air stones and absorbent fiber blanket for RH boost?

[Bard]

I see where some commercial grow cases use air stones for RH boost. I bought a pump and the clerk recommended an alternative unit that consists of 3 connected tubes with rather 2 lines of relatively large holes in them. The bubbles I get are large ,1/4" , and few, 1-200 in the 30" of tube. I wonder if an air stone or 2 would be better since I'm told that they produce much finer, mist like, bubbles in much greater numbers.
It/ they would go in the humidity tray at the bottom of my case. Your thoughts please.
I also wonder about installing some sort of blanket/mat on the back wall that held water to boost humidity. Does anyone know of such a thing or if it would help?

[Brutal_Dreamer]

IT seems like the blanket you talk about would increase humidity in your case. I have never grown that way, so it is only a guess.

Cheers,
BD

[Bard]

Thanks. I have hopes for the blanket idea. I need a really absorbent material though and have yet to locate a suitable one. I first considered coco fiber matting like what is used to line planters but I don't think it holds water very well. What I need is a material that would hold lots of water and create an evaporative wall which could be wet down in the AM and hold for the rest of the day. Any thoughts?

[Brutal_Dreamer]

Well, anything that is going to hold water is going to break down and rot. I wonder if you could maybe rig a system like a Kool-cell where you recirculate water down cardboard. If the water flows slowly in to a tray below and is pumped back to the top, it would evaporate into the air and thus increase humidity. Again, I am just shooting in the dark as I have never attempted to grow in a case like this. But it seems logical.

Cheers,
BD

[jkhom]

My thoughts would be that any material porous enough to hold water would be a prime environment for mold.
An idea similiar to the blanket would be to use something like a waterfall as the back wall. One of the (experts) at the nursery where I purchase some of my orchids is succesful at home using only a waterfall for humidity. I would think that a larger wall (waterfall) with water slowly flowing down would provide more humidity over a larger area.

[Bard]

The water fall /wall is higher tec than I wanted to go. I think I will try isolating my lights in the top section of my case with a sheet of glass or plexi and exhaust the warm air through top vents with fans. I am quite sure I can get enough humidity if I can cut the heat from the lights before it gets to the plants. Perhaps a fan or two blowing over the water in the humidity tray will help. That is what William Cullima (sp) did in his first case, as described in his orchid book, and he said it worked. If it doesn't I'll have to consider more drastic measures like a misting system of wet wall. The blanket idea was an attempt to cheap out..