I love your experiment videos! Misting strikes me as a dangerous idea as well. I live in a small 1 bedroom apartment and don't have a separate growing room, so when I want to raise humidity, I just put a big pot of water on the stove and let it boil for a little while. Sometimes I can combine this with cooking, such as when boiling pasta, reducing a broth, or heating water for tea. It also helps humidity if boiling inorganic media for re-use. It raises temperature and humidity relatively quickly in the winter when my heaters tend to dry out the air in my home. Humidifiers near the orchids tend to make a cold air draft in my environment. I do use a small indoor decorative fountain in my orchid corner, and sometimes a humidity tray with clay pebbles.

Excellent video on misting and the visual dynamics of disrupting water tension. Hydrogen bonding between water molecules is responsible for surface tension. All drops of water are the same size because of hydrogen bonding between water molecules. Anything, such as soap/ detergent, that disrupts the hydrogen bonding creates smaller water droplets because the force holding the water molecules to each other is disrupted. Smaller droplets have a greater surface area-to-volume ratio than larger droplets. The smaller droplets evaporate faster because of the greater surface area-to volume exposure to the atmosphere and because of the weakened tension holding the water molecules to each other. It is the water tension that is responsible for causing water to move as a column from the root up through the plant to the leaves. It is necessary for water to evaporate through the stomata to enable water and the minerals(aka plant nutrients/fertilizer) dissolved in the water to move from the roots throughout the plant. The rate of evaporation is affected by the surrounding humidity of the plant and the amount of opening of the stomata. The size of the opening of the stomata is affected by turgor pressure of the guard cells surrounding the sotmata. There are several things that can affect turgor pressure.

I appreciate all of your videos. I'd love to see one on the set-ups you have for all of your plants (what types of lighting, shelving units, etc.)! I have always enjoyed growing a variety of plants and recently have been fascinated with orchids. I can see why you have such a love for these beautiful plants. Thank you for sharing your videos. I refer to them often!

The experiment was quite interesting, and I didn't expect the water with soap to evaporate that much faster, and this was very exciting to witness. With humidity trays, both the reduced surface tension of the water and also the increase of surface area exposed to the air (when using something in the water, like leca, a plastic egg crate, rubber mats, or seramis) will all help to increase evaporation. In my living room I have humidity trays with leca, and when the leca is wet, the surface of the water exposed to the air is much larger than it would be without the leca, and it dries faster. My biggest humidity trays have rubber mats inside them, to keep the pots above the water. I use heating mats below the trays, and the warmer temperature also increases evaporation. With the heating mats on, the temperature over the trays gets 6 to 8 C degrees higher, and the humidity in the air around the pots increases to 70% (it's lower further away from the humidity trays). Roots grow faster in this setup too. In my environment the air gets too dry in the winter, so the humidity trays and my ultrasonic humidifier are very important, and without them my plants wouldn't do so well. It's nice that with some little tweaks and tech we can grow orchids anywhere. :)

Here in north India the humidity never goes above 30-40%. This summer the reported dew point is 0'C which corresponds to humidity levels of about 25-30%. In the scorching afternoon I regularly mist my indoor plants which are kept in a wide courtyard and the water on the foliage dries in no less than 2-3 minutes. I can visibly notice the difference on the days I don't mist. Those plants look way happier after misting. Although I don't mist during winters as even though the humidity is low, the sunlight is not intense enough to dry the water sufficiently fast. It all depends on the climate where you live and what the plant requires at specific time of the day in that environment,and for that all we have to figure out is the watering needs and light requirement. BTW great video. I have zero knowledge about taking care of orchids but thanks to you I'm less worried about the survival and growth of my baby P.cryptix now.😊

Oh gosh your theory about stomata opening/closing, humidity, and misting was exactly what I was trying to describe to my friend last week, but couldn't put it into words like u did ! I wished somebody will be able to verify this for us! hehe. I grow other cam plants which includes tillandsias, so it's something I wanted to be wary about. - your orchid fan from singapore! :)

@MissOrchidGirl

7 жыл бұрын

Oh if you find something useful do share with me as well, I am looking into that too :)

Hi Dany I love how explains the theme it's true I was spreading mist and I needs clean water with paper towel fast as possible well I learn a lot with your videos and experience thanks Dany and saludos from California.

I've been listening to you for some considerable time and do grow an Richie which I feel I've more or less killed so having watched quite a few videos I'm going to have a look at the roots tomorrow. I've been misting the roots on the outside of the plant and now I think I've done it no good at all!!!! The leaves are very leathery and dehydrated!!!

Thank you,yet again, for great info!

@MissOrchidGirl

7 жыл бұрын

Glad this was useful :D

I have been following your tutorial from the day I got my 1st orchid that was dying since all your tips n advice worked I m confident and now I have 15 phals common in SA. I never mist.

Great video. Thank you

I mist a lot. I think misting + cold weather is a natural combination. When it gets cold in humid areas, the humid air condenses on everything, including orchids, so the orchids are regularly covered in heavy, cold dew. I try to mimick this natural cold, wet (by dew, not rain) season. I will then follow with a cold, dry season. I see what you're saying about pooling of water in the crown, I suppose especially for monopodial orchids forced to grow upright. But I have a lot of sympodial orchids that I allow to grow in any direction. I think if you have orchids with few if any water collection points, the benefits of misting make it worthwhile.

@MissOrchidGirl

7 жыл бұрын

Hi, well I think it all depends on what species you have, presuming not warm growers :) and also presuming you can offer the same ventilation as outside. But yes the vast majority of the orchids we grow are not cool growers and especially the monopodials are in danger of crown rot and cold damage (since water reduces temperature of the leaf even more). Mist a Phal at under 15 deg C and it will not be a pretty result I suspect :P mist a nobile at under 15 c in its rest and you might get away with it :))

@brixtondamian2638

3 жыл бұрын

pro trick : watch series on flixzone. Been using it for watching all kinds of movies lately.

@ottoduke8942

3 жыл бұрын

@Brixton Damian definitely, have been using Flixzone for years myself :)

Great experiment, Dany! As for Humidy Trays, I use expanded shale in mine. ES is porous. My thoughts are that a porous material and the combined surfaces of the ES Gravel greatly increases the surface area exposed to air, promoting evaporation. The same could be said of a bed of Seramis, Lava Rock, or Leca (hydroponic) Beads.

@MissOrchidGirl

7 жыл бұрын

Indeed I think porous materials are the best ones for humidity trays, they also cool down the area due to the fast evaporation rate :)

Facinating!

Thanks great video 👍🏼

Very nice to hear your thoughts, and that was a really nice experiment. I guessed you would use dish soap as a surfectant :) I've read some people have the opinion that misting isn't effective at increasing humidity for plants anyway. So even if it weren't potentially dangerous, it's also probably not super effective. Same thing with putting them in the bathroom. In nature if a plant is getting humidity, it's probably getting it for sustained periods. Misting and the humidity in your bathroom only increases humidity for brief periods during the day. This could potentially cause issues with stomata opening during high humidity periods and then losing more moisture as the local humidity rapidly decreases (like you mentioned in the video). It's also possible it's just not benefiting the plant as much as people think.

@MissOrchidGirl

7 жыл бұрын

Hi, yep I am wondering about these aspects as well, they do make sense for me at this point but it is indeed a good subject to research further :)

Hi Dani, Sorry to hear that KZread is having technical difficulties. :( But don't worry, we are still here and watching even if it doesn't show up in your statisticis :) Love the video by the way, but I am curious if it is absoluely necessary to take the dust off? I can imagine that thick layers would be damaging but a little dust, is that bad for the orchid or is it asthetic? Also is it bad to just wipe it off with your hand? (I only have one orchid lol so, I do that if I see an accumulation (asthetics as i had not heard that dust is bad on the upper parts of a leaf?

Danny, when I have to dust my phal leaves, I do it with your diy insecticide, (I use a cloth) so that I can prevent the pest attack. Thank you for what you do for us. Greetings from Italy. Any time I hear "Occhi di gatto" songs, it remind me you. take care.

I'm thinking that if one uses a dedicated mister nozzle that produces ultra fine mist, then it would be a different kind of misting (relative to the regular spray bottle method). The regular spray bottle kind of does water bombing, rather than fine misting. Humidity trays sound ok, but might also need to consider fungus growth.

I live my Southern California. It’s kinda hot and dry year round. I place my orchids near the aquariums and by the kitchen sink and hope for a little more moisture. I mist early in the day, it’s so sunny here the water just sizzling off in like 1 hour.

I mist in winter because I live in Canada and I grow my orchids indoors in my high rise apartment unit. I have radiant heating in my apartment so humidity is extremely low. I have to use a humidifier to help. So I think misting is good if you have a dry environment.

@MasterofPlay7

4 жыл бұрын

i'm in canada too, how's your orchid growing? And what's your watering schedule? Can misting replace watering? thx!

@gemmacook1753

4 жыл бұрын

@@MasterofPlay7 Misting shouldn't replace watering, the reason is 1) misting can trap water in between the leaves like the video says causing crown rot which is almost impossible to come back from 2) The roots won't be watered equally so you will have roots that will completely dry out and possibly die. 3) the leaves can suffer if water gets on them and stays on it for too long. Best thing to do is water normally, run the water through the pot or soak for no more than ten mins and see how long it takes before the media is dry and the roots are silver, then water accordingly. If you're still having a problem with losing too much water, use more sphagnum moss, or something like ceramis which is porous and traps water and releases it slowly.

@MasterofPlay7

4 жыл бұрын

@@gemmacook1753 yeah I now water my orchid 1-2 a week, the old leaves limp though, but there are new leaves and roots coming out which is a good sight

HA HA! Silly catasetum😋 It was SOOO nice to see to those blooms especially the brassavola and the bulbophyllum (almost) I usually mist the window of my orchid growing space with icy cold water to prevent it from over-heating. I'm gonna try this experiment see if the dishwasher idea is good. THANK SOOO MUCH FOR DISPLAYING THIS AMAZING VIDEO ON A BEUTIFUL VIDEO!! 😃( I couldn't comment on the last video, I hope KZread fixes itself)🤒

@MissOrchidGirl

7 жыл бұрын

Oh no really? youtube is really acting weird lately but it's ok we'll manage.. I really hope it won't do what facebook does and end up making you pay for your videos to be visible to your subscribers.. that's why I don't really use Facebook, it's just there but it's a horrible platform for content creators. Yep I used to mist the windows too for more humidity in summer :P

I love the new shiny leaf on today´s phal! ;) Btw, I would NOT recommend to mist with soap water. Probably depends on the kind of dishsoap, too. We used some dishsoap against a scale infestation, and it helped, but both plants (a yukka and a phal orchid) got leaf burn. Said leaf burn stopped immediately when we rinsed the phal properly.

@MissOrchidGirl

7 жыл бұрын

Oh no :(( yes it might have to do with the dish detergent, I used 4 or 5 until now with no bad effects.

@lenahygiena

7 жыл бұрын

Don´t worry, both plants are OK now)) Just wanted to warn the experimentators out there.

Have you researched more into the stomatas opening and closing since this video?

I have a humidifier, keeps humidity level on the warmest days at70%. cost about $43 and does not wet the floor or any surfaces around it. I grow my collection inside my apartment with air conditioner so the air can get pretty dry without the humidifier.

I live in Florida and my orchids get plenty of humidity. Are banana peels good to add to orchid medium?

Is it safe to use a fertilizer mist or a plant food mist .

Can I mist because I grow my orchids horizontally?

I belive the 85% humidity is sufficient an environment for you not to need to mist an orchid, and the air water content will prevent timely evaporation of water droplets, leading to standing water issues (i.e. rot). Indoor plants will generally endure a 40% constant humidity and could easily dry out without misting. Majorly an Orchid is an epiphyte, which has evolved epiphytically to derive all its nutrients from the air, this means that the orchid has evolved over millions of years to prefer nutrient rich humidity to normal watering. A combination of nutrient rich spraying plus running look-warm water through the root system (but not letting it sit at all) would simulate the upper canopy epiphytic requirements of an orchid. Ultimately, the orchid will more efficiently absorb nutrients in spray form compared to normal watering.

You live in a climate where you've said many times the air is warm and humid year-round. I live in a climate where we have to heat our home during the 4-6 months when we have cold weather. As a result of that heating, the humidity inside is never higher than 35% and often drops to 15% on really cold days when the furnace has to run longer. Misting then is absolutely essential. "Pebble trays" and the like do nothing in conditions like that. Any moisture they release is sucked up instantly by the air before it has a chance to rise high enough to benefit the plants. Putting the orchids into a sealed tank or case can hold in some amount of humidity, but at the cost of increased risk of molds and fungi. Circulating the trapped air just moves the spores around, and bringing in outside air kills the humidity that you're trying to maintain. One way or another, misting can't be avoided in my experience, until warm seasons return and the indoor humidity goes up to a safe point naturally.

I am against misting too ! Although I have seen florists spray plant shine (waxy) on orchids before selling them and they looked gorgeous but did not dare do that with my collection; instead, have been using beer at room temperature on cotton pads to clean and give them a good shine; it takes time but it is worth it if done twice a year and you will always maintain a shiny dust-free orchid plant.

@JohnJames.

5 жыл бұрын

Claude Azrak did I read beer?

How so you shower them when you clean them?

Can u try growing a hardy Chinese ground orchid?

I wouldn't want soap residue on my plants! When the water dries it leaves the soap behind.

Heat sort of climate do you live?

This long drying only happens in temperate climates. In tropical climates, it will dry in a few minutes ,less than 15 minutes.

Do you actually plant your Phaleonopsis orchid in a clay pot?

I just left my orchid hanging above my aquarium. I didn't totally cover my aquarium with solid cover, just some bugs screen mash wired. The water evaporated from my aquarium is enough for my orchids. xD I don't know if the evaporated aquarium water is bad or good for orchid, seem my plant doing well after all this years.

@southpark4151

5 жыл бұрын

I use a similar idea. I have big diameter pot trays, each fitted with a square plastic drain grate, which the orchid pot sits on. When I water the pot, whatever water that goes through the pot will drain through the grate, and sit in the tray. Or if no water gets through the pot, then it's possible to add a little water to the pot tray.

@JohnJames.

5 жыл бұрын

I'm thinking of doing a bubble bucket idea, have the roots in a aquarium with a bubble stone keeping it breathing, and wet.

Why misting leaves dark marks on orchid's leaves?

Hi Danni! Great points in this video. I was wondering if you could give me some vanda advice, my vanda doesn't have green root tips and I was wondering if you have any tips to get it growing again. It's slightly colder than room temp in the window where it's growing, thank you!

@MissOrchidGirl

7 жыл бұрын

Hi Arib, well Vandas do have some periods when they will take a pause from root growing, but usually in the flowering seasons. Make sure that your Vanda is properly hydrated, maybe that could be the cause for the tips not growing. How do you water it?

@aribh4929

7 жыл бұрын

MissOrchidGirl I soak it once or twice a day for 15 minutes, and I spray the roots every so often. Also , some of the top leaves seem to be dying and shriveling/yellowing. Any ideas what's happening? It's my first vanda and I don't want to kill it lol

What do you use to put the hole punches in your plastic containers?

@yellowbird500

6 жыл бұрын

Robyn Deshotel I've seen them use a soldering iron or a nail held with pliers heated over a stove.

What about 50/50? Water/Alcohol?

so misting is a problem only with orchids?

Nice video I don't mist my plants. You probably remember my high humidity. Yea with it being 80% to90% and it's not uncommon for it to get to 100% outside In winter. Misting just don't sound like a good idea. When I dust I just use my fingers. This is how I broke a root not to long ago. I bumped it and the tip broke like a crisp carrot. But I will try to not handle the under leaf anymore then I have to. Don't want to damage it.

@MissOrchidGirl

7 жыл бұрын

Yeah it would be better not to rub too much the underside, I never had visible issues but it's pretty obvious it might have some bad effects if we over do it :)

Misting any plant directly can cause issues daily, weekly. Adamp cloth under the leaves every other week works for me and dust. Top lead quick wipe no chemicals.

Do you believe your grow lights on at night?

I grow them upside down problem solved

@MissOrchidGirl

7 жыл бұрын

oh if you can handle their care like that it's the dream :D

Avoiding misting orchids (potted orchids, for the mounted ones the story is different) is a general rule in home cultivation of orchids... the benefit is limited and not worth the risk, at least from my point o view :) it's better a good watering! Interesting theory on the stomatas... for sure air humidity influence the stomatas opening and closure but if I remember right the real controll is related to the water inside the tissues (chains of idric potential variations) and so ti the water absorbed from the roots... I'll do some research, maybe there are some useful articles :)

@MissOrchidGirl

7 жыл бұрын

Oh that's an interesting point! do share with me if you find something interesting I would love to know more as well :D

Ants are making nest in my orchid pot! What to do?

@-cutiepie-6042

7 жыл бұрын

See Lin You need to buy a big killer spray or get hydrogen peroxide

I use a light delusion of milk in room temperature water on a cloth to remove the dust off the large leaves of my plants. it cleans them and makes them shine. could you use this method on my moth orchid ?

@MissOrchidGirl

7 жыл бұрын

Hi George, well I can't say I like to place so many sticky organics on my orchid leaves, I would probably stick to a simpler solution with lemon juice :)

keeping the plants in the bathroom nice warm and moist

@MrSBGames

3 жыл бұрын

keeping mine in the bathroom caused stem rot

Pls reply i know its been a while this video been out but just need some help so Im leaving in a everyday sunny weather in asia(singapore) so is it fine if I mist my orchid or still a bad idea to be done?

@gemmacook1753

4 жыл бұрын

If the water can evaporate quickly then yes misting shouldn't be a problems, but try to keep the misting on the roots only, not the leaves. Tbh you're better just watering the orchid once a week, if it is drying out too quickly, you can soak for ten mins once a week, if you're still having problems, use spgnam moss which traps the water for a bit longer. You dont really need to mist an orchid

@journeywithdanhasura

4 жыл бұрын

@@gemmacook1753 thank you !!

@gemmacook1753

4 жыл бұрын

@@journeywithdanhasura Sorry it's two years too late lol, I hope this still helps you anyway.

@journeywithdanhasura

4 жыл бұрын

@@gemmacook1753 its alright maybe its a helpful info for the new once 😉

Is that 84% humidity in the experiment?

But the dish soap causes spots on the leaves, which are unsightly. I would just mist with water and then wipe with a soft cloth. add some air circulation to dry further. Or better yet, just wipe with a damp cloth to get the dust off.

@MissOrchidGirl

7 жыл бұрын

+alan30189 yes that can work on small collections, but it's too time consuming on 200 orchid collections so we never actually wipe leaves unless we have stubborn spots. The shower is the most common technique, whenever we can do it safely :)

@alan30189

7 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the quick response. I will have to check out the "shower" technique. Maybe there is a type of soap that won't cause spots. Are you still living in Cyprus?

I like you more than like orchids!

maybe dry rag to clean the dust?

@Gabriel-dm1du

7 жыл бұрын

i just spray the flowers in summer 😜

hi, 2 of my orchids are growing new leaves / plants on the flower stems. is it normal?

@sherileger730

5 жыл бұрын

Monica Kitching hi Monica! Sounds like you might have a baby plant 🌱 or kekie(Kay-key) growing!! You need to leave it alone until it grows a few roots and maybe 3-4 small leaves. I’ve never had one yet, but I’m sure Dani has some videos about them😉

@dylxnchn

5 жыл бұрын

*Keiki!*

@dylxnchn

5 жыл бұрын

@@sherileger730 its keiki

@EZ-STEM

5 жыл бұрын

It's normal for dendrobium orchids which lose leaves and form this baby plants called keikis. You can replant those in a few months when roots sprouts around usually 3-5 cm. long to be safe.

I live in a very dry environment. So I do mist them too (about 2-3 sprays), like some other people here. Ofcs I make sure the water doesn't gather in the crowns. But the roots, leaves and even flowers I mist about once or twice a month when it's the driest. They seem to enjoy it.

Great topics : dust and mist

But isn't it toxic to put soap on the orchids?

@MissOrchidGirl

Жыл бұрын

Nope 😊

I don't use humidity trays. That would mean an inviting breeding site for mosquitoes. I live in a tropical country, Venezuela. Misting is not really an issue for me. I do that every now and then especially when I cannot water as frequently as I should. There's no winter here - just a dry and rainy season. Right now it has been raining quite often these days, cold nights and a nice breeze during the day.

Orchids live the winter here in the north

I wish people would stop buying me plants for Christmas. I can't keep them alive and it hurts my heart to watch them die.

Mayonnaise is the best lead shiner for house plant but orchid I dunno.

@MissOrchidGirl

7 жыл бұрын

eh... too much oil I'm weary of it unless I want to treat mites :)

@dianasorchids

7 жыл бұрын

Yep 😃

What water are you using for your orchids? Tap water filled with chlorine or rain water and what is the acidity of your water? Have you considered just misting the roots with a real mist not bottle spray? In nature these plants are exposed to rain and mist, why do you think it doesn't work in domestic situations? I think one reason is the quality of the water and obviously the climate control. Forest are generally warmer than your environment...

@MissOrchidGirl

7 жыл бұрын

+RailTime Photo Hi, I use osmosis water with a ph of around 7. Misting roots is not an ideal way to water unless it can be provided for enough time and in enough quantity to saturate roots and keep the orchids hydrated. One way that can be achievel is with installing misters, but in case of walls this will only create molds. Forests are generally cooler than my subtropical climate which affects my growing room.

@RailTimePhoto

7 жыл бұрын

Thank you for the prompt reply. I have watched a lot of your videos and learnt a lot from you. I am still very new growing orchids but loving it. I want to mount some on old yellowwood tree logs that I have kept in a store room for a mushroom project and will be suing them. I saw another orchid lady on youtube that mounted the orchids on bark and hung them upside down and they seem to be doing well. I have also placed some plants in glass containers using water and semi-water culture for the cattleya. I live in Port Alfred, South Africa on the coast and we have moderate temperatures although Jan and Feb can get very hot. I am about to install my led lights to provide the plants with a little bit more light as I feel their corner doesn't have enough light.

@tias9683

3 жыл бұрын

In nature, the plants grow sideways/upside down off of trees. Home growers tend to keep their orchids in a very unnatural upright position which creates places for water to pool and create crown rot, which makes misting a somewhat dangerous activity for the orchid’s health. If you are growing them in more natural positions, misting is more beneficial than detrimental.

I lost 3 of my orchids last year when i gave my orchids a full shower. So no more bathing my orchids.

THIRD

I enjoy your videos, but, if you could slow down some! You seem to use run-on sentences (as in you can't tell when your new sentence begins). Yes, just take a couple of seconds between your thoughts (sentences) and I will (and maybe the audience) better understand you. No offense, I do gain knowledge from your videos. Thanks.