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Jestery posted:Dumb ghetto solution No that does nothing. Pebble trays do nothing. Spraying with a bottle does virtually nothing but it makes us feel nice and it can have a positive effect on the plants that can sense it in some way/for some biological reason. The only thing that really works is a humidifier because a humidifier saturates the air for hours and hours which is the only way in which plants benefit (or not) from ambient moisture.
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Dec 18, 2020 03:03
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Ok Comboomer posted:Funny you mention that- the other part of the equation is lighting. I imagine I’d go with the same type of LED grow light I’m currently using on my shelves. i wouldn't say they do nothing, there is such a thing as a microclimate, but the effect isn't huge, i'll grant. what orchids are you trying for that must be held at 70% or higher forever? this isn't something we bother with, for example, and still get regular yearly or whatever blooms. i'm not saying they don't exist, but you may wish to consider varietals that are perhaps a bit less persnickety. 70% is a really high bar and not something you want to actually keep in a room, say - especially in the winter you're going to end up with condensation on windows, probably, if you go above 50% in a cold geographic area. we have our plants under reasonably substantial lights. in the kitchen/dining area we built shelves and bought some bridgelux strips and the appropriate drivers from digikey and installed them into routed grooves on the underside of the shelves (two 4-foot strips per 8-foot shelf, i believe; it might be 3 i can't remember). that's where we have all of the christmas and related cactuses, some other plants and succulents. it's enough that it induces red pigments as a light-protective effect in the succulents, but i wouldn't exactly say they're stressed; they grow extremely well and bloom frequently. the orchids when not in bloom live on a set of steel shelves with varying humidity (usually between 35-55% humidity, generally on the lower end though); each shelf has two 2-foot led strips of the same type / density as the wood shelves. when they bloom they get brought out and sat on a kitchen counter or the bathroom sink or something to enjoy. i'm sure some orchids are more light sensitive but ime they're more heat sensitive than anything else, and that's not an issue with most led lights, especially the sorts that we use. if you're not up for having a big grow tent or cheap indoor greenhouse for general storage, you could do individualized cloches or for a set of them, you could build a small or medium-sized terrarium. you could also get a large aquarium and build it up as an orchid vegetating system.
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Dec 18, 2020 03:58
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Ok Comboomer posted:If the Monstera albo and Thai constellation rumored for 2021 are this good I’m gonna need to make room. Is this really a thing? Please don't toy with my heart.
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Dec 18, 2020 04:14
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I'm in Chicago, so also no natural light and the heat is on from October to May. I have a humidifier for the living room that sometimes I move into the bedroom overnight, but it's just keeping the apartment at a comfortable humidity for people so I don't get shocked by everything I touch. I did get a little led grow lamp for it once it started spiking on my brother's recommendation. Moth orchids are much hardier than you seem to believe. Just try a cheap one out from Trader Joe's or Aldi and repot it into a better medium asap. If it dies, you're only out $10.
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Dec 18, 2020 04:18
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Tremors posted:Is this really a thing? Please don't toy with my heart. It's a thing but I heard due to 2020 being 2020 they got pushed back to 2022.
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Dec 18, 2020 04:23
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Hutla posted:I'm in Chicago, so also no natural light and the heat is on from October to May. I have a humidifier for the living room that sometimes I move into the bedroom overnight, but it's just keeping the apartment at a comfortable humidity for people so I don't get shocked by everything I touch. I did get a little led grow lamp for it once it started spiking on my brother's recommendation. Moth orchids are much hardier than you seem to believe. Just try a cheap one out from Trader Joe's or Aldi and repot it into a better medium asap. If it dies, you're only out $10. I’m currently way over my plant budget with the holiday and there are impending post-Christmas/late winter conifer and shrub sales to think about for new bonsai victims, but I guess I’ll make a plan to buy an attractive cheap orchid sometime, I see a lot of admittedly nice looking ones for a nice price. What’s the best practices in terms of buying them wrt flowers? Big flowers? Mature flowers? Immature flowers? Closed buds? Is it worth looking at the 50% off ones that are barren or on their way to losing their stalks? Tremors posted:Is this really a thing? Please don't toy with my heart. Is a thing
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Dec 18, 2020 04:35
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we almost never bother with blooming orchids personally and the 50% plants are always worth a look. kind of depends on your goal. do you just want a nice blooming plant for a while and don’t care? get something with mature looking buds if you see it. looking for a long term plant and don’t care if it’s gonna be a while before it blooms? if the roots look good and the leaves seem happy it’s hard to go wrong, so take it home and repot it. and absolutely ignore all that ridiculous ice cube advice. sometimes you can get really cool poo poo on sale at the grocery just from that because normals don’t want to buy a plant with no flowers.
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Dec 18, 2020 04:51
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My mom can keep orchids alive and re-flowering for years and years, and has brought several back to life that I've seen. She keeps them next to the window, where they get lots of indirect light, and has them planted in bark chips. She waters them very sparingly, maybe about a quarter cup every three days. That's it! I don't know if she is just very lucky or has an amazing green thumb, but her orchids are always nice.
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Dec 18, 2020 08:45
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I always assume there is a little microclimate direct by the window, due to the tendency of water droplets to gather on cold glass at night and evaporate during the day. Maybe an air moisture sensor(s) would be good for orchid growers? They are dirt cheap and give you the air moisture as a percentage, so you could move them around the room/house and find out where the best spots are.
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Dec 18, 2020 10:33
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I have a few Govee monitors that that monitor, display, and log temperature and humidity. I can connect to them via Bluetooth and get a graph or a file for importing into whatever. They cost about ten bucks.  This model, H5075, takes AA cells and hasn’t given me any trouble. There are wifi versions, but they cost four times as much and I don’t want them on my network anyway.
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Dec 18, 2020 10:51
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RickRogers posted:I always assume there is a little microclimate direct by the window, due to the tendency of water droplets to gather on cold glass at night and evaporate during the day. It’s not necessarily that the area is any more humid than the open areas of the house. It’s just that the glass is cold. If its surface drops below the dew point, dew will form on it. This could happen if, say, the air in your home is at forty percent humidity and twenty‐two Celsius and the glass cools to eight degrees.
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Dec 18, 2020 10:57
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Ok Comboomer posted:Spraying with a bottle does virtually nothing but it makes us feel nice and it can have a positive effect on the plants that can sense it in some way/for some biological reason. RIP my plan  I have had Phalaenopsis bloom for me before even without spraying or any of that other stuff, so the spot is decent naturally, but now I've got a Brassia and I read they're more picky mediaphage posted:here's an old pic of some of the orchids That tall one is sick!
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Dec 18, 2020 11:32
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Fleta Mcgurn posted:My mom can keep orchids alive and re-flowering for years and years, and has brought several back to life that I've seen. She keeps them next to the window, where they get lots of indirect light, and has them planted in bark chips. She waters them very sparingly, maybe about a quarter cup every three days. That's it! I don't know if she is just very lucky or has an amazing green thumb, but her orchids are always nice. honestly i bet it’s mostly that she doesn’t overwater them imo. regular watering but not too much is basically key. people tend to overwater them and don’t bother putting them in good pots or soil so the roots just rot. no ice cubes, no sprays. Nosre posted:RIP my plan thanks, that was a vanda my so had. it’s a cool orchid. i like the brassias a lot because we have one that smells like chocolate.
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Dec 18, 2020 13:26
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So when you say "no sprays", do you mean on the roots? Sounds like it. I've been spraying the leaves a couple times a day, trying to avoid getting much of anything in the juncture (to avoid crown rot) and nothing on the roots. Hopefully this is not actively harmful, even if it's not super beneficial either. Deep watering from the bottom (immersion) once a week.
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Dec 18, 2020 13:38
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Platystemon posted:It’s not necessarily that the area is any more humid than the open areas of the house. It’s just that the glass is cold. If its surface drops below the dew point, dew will form on it. Yes I get that, what I mean is our (closed) cold window is a collection point for water droplets at night so in theory the air directly by the window should be moister, as they evaporate over the day? People with good floweing orchids, I have noticed as I walk by anyway, often have them direct by the window and then have a lacy curtain (I have no idea what this is really called) directly behind them. I have to assume that they have, deliberately or not, upped the chances of the air directly by the window being moister. I think it would be interesting to test all this with the the monitor. Or maybe it will turn out that an average room is just too small to have radical differences in air moisture.
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Dec 18, 2020 13:44
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RickRogers posted:Yes I get that, what I mean is our (closed) cold window is a collection point for water droplets at night so in theory the air directly by the window should be moister, as they evaporate over the day? ambient humidity and best practices thereof are a pretty heavily researched topic in horticulture (to say nothing of its importance in engineering, architecture, and HVAC), and there's a fuckton of discussion and advice happening in the plant community all the time around it. Which is to say that there's a ton of information and experimentation out there, there's a ton of products to buy and habits to try, and a lot of it is of dubious quality--but also the really good advice and information are readily available (university ag departments and experts who publish are your friends) if you know how to look for it. Ultimately you're mainly balancing air temperature, air circulation and movement, and your moisture source/moisture permanence/moisture in-and-out. The stuff you're describing matters, but it's ultimately very small-scale. Unless the dew on your window is evidence of a heavy ambient humidity that's building or apartment-wide (which it often does, hence why you get the condensation--some cheap commodity-grade hygrometers placed around the house will easily tell you what's up) then it's probably entirely dissipated way before the end of morning. Unfortunately it's a very far cry from a day's worth of evaporation. It takes putting and keeping a lot of water in the air to meaningfully raise ambient humidity in a space even a cubic meter or two in volume. It's why household humidifiers can go through liters of water in a day.
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Dec 18, 2020 14:15
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RickRogers posted:Yes I get that, what I mean is our (closed) cold window is a collection point for water droplets at night so in theory the air directly by the window should be moister, as they evaporate over the day? O.K. there’s some of that going on, but I think you’ll find that it diffuses into the room air quickly, and there just isn’t enough moisture to go around. If you’ve ever used commercial humidifier, they empty their tanks fast, and they hold a lot more water than you could squeegee off a window.
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Dec 18, 2020 14:18
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Platystemon posted:O.K. there’s some of that going on, but I think you’ll find that it diffuses into the room air quickly, and there just isn’t enough moisture to go around. My parents run a home dehumidifier in their den during the summer months and that thing can easily pull 10+ gallons of water out of the room over the course of a day and I wouldn't call the palpable impact on perceived humidity "massive" by any stretch.
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Dec 18, 2020 14:23
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Nosre posted:So when you say "no sprays", do you mean on the roots? Sounds like it. yeah, mostly out of a sense of fussiness. basically never spray at all unless something is obviously suffering. RickRogers posted:Yes I get that, what I mean is our (closed) cold window is a collection point for water droplets at night so in theory the air directly by the window should be moister, as they evaporate over the day? you’re just not going to get much of a difference. in fact the colder air by the window is less capable of holding onto moisture and it may in fact be slightly drier. regardless airflow is going to equalize all this before you ever see a difference. the only time it might matter, and i’m skeptical, is if you have them sitting directly on or in something very wet. i took a couple of pics this morning of the two orchids we have in bloom. they’re in the bathroom just so they’re at eye level while blooming and we get to enjoy them:   here’s a shot of the christmas (et al) cactuses we’ve bred:  these are a bunch of african violets that were a casualty of lockdown and not going into an office for six+ months. but all were (somehow) still alive!! very exciting, not only did we get leaf cuttings but the crowns themselves were saved, too:  and if y’all’ll ignore the extreme mess here’s a shot of the shelves we built that most of the succulents live on:  there’s a bit of paper at the top because i still need to cut out a shade so we don’t get blinded at the dinner table, lol mediaphage fucked around with this message at 15:04 on Dec 18, 2020 |
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Dec 18, 2020 15:01
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Enclosing the plants is really the way to go because it takes a lot of water to moisten the air in the whole living space, and now you have a bunch of moist air in your living space and it’s dank and you’re getting condensation in the walls and it’s causing problems. You don’t even need to do anything special once you enclose them. They’ll generate humidity on their own as they take liquid water in at the roots and let vapour out at the leaves.
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Dec 18, 2020 15:04
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mediaphage posted:yeah, mostly out of a sense of fussiness. basically never spray at all unless something is obviously suffering. all of these booze bottles under such bright light  ...those orchid blooms are rad, I’d love to poop to that
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Dec 18, 2020 15:12
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Platystemon posted:Enclosing the plants is really the way to go because it takes a lot of water to moisten the air in the whole living space, and now you have a bunch of moist air in your living space and it’s dank and you’re getting condensation in the walls and it’s causing problems. Wasn't it really common to display orchids under bell jars or something? I seem to remember seeing something in an old 18th century house/museum
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Dec 18, 2020 16:05
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Ok Comboomer posted:all of these booze bottles under such bright light lmao, they're fine. there's been no real flavour change in the past several years so i'm not concerned.
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Dec 18, 2020 16:18
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I thought orchids ALSO liked moving air? Read that and figured it meant bell jars/terrariums etc were a bad idea
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Dec 18, 2020 16:48
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Nosre posted:I thought orchids ALSO liked moving air? Read that and figured it meant bell jars/terrariums etc were a bad idea No idea! Just remember seeing them.
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Dec 18, 2020 17:16
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well, for one, terrarium does not necessarily mean you can't have moving air. modern terraria often have misters and fans to maintain a moving, breathing environment. but yeah, it's also easy to never let the orchid breathe and it can fail to thrive or even grow mold because the humidity is really high with lighting and abundant growth media. i had one rot out that way once. if i'm nursing a small one, i'll often water it, let it drain and dry out for a day and then enclose it.
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Dec 18, 2020 17:26
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B33rChiller posted:Nice to hear. Grandma's treasured houseplants have to be right up there with Grandpa's treasured guns in high sentimental value inheritance. Ugh, gently caress, I need something like this in my house! MORE PLANTS
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Dec 18, 2020 21:15
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Hirayuki posted:These aren't that kind of heirloom--just a potted plant she received on her last Christmas (from her daughter across the country) about a month before she passed away. She had a crazy green thumb, though, and it skipped right over my mom and showed up in me. I'm glad to be doing her memory proud with all the little beauties I'm tending. all the shelving systems were too expensive so i said gently caress it, got some reasonably true 2x8 or 2x10 (can’t remember and don’t feel like going downstairs lol) big box dimensional lumber, sanded it, routed out a channel in the bottom, and stained it. brackets are cheapo $5 commodity shelf brackets, and the led strips were bridgelux strips from digikey with a couple of meanwell drivers. not counting our labour, the whole project miiiight have been approx $500cad.
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Dec 18, 2020 22:06
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mediaphage posted:what orchids are you trying for that must be held at 70% or higher forever? this isn't something we bother with, for example, and still get regular yearly or whatever blooms. i'm not saying they don't exist, but you may wish to consider varietals that are perhaps a bit less persnickety. 70% is a really high bar and not something you want to actually keep in a room, say - especially in the winter you're going to end up with condensation on windows, probably, if you go above 50% in a cold geographic area. 70+% is what I need if I want to induce lots of rapid aerial root growth in my tropical bonsai. But I feel lame for saying that it’d mostly be for “only” some ficus and schefflera so I wanted the excuse to play with other humid microclimate-demanding plants.
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Dec 19, 2020 14:01
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sure, imo you’re probably better off putting your bonsai in a jar/box/etc then though unless you want to just have a giant high humidity chamber taking up a bunch of room in your house. which might be an answer, we just all have to find what it is we’re willing to put up with
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Dec 19, 2020 15:23
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mediaphage posted:sure, imo you’re probably better off putting your bonsai in a jar/box/etc then though unless you want to just have a giant high humidity chamber taking up a bunch of room in your house. Lol, I figured the cabinet would be prettier than a 20gal tank also tanks are hard to keep both cool and well lit, and easy to make moldy, but also way easier to clean and move. Once I have like 10+ tropical bonsai to really benefit from it, a cabinet would be worth the outlay. Probably not for another 2 years tho, I have more than enough plants as it is, and stuff I want before I get more ficuses. And I think I’ll try adding some inexpensive orchids to my existing setup next, as per your advice. trilobite terror fucked around with this message at 15:31 on Dec 19, 2020 |
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Dec 19, 2020 15:26
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i don’t think tanks are unattractive or hard to regulate or light, to be honest, but we keep nice fish tanks. with that said you should really look and see what terrarium and vivarium builders are doing these days. many of them are reptile-centric but you can easily take advantage of something with a mister, light source, venting, etc. this is obviously personal but for me i don’t see the point in keeping a bunch of plants if they aren’t out in the open to look at in some fashion or another.
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Dec 19, 2020 15:34
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mediaphage posted:i don’t think tanks are unattractive or hard to regulate or light, to be honest, but we keep nice fish tanks. Yeah, I regularly post in both herpthread and fishtanks. Im staring at my two tanks right now (ugh my nano reef looks like hell, just loving atrocious). I think I’m overthinking things.
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Dec 19, 2020 15:50
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Might have to think bigger. Ready to build that (all glass) addition? Probably for the best if you design it to handle a lot of water from the start. I've dreamt of having something like that ever since being stuck in Edmonton for a winter. With all the cold, dry air, my skin and sinuses were becoming completely desiccated. But, I found a place where just visiting could make me feel better all over. The tropical pyramid at the Muttart conservatory. Nice warm and moist air. lovely plants, ahhhhhhhh...  
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Dec 19, 2020 15:58
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B33rChiller posted:Might have to think bigger. Ready to build that (all glass) addition? Probably for the best if you design it to handle a lot of water from the start. I would absolutely love to have both a hot greenhouse and a temperate greenhouse oh my god. With a koi or turtle pond in the temperate greenhouse run through a bog filter/carnivorous plant garden. And a room for many tanks. And a tegu pen (in the greenhouse?)
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Dec 19, 2020 16:05
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i’m seriously considering building a sunken tilapia tank in a hoop house for next year. no permit required for a temporary structure if i take the plastic off every spring :v if i lived in a rural area i’d already have a giant geodesic greenhouse built lol
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Dec 19, 2020 16:48
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I’m literally gonna move to rural Maine or New Hampshire in order to live the only sort of life that makes sense to me Imma be one of those weird old men with a greenhouse why tilapia? To eat ‘em?
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Dec 19, 2020 16:53
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I think I would love in a geodesic dome if I could find a place with enough land (and no neighbors).
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Dec 19, 2020 17:23
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yeah unfortunately with the job my so has it isn't really an option. but we have a big yard (for living in the city), and i want to maximize what i can. tilapia for a protein source, yeah. they're easy to grow, they're primary consumers, and they're more resilient to damage vs something like catfish which doesn't have scales. cannabalism doesn't seem to be much of an issue outside of the fry/hatchling stage. theoretically you could stack this with an aquaponics project but that wouldn't be a primary goal.
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Dec 19, 2020 17:28
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B33rChiller posted:Might have to think bigger. Ready to build that (all glass) addition? Probably for the best if you design it to handle a lot of water from the start. I love the Muttart so much - I can even see it from my laundry room window! It's currently under construction right now but I can't wait to visit again. I can actually see my apartment in that first picture. The Muttart in winter is lovely as well. 
uranium grass fucked around with this message at 19:02 on Dec 19, 2020 |
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Dec 19, 2020 19:00
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