Does anyone have any experience with an 'evaporative-pad Humidifier'?
I am having trouble keeping my 10x12 room at an exceptiable level. Using trays with raised grids and daily misting the room hoovers at 45 %.
Are these machines worth the expensive or does any one have any other ideas. BTW I do keep water in the grid trays almost to the botom of the pots but not sitting in water. The room is cool at night (58) and by day with light on mid 70s.
I use warm and cool florescents. I have new wooden floors and wall paint so a cool/warm mist humidifier is a neg:(
Thanks

I'm not an expert but I think that is low humidity level.

I think your plants would do ok at that level. Can you enclose the grow area with plastic sheeting or something similar to hold the humidity in?

Your plants are pretty lucky compared to mine, actually. I'm lucky to maintain 30% during the winter.

I find Casey's suggestion on the plastic sheeting interesting, and I'm considering a similar arrangement when I upgrade my plant's accommodations.

plastic sheeting helps to enclose humidity...your plants would like to have more humidity though....cool mist ultrasonics are effective but dont last long, warm misters are effective too and last forever but can increase your electric bill significantly, the best humdifiers are the fan types (i have one) but they run 250-300 dollars

I grew my orchids for 15 years using the type of humidifier you're contemplating and was able to keep the room humidity at 65% RH without a problem. When you do this you need very good air circulation which was provided by a 19" circulating fan.

However, your wood floors would probably not like this. When I moved out of that house the vacuum cleaner sucked up the rotted carpet (that was on a concrete slab). But it did grow great orchids!

Hi Everybody,
Brand new to the forum and orchid growing, But.. I was a flooring installer for 25 years and have been growing indoors with lights for about 5 years. In regards to your wood floor, wood floors do not like excess moisture of any type. First thing you need to know is what type of wood flooring you have. Solid wood flooring is the least tolerant of moisture, whereas engineered flooring is more tolerant. If you maintain a humidity level above about 25-30% for sustained periods you are very likely to damage your new floor. You can seal your floor off from the air in your grow area with a layer of plastic, but I wouldnt recommend it for alot of reasons I don't think everybody wants to hear about. Also, sealing off your grow area with plastic will then require air exchange of some type due to the fact plants need a fresh source of co2. (google sealed grow room) If you can provide more info about your grow space I can give you some suggestions.

Hi Everybody,
Brand new to the forum and orchid growing, But.. I was a flooring installer for 25 years and have been growing indoors with lights for about 5 years. In regards to your wood floor, wood floors do not like excess moisture of any type. First thing you need to know is what type of wood flooring you have. Solid wood flooring is the least tolerant of moisture, whereas engineered flooring is more tolerant. If you maintain a humidity level above about 25-30% for sustained periods you are very likely to damage your new floor. You can seal your floor off from the air in your grow area with a layer of plastic, but I wouldnt recommend it for alot of reasons I don't think everybody wants to hear about. Also, sealing off your grow area with plastic will then require air exchange of some type due to the fact plants need a fresh source of co2. (google sealed grow room) If you can provide more info about your grow space I can give you some suggestions.
Welcome to a wonderful forum! Thanks for the great advice and info on wood flooring!

Welcome Christian...:welcomesof: