Humidifier questions

[amark8195]

Im thinking about getting an n.rajah, and ive herd they love humidity. I wanted to know what type of humidifier to use, preferable cheap, and it's going to be in my room so nothing huge ethier. And if there is anything else i might need to know, your advice would be very appriciated.

Thanks in advance
Aaron

 

[eou812]

Whatever you get you want a ultrasonic humidifier if you want to use tap water but if it isn't you have to use distelled water for the plants sake not for the machine so if you are going to buy distelled water then you don't have to buy a ultrasonic one but if you want to use any kind of water then i would get a ultrasonic humidifier and that's what i have hope this helps.

Ean

 

[Exo]

When it comes to humidifiers... "cheap" and "good" rarely are used in the same sentence, the best humidifier IMO are the larger ultrasonic types that are about 40 bucks.

 

[Rball]

well it all depends on how big the room is to get a 10'x10' room to say 70% or more humidity it would take a decent humidifier to keep a room at a constant high humidity level. Are you going to be keeping it in a window or in a grow rack? grow racks are nice ways to control humidity. Just an idea hope it helps.

 

[amark8195]

ok, thank you for your great and quick replies. Second im growing these plants on a table, no where near my window, with a 4ft flourescent lamp with 2 25 watt tubes.

 

[Joseph Clemens]

Ultrasonic humidifiers work well, but they can be pricey. I like to check out thrift stores for humidifiers that use the "cool mist" method. Often you can find several for just a few dollars each.

 

[Rball]

if you mist them several times a day with a spray bottle it will help some as well

 

[mass]

Walmart carries some nice cool mist ultrasonic humidifiers for about $25. Though you will still want to use something other than tap water (RO, distilled, etc.). Using tap will kill your humidifier and plants after using it for so long..
Another thing to think about when using humidifiers though is water build up. All of that mist has to go somewhere after extensive use.

 

[vraev]

ACtually mass, I use tap water in my humidifier and my plants didn't care. So far the pickiest plants I have grown were N. argentii, N. rajah and N. macrophylla BE. They thived with the humidifier inspite of a mineral dust buildup over their leaves. Its bugging around with them, repotting them too much, and not tailoring the media for the air circulation that caused their demise.

Anyways...I use the RELI-ON brand humidifer. I think it was 30$ or something. A good friend gave it to me. It was found in walmart. The one thing you want to do is, after like 2 months or so use some white vinegar and remove the mineral content on the ceramic disc and the water level sensor needle. I basically pour in vinegar and let it sit in the bottom mech for like an hr or so...and the salt all comes off. Wash it off and its good to go.

Here is a picture

 

[mass]

I just use RO water so I don't have to mess with all of that jazz. And my plants look and grow better as a result of it.. but.. to each their own.

 

[vraev]

Hey..thats fair. I mean if you have a nice RO system...thats great. I acutally have to buy my RO water (distilled). My parents have a Whirlpool RO system from Lowes and I used to get water from them when they come to visit. But it ended up that it was still to mineral heavy...my plants didn't seem to do well, there was a lot more algae, sphagnum didn't like it at all. The moment I went back to grocery store distilled water, the sphag has rebounded with a vengeance.

 

[zlookup]

i use to think that the white residue left behind by ultrasonics was calcium buildup, but, from a lot of googling, i'm changing ,my viewpoint to thinking its salt residue actually... caused by water softeners. Never tried RO or filtered water to see if it makes a difference. i've tried some fairly expensive ultrasonics with little difference as far as the white residue buildup is concerned sadly. as far as humidity goes, the ultrasonics do seem to work better than most i've tried.

 

[mass]

yep.. you got me. I spent a few hundred on a nice RO unit a couple months ago. But can't argue with thriving plants. If yours are happy, that's all that matters right?

 

[amark8195]

thanks all, ill probably go to wallmart sometime next week.

 

[nightsky]

We have very hard water here so I use our RO water for the humidifier. What strange is that even though it consistently tests out at less than 5 ppm, I still get a light white dust over everything. I have two different testers and they both match. I change the pre filters and the DI filter every 5 months, but haven't had to change the RO membrane yet (unit is only 1.5 yrs old).

Anyway the ultrasonic humidifier I use has a programmable humidistat on it. It's great, just set it and the humidity is maintained. But, the humidifier has been discontinued for some reason. Been using for 5 years with not a single problem!