Angraecoids in the house

[mrBreeze]

When the Angs are in a 'dry winter rest', in nature, they still receive high humidity every day, especially at night and may be covered in dew in the morning. This really isn't practical when growing them in the bedroom grow area.

Even though I use a fan, I would still worry about possible fungus issues if I, for instance, let the humidifier run all night.

The Angs in nature also tend to experience their dryest time during the afternoon. This is actually when the humidifier runs the most. So in many ways, mine are experiencing the opposite of what they would in nature. Is this bad? Is the timing of when they receive their moisture critical? Or is it enough that they get bathed in vapor at least some of the day?

Mostly Aerangis but also Angraecums and others.

thanks, MB

[LJA]

Well, anything left outdoors overnight is going to accumulate dew once its temperature cools enough to make water vapor condense on it. This is usually not an issue for wild plants (though it certainly can be; no one to my knowledge has ever camped near a wild population long enough to observe how many plants get crown rot over the course of a year because of uncooperative weather), but for plants under culture indoors, yes, fungus can set in, especially if there's not enough air movement.

My personal feeling is that it's not worth the risk, trying to provide the *exact* conditions a plant might expect in nature, if doing so exposes the plant to the far greater risk of bacterial and fungal infections indoors. It's really easy to go overboard with this, I think, since a lot of the harmful microbes that can be extremely prevalent here simply don't occur where these orchids grow wild. We usually don't take that into consideration.

Provide enough humidity over the course of the day, and let the foliage dry off before nightfall. That will be your safest and best bet.