention a 90-95% sort of thing - that would be impossible without specialised rooms and equipment here. I am generally in the 20-40% range in summer.

That's not the link. The link is to Firstrays, who is a Orchidboard member and someone we have grown to trust as an orchid iconoclast. My humidity is a direct result of an enclosure (that I call the tank) with strictly controlled humidity and water. Hope this helps. Check out the link I gave you.

Dont know whats gone wrong, but I dont see any reference to that link. I'll search around for Firstrays posts in the forums.

Try Humidity

One of these?

Evaporation

Humidity

Max Moisture Calculator

Thanks Ray. No sense redoing this whole discussion again.