humidity help. An idea.

[requiemsong]

I was just thinking; it seems a lot of trouble with Neps and other CPs is in regard to keeping the humidity levels nice and high, so I was just wondering if anyone does what the orchid growers do - that is, you place a nice thick layer of saw dust (or choir, I suppose) around your pots and staging and keep it wet... it stays wet a rather long time and thus defuses humidity slowly. It might not be the most attractive thing in the world, but it would sure help, wouldn't it?

 

[Capensis]

This whole thing of humidity isn't quite true. There ARE some plants that like and grow better in more humid conditions, but most or almost all don't require it. My Nepenthes have pitchered and are liking my 45%-60% humidity tank. I'm sure there are people growing Nepenthes in less humid places like windowsills.
Edit: Also, what Neps or other plants are you growing?

 

[Frilleon]

Orchid growers also use humidity trays. They look like broiler pans made of wood. You set the plant on the top sloted rack and fill the tray below with water. You can buy these just about anywhere. I just use a nice top layer of LFS on all my plants and keep it damp. Works the same as saw dust or coir.

 

[Grey Moss]

Don't worry about humidity. I grew hamata, a plant that would die without high humidity in relative humidities of 40 and 30. It is true that high humidity can be helpful, but for the majority it is not needed.

 

[nightsky]

If you can, try to find your ambient room humidity. It definitely varies by locality. Here, for example, my room humidity runs between 10-15%...quite horrible. BUT - my orchids grow and bloom no problem in it with no humidity tray. However, I tried the oh-so-hardy ventricosa at these low humidities and had no luck. But if your house humidity runs 40% or more you should be ok except for the real picky ones.

 

[idontlikeform]

I grow my Neps in my living room. I keep the room humidity in the high 50s. The Neps' pots sit in 10 20 trays that have about 1/4 to 1 inch of water in the bottom of them. Each pot has coral gravel in the lower layer and NZ sphagnum for the top 2/3rds. I've had them like this for about 3 months now. They do better this way than if I simply let the pots drain and try to keep the sphagnum moist but not sitting in water. It is very airy but very wet at the same time. I'm not sure if the Argentiis like it as they seem to struggle but all the rest of the Neps are thriving in this condition.

I've also noticed that some tendrils would burn before when I didn't keep the soil so wet even though the humidity was about the same. I think if the roots can be kept wet enough that Neps need less humidity. I suspect soil wetness is the main reason why some people can grow Neps in lower humidity than others.

Maybe all the horror stories about root rot have scared people away from keeping their soil as wet as Neps really like.

I'd like to try switching to 100% large grain perlite sitting in a 1 inch layer of water. I suspect this may work even better.

 

[seedjar]

Maybe all the horror stories about root rot have scared people away from keeping their soil as wet as Neps really like.

In my experience, Neps don't seem to mind a moist substrate. It's lack of air circulation around the roots that gets them.
~Joe

 

[jimscott]

One thing I do to provide extra heat and humidity without getting mold is to have a fishtank with a submericble heater. I have a fluoresent light suspended from the shelf and I have Saran Wrap loosely draped over the light. That keeps some humdity in but I don't have a closed system. I cut slits in the wrap in the front so that I can flip it up and allow more ambient air in. During the daytime I have the wrap flipped up, with the heat and light on. At night I unplug both light and heater and flip the wrap back down, in a sort of "morning dew" attempt. Seems to work. No mold. I'll post a picture later.