No matter what I do I am unable to get my humidity to stay above 45%
even with frequent misting and evaporation trays. Is there some trick
that I am missing, because I am tired of my plants dropping buds, the
room temperature is preaty steady 67F - 72F.

Jack,

Misting and evaporation trays just are not enough to increase humidity. If
you want to really raise your humidity, get a good humidifier, and place it
and the plants ideally in a smaller room where you usually keep the doors
closed, so that the humidifier does not need to humidify your whole house.

Put your plants close together, since plants themselves generate additional
humidity. If you have small plants, consider getting a terrarium and placing
the plants in there for increased humidity.

Bathrooms and kitchens tend to be more humid than other rooms, however often
they do not have adequate windows and thus not adequate light for orchids --
but if yours do have good windows, consider moving your orchids in there.

Some homes are just much more difficult to keep humid than others: in my
previous apartment I had trouble keeping the humidity above 50% unless I ran
a humidifier or two all the time at top speed (I think part of it was the
large poorly insulated windows, and part of it was the open space door-less
design of the apartment), whereas my current condo is just naturally better
at retaining humidity.

It is really worth the effort to have better humidity, as higher humidity
can make quite a difference for orchids, as I have recently discovered. Good
luck!

Joanna

"Jack" <davisonjd [at] yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1132425467.618160.82030 [at] o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com...
> No matter what I do I am unable to get my humidity to stay above 45%
> even with frequent misting and evaporation trays. Is there some trick
> that I am missing, because I am tired of my plants dropping buds, the
> room temperature is preaty steady 67F - 72F.
>

Jack,

I only now noticed that the reason you are worried about humidity is because
of bud blast. Depending on which plants you have humidity may or may not be
the culprit: for example, Phalaenopsis can withstand low humidity without
bud blast, but cochleanthes amazonica is likely to bud blast at low
humidity.

Have you considered other possible reasons for these buds blasting?

Is there a bowl of fruit ripening near the budding plant? If so, move it
away and that ought to solve your problem.

Have you checked under the leaves carefully for any sign of a pest? I had
major bud blast issues with an orchid, and then discovered mealybugs on it!

How long have you had these plants? If you got them recently, it could be
due to something that happened before they came into your care or the sheer
change in growing conditions between where you got them from and your place.

There are many other possible causes for bud blast. And hopefully others can
give you some more ideas.

Best,
Joanna

"Jack" <davisonjd [at] yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1132425467.618160.82030 [at] o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com...
> No matter what I do I am unable to get my humidity to stay above 45%
> even with frequent misting and evaporation trays. Is there some trick
> that I am missing, because I am tired of my plants dropping buds, the
> room temperature is preaty steady 67F - 72F.
>

yeah, I just got in 5 more orchids from AndysOrchids in CA, 4 are
mounted on a stick, the Neofinetia is in a basket, all dry out in afew
hours. Kinda wondering if I shouldn't change them over to s/h so that
won't dry out, I'm in the military so I'm gone on a regular basis

Jack

P.S.: Be sure to keep the orchids you got from the home improvement store
separate from the ones you got from Andy's. If any of them have any pests,
you wouldn't want them to spread to the other ones. Mounted orchids in
general dry out very fast, but not all orchids do well when potted, so you
may want to post details on which orchids they are, and then someone here
can advise you whether s/h would work for those.

Joanna

"Jack" <davisonjd [at] yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1132427207.388835.186190 [at] o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com...
> yeah, I just got in 5 more orchids from AndysOrchids in CA, 4 are
> mounted on a stick, the Neofinetia is in a basket, all dry out in afew
> hours. Kinda wondering if I shouldn't change them over to s/h so that
> won't dry out, I'm in the military so I'm gone on a regular basis
>
> Jack
>

Thanks, as for my "rescues" I am very anal where it comes to hygene ( I
am a Medic after all) so they got systematic when I got them and follow
ups with insecticidal soap, (there is a baby in the house)

the only problems I've had so far are thrips, which I've had a personal
grudge aginst since I was 12 and the little fu----s took out my Glads,
and moss flys / fungas gnats (like a fruit fly except black) Both
controled with the soap and soaking / flooding

OK
I the orchids I just got from Andys ( great selection of hard to find
orchids)
Brassavola Grandiflora stick
Brassavola Cuculata stick
Neofinetia falacata (onamisecai) basket
Angraecum didieri stick
Haraella odorata stick

Jack

Let me start by saying that low humidity is a problem I've never personally
had here in So. Fla. -- in summer, if I could figure out how to export some
of our excess, I wouldn't need to worry about selling orchids <G>. But
Joanna is correct, you need a good humidifier if what you really want is to
raise your humidity. Misting (when you're around) and evaporation trays
won't do it.

The types of orchids you list as having gotten from Andy's are _supposed_ to
dry out within hours; but then they're also supposed to get wet again within
a day or 2. If you are away a lot, this is going to be a problem. S/H
might or might not be the answer, and it's not something that we do. Talk
to the folks that do, and decide.

If you decide it's not your best option, then depending on the size and
shape of the plants, you may be able to move them to a more standard in-pot
culture. If you decide you're interested in that option, e-mail me.
--
Kenni Judd
Juno Beach Orchids
kenni [at] jborchids.com

"Jack" <davisonjd [at] yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1132427207.388835.186190 [at] o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com...
> yeah, I just got in 5 more orchids from AndysOrchids in CA, 4 are
> mounted on a stick, the Neofinetia is in a basket, all dry out in afew
> hours. Kinda wondering if I shouldn't change them over to s/h so that
> won't dry out, I'm in the military so I'm gone on a regular basis
>
> Jack
>

I don't think you will have a big problem with the Angreacum didieri. It
has thick leaves and thick roots and I suspect it can hold a bit of water.
Let me know when it blooms and post a picture in ABPO.

Paul Simon
"Jack" <davisonjd [at] yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1132429520.401157.8150 [at] z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com...
> Thanks, as for my "rescues" I am very anal where it comes to hygene ( I
> am a Medic after all) so they got systematic when I got them and follow
> ups with insecticidal soap, (there is a baby in the house)
>
> the only problems I've had so far are thrips, which I've had a personal
> grudge aginst since I was 12 and the little fu----s took out my Glads,
> and moss flys / fungas gnats (like a fruit fly except black) Both
> controled with the soap and soaking / flooding
>
> OK
> I the orchids I just got from Andys ( great selection of hard to find
> orchids)
> Brassavola Grandiflora stick
> Brassavola Cuculata stick
> Neofinetia falacata (onamisecai) basket
> Angraecum didieri stick
> Haraella odorata stick
>
> Jack
>

might have to wait a while, looking forward to it my self.
I'm still worried that it is too dry, and that my mounted stuff is dry
out.

Jack