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Orchid Humidity Trays: How Efficient Are They?
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Oct 3, 2024
Orchid Humidity Trays: How Efficient Are They? Orchids thrive in humid climates, more than we can provide inside our homes. For additional humidity, humidity trays have come up as a common solution. Some orchid growers say they are a perfect way to add humidity; others say it’s a waste of time. How effective are orchid humidity trays? These trays will raise humidity 3 to 4 % around the base of your orchid. If your orchid pot is larger and taller, this percentage will fall to around 2%. This is a small amount compared to the fact that orchids thrive in 50 to 70% humidity. The average inside humidity in a living room with an air conditioner or heater running is around 30%. If you are depending on humidity trays to raise the levels to maintain an orchid, then it just won’t happen...yet every little bit helps. If you want the full explanation of this video in writing, go to https://orchideria.com/orchid-humidity-trays/ On Orchideria.com, you can find more in-depth guides and all the access to our information, tutorials, guides, and much more... all for free! Happy Cultivating! ______________________ HASHTAGS: #orchidcare #orchid #Orchideria #AmandaMatthews
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0:00
You probably already know that orchids love high humidity, anywhere between 40, 50, 60, sometimes 70, and a few orchids, 80% humidity
0:10
Now, our home environments don't usually provide that kind of humidity, if not our paint would be peeling off the walls, the wallpaper would come off
0:20
But we do need to mimic that environment so that they thrive
0:25
Now one thing you've probably read that you can do is a humidity tray
0:30
You might be wondering how to make a humidity tray and in this video I'm going to show you how to do that
0:36
how to maintain it, how to clean it, and if it's worth buying one online
0:49
Hi, I'm Amanda Matthews and thank you for watching this video at Orchidaria
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So let's get into humidity trays. I'm not going to recommend one online because they are expensive for what they are. I mean, you can buy just a fish bowl or a glass bowl or use a baking dish or any kind of dish and fill it with marbles or pebbles, any kind of rocks you have outside, gravel, forks well. Just don't use organic material like mulch or anything else because it will mold. You will have
1:23
water in this the entire time you're not going to fill it up all the way to the
1:29
top because let's say you have your orchid and I'm going to pull him out of the
1:34
pot I just watered it so yeah you heard that right oh so I'm going to sit this
1:45
orchid on the tray but I'm not going to bury him inside the pot I can't keep
1:53
the water where the bottom of the pot is reaching. It's going to absorb that water and your roots are always going to be saggy
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So don't. Just keep your orchid on top your pot during the video
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So keep your orchid on top of pebbles and keep the water under that level
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It's a good idea to fill your pot three-fourths of the way up with water and that's what
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I'm going to do now. I can see that the water level is three of the height It not in contact with the bottom of the pot and that is what I want Now how efficient is this Not very but it better than nothing
2:40
Humidity trays will raise the level of the humidity for about two inches high
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and it will raise it 3 or 4%. Now, 3 or 4% is not much, but it's better than nothing
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If you have an orchid that loves humidity, keep it on. on this humidity tray
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You can get very creative with these. It doesn't have to be an ugly pot that is eyesore
3:05
So keep your orchid on this humidity tray. This water, you need to keep an eye on it
3:11
because your home environment is around 27 to 33% relative humidity. Now that is low
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And it's low because we keep on our air conditioners, we keep on our central heating units
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Both of those suck the humidity right out of the air. and they will suck humidity right out of your humidity pot
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So always keep an eye on this. If the water's too low, it's not going to do anything for your orchid
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because it's only going to evaporate two inches higher than the top of the water
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So if you have a massive orchid, kind of like this blue orchid right here
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let me show you the size of his pot, not just water, so he'll be dripping too
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So if you have a massive orchid like this, you really shouldn't hold orchid
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by the spike. So let's change here so you can see what I'm talking about
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So let's say I put this orchid on this humidity tray. Well the humidity is only going to evaporate 2 inches up, so about there, which is about 5 cm
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From here it's going to dissipate out into the environment. So it's not even going to reach the leaves
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The leaves aren't even going to be affected by this, so you've just wasted your time
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You only can use humidity trays with small mini orchids or with orchids where the pots are tiny, tiny, tiny
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so that humidity can come up and get the underside of the leaves or get the aerial roots
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Now, how am I going to clean this humidity tray? If I leave water in here, just pure water and never trade it out, this is going to get slimy
4:51
It's going to get full of bacteria. It's going to get full of dust. is going to be a torture
4:58
You going to keep the water in there for one week You going to trade the water route weekly Always keep an eye on it daily Keep an eye on it to see where the water is It should be three of the way up Fill it up again if it not full
5:13
And just keep an eye on it. Once a week, trade all this water out, throw it away, and fill it with new water
5:21
Now, this water can be tap water. That's the good thing. That chlorine will evaporate, but it won't
5:28
reach the leaves so you're fine it's better chlorine in the environment evaporated than chlorine
5:34
on your orchid roots when you make your humidity tray and you still realize that your orchid is not
5:41
getting enough humidity you'll need to mist the leaves you'll need to miss the top of the leaves
5:49
which does nothing you need to miss the bottom of the leaves which will help your orchid you'll
5:54
need to miss the aerial roots you need to miss the environment
5:58
around your orchid because that is going to help raise the humidity but just for a couple hours
6:05
So when do you mist your orchid? In nature, humidity is always higher in the morning due to the dew that falls during the night
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So in the morning, mist your orchid to recreate that environment where it lives naturally
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There's one thing about orchids though, especially phalanopsis, not all orchids will do this
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A phalanopsis orchid, the top of the leaves are hydropolellent. So actually, I'll show you
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If I put water on this leaf, what's going to happen? Can you see that
6:43
It's going to fall off. your leaf is hydropoleant your leaf on the top side does not absorb the water so when we
7:03
missed only the top side of the leaf on a phalanopsis it doesn't do much for your orchid
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you'll want to miss the bottom of the leaf that's where the stomata are that's where the
7:15
the breathing pores of your orchid are and that's what's going to make your orchid absorb all that
7:20
humidity more so you're not just wasting mist or wasting time doing that. I have to be honest
7:28
I never had any luck with them That why you don see any humidity trays in my videos But there is one good thing about humidity trays that I do and that is when I travel Like I took a trip to Yellowstone with my kids Then I put a humidity tray underneath the orchids
7:46
and I put them, arrange them, so where that humidity would come up, because I knew it would be a long
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time before I would be coming back. So that little humidity that raised then was beneficial for the orchid
7:58
Hey, for humidity, why don't I just place my orchid in the bathroom
8:03
I mean, the steam's all over the place. Please don't. Humidity in the bathroom is fluctuating
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Like when someone takes a shower for 15 to 20 minutes, it's going to be high humidity
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and the humidity is going to be hot. But then after 10 minutes, all that humidity just evaporates, and then it's down to low humidity
8:24
And then the next person comes in, hours later, takes a shower
8:27
humidity all the way up to 100% and it's hot, the temperatures just fluctuate, the humidity
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fluctuates. That is a horrible environment for your orchid. First, because the humidity levels are
8:40
going like this and the temperature levels are also going like this. Unless you have a beautiful
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window in the bathroom right above your tub, I do not suggest lighting for your orchid also is
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going to be bad. So I do not suggest the bathroom for humidity. The kitchen sink is also not a good place because we only use the water in the kitchen
9:04
sink that, you know, the steam comes up, like when we're boiling spaghetti and drain it, and then
9:09
the steam comes up and it steams our poor orchid. Try to keep your humidity constant. I mean
9:14
those, the kitchen and the bathroom do have humidity, but they fluctuate so much that it's not the
9:20
best for your orchid. Well, they survive, have seen beautiful pictures of it of bathroom orchids. I envy them
9:27
but it's not the best. Now in this video I'm gonna teach you
9:31
how to make a humidity tray because in my opinion, they... My cat, sorry
9:37
Here, we don't need to be doing that in the video. Here, do that somewhere else
9:43
And since we're talking about water, if you wanna continue your education and orchid care
9:48
look at this video that talks about the different types of water
9:52
What water is best for your orchid? Watch this video up here
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And if you want, for what kind of humidifier to buy, check out this video down here
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Thank you so much for watching this. If you've liked it, please hit the like and subscribe
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and I hope to see you in the comments below. Happy cultivating