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TheFury

Oh, the humanity!!
Hey folks - so I just ordered myself a N. spectabilis x aristolochioides and a N. ventricosa x spectabilis. I also have a Ceph on the way. I'm going to need to up the humidity for these plants for sure. Right now my humidity in my grow rack goes from the mid 40s during the day to the 80s overnight.

I have an open grow rack; no terrarium or hard glass walls to retain humidity. My question is: if I were to add a humidifier to my setup, with no plastic or glass barriers anywhere, would the effect on humidity be sufficient?

I'm trying to humidify TWO shelves of a 48" rack. One humidifier? Two??

Finally, any make & model recommendations would be great. I see a few ultrasonic foggers made for terrariums on pet supply websites for like $30 - are those the way to go?

Disclaimer: I know humidifier threads are a dime a dozen here; I'm mainly interested to know how useful a humidifier will be just on open shelves with nothing to hold the humidity in place.

Edit: .... and THANKS!
 
Um, with 40%-80% I think you should be OK. In my experience Cephs can deal pretty well with lower humidity. The Neps might not pitcher quite as much, or the pitchers may be a little more short-lived than they would ordinarily, but I don't see it being a big problem. I grow all my highland Neps at around 40%-60% RH as houseplants. The trick is to make sure that your other conditions (watering, light, media) are really good; Neps can take one or two things being slightly inadequate, so long as you do well on everything else.
If you really feel the need to humidify, you're going to use a lot of water. To make a substantial difference without an enclosure the humidifier will need to be on constantly. The shades will help make the most of it but you'll still be humidifying the whole room in essence, which may cause condensation and hence mildew problems on your windowsills. You'll want to put your neediest plants close to the humidifier and let the fog trickle down over them. Depending on how closed up you keep the room, it could help a little or a lot. An open terrarium would make better use of the fog, especially since your shade will cut down on drafts which would ordinarily disperse the humidity rather quickly.
Back when I was convinced that I needed a humidifier, these were the best deal I could find:
http://www.mainlandmart.com/foggers.html
That store also carries bigger humidifiers (and butt-ugly artificial plants.)
I'm not a big Nep expert, but I think those hybrids should be pretty tough when they mature. N. aristolochioides has a reputation for being finicky but I understand their hybrids are pretty vigorous, and spectabilis is (I think) part of the maxima complex so it should also be rather hardy. At least, mine was until I let it go unwatered for waaaaay too long and then dealt it a finishing blow by repotting before it had recovered. And ventricosa, well... that shouldn't be a problem at all. I seem to remember hearing that vent x spec is a particularly rugged plant.
~Joe
 
i use the fogger that seedjar linked, works like a charm.
Butt, I have it in an enclosure to retain the humidity.
 
Hi again! Sorry to bump this old thread. Well, my plants came in and I've been doing some more head scratchin. I got some ideas and questions.

To retain humidity in my rack, I'm planning on wrapping all sides in shrink wrap but leaving the front open. I will seal the front with a clear plastic sheet and a zipper.

This will create air flow and temperature issues. To remedy the air flow problem I will have to install air intake and exhaust pipes. I have the fans ready to go... Each is a 36 CFM fan about 3.5" in diameter. I know my ceph for one will appreciate this.

To solve the temperature problem I might need to introduce humidity to create an evaporative cooling effect. Ok. So I'll figure that part out

The problem THAT creates: each shelf has two light fixtures on it, and all would be enclosed in this shrink wrap igloo. Should I be concerned about operating these lights in high humidity conditions? My plan is to pipe the mist in right below the light on the bottom shelf and have an exhaust fan on top to pull the humid air upwards.

What do you think? If I've confused you I can try and make a diagram. Am I just talking smack here??

Many thanks
 
Yes i don't think the Cephalotus will mind about the low humidity. One example i grow mine outside (I really do) They are producing pitchers nicely. Just a example of how they don't care about low humidity.
 
Wasn't asking about the ceph. I have neps in the same rack that would enjoy the humidity more. My question was more about the safety of running those electronics in there, and general opinions on my setup. But... Thanks.
 
Yeah i just figured that out thanks for pointing that out really thanks. :)

---------- Post added at 07:25 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:25 PM ----------

But anyways i would have to go with Joe IMO.
 
Well thanks, but does anyone have any insight to offer into the pros and potential pitfalls of my idea? especially regarding safety?
 
This is what my rack use to look like:

1%20(3)%20-%20Copy.JPG


The tube you see through the bottom shelf leads to that PVC T-connector, where the fog came out from the humidifier which was kept outside the rack to keep the water and, therefore, the mist cool.

The front was also enclosed, normally. Now I just leave it open and humidify and air condition the entire room, but I had it this way for almost a year with no issues. I learned, though, that it's typically easier to keep an entire room inside favorable parameters than it is an enclosed rack - smaller space means things go wrong more quickly, like a fan failure cooking your plants (which happened to me; presumably, the humidity killed the fan. Looked at the wireless temp/humidity gauge in the living room to find it was 96 degrees in my rack and promptly sprinted upstairs to open the rack and windows. >.>;; ). That, of course, assumes it's feasible for you to keep an entire room within plant-happy limits, which it probably isn't if it's in a living room or something.

Hope any of that helps. ;/
 
  • #10
Hey... very helpful! Thanks! The room is actually very small, so it's definitely feasible to humidify the whole place. Thing is, it's my girlfriend's study that these plants are in, and I don't want to up the humidity in the room in the middle of the summer. It can get quite hot in that room (easily 85+ degrees on a hot day) and the humidity would make it that much less bearable for her as she studies for her MCATs!

What kind of fan did you have that it failed in the high humidity conditions? Curious to hear about that.

Thanks for your advice!
 
  • #11
It was one of those basic Honeywell ones... I'll see if I can find it...

Here we go, something like this. Dunno if it was the same model, but same brand and design. It still turns on and I can hear the motor working, but the blades don't move. It might just need too be cleaned out, I don't know. I've always just assumed it was the humidity since I can't imagine a motor with all those coiled up wires and such taking 80% humidity very well, LOL.

It's too bad about it being a used room. Mine is a spare bedroom, the only purpose of which is to house plants. Makes it much easier. I've learned really quick that a cool, humid room is really refreshing, everything smells and feels fresh and clean. A hot, humid room is freaking miserable. LOL.

EDIT: One thing I should mention about the lights in the enclosed space with high humidity: no safety concerns, or at least none that I ran into, but the fixtures and the rack itself did end up rusting a little bit. I guess that's sort of inevitable, though.
 
  • #12
LOL, I know. The drawbacks of living in a small apartment in NYC! Hot, humid, summers and NO FREAKING A/C!!

Anyway, I was thinking about this humidifier... how does it sound? I like the idea of using replaceable bottles as reservoirs. Low-maintenance, easy to refill, etc.

I can deal with a little rust, as long as there are no electrical fires!!!

Yeah, I think I'm going to go through with it. Temps in my rack topped 90 degrees last summer. Enclosing the rack will be a risk, but adding fog to the mix should keep it cooler (...right? Do I remember my thermodynamics correctly?).

I'm not too worried about my fans failing. I have some pretty hardcore AC equipment cooling fans I got here - each pump out 36CFM and are built like bricks. I just want cooler, happier plants!
 
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