Low Humidity is KILLING me

[Worth1]

I have no problem with low humidity either just bottom water more as was said.

If a person is having nose bleeds due to humidity they are dehydrated.
The other two signs are dark urine and skin when pinched staying in place and not springing down flat fast.
A complication from this is kidney stones.

Worth

[KarenO]

Originally Posted by oakley

Consider it a good thing as bottom watering is superior letting you starts dry out fast.

I've been going through about 3 gallons a day as the potting up larger plants need so much water being thirsty over the young ones. I wait until they are weightless before watering. You could gather a few 5 gallon buckets of snow and place them in your seed
starting room to thaw.

But i so prefer dry. Fighting FungusGnats is not fun.

lovely frosty white snow looks deceptively clean. its not and it is full of dirt and mold spores. I wouldn't water my seedlings with melted snow.
KarenO

[rhines81]

I'm up to 31% RH and holding, the goal is anything above 40%. Adding some extra water sources around the room seems to be helping a little.

I think a major problem is that the room itself is dried up. The wood floor, wood ceiling, wood doors and trim are all absorbing the moisture as fast as I can introduce it. Perhaps tomorrow I'll wipe all the wood down with some damp rags. I'm thinking that is what it is, so once I hydrate the wood more, then the room air will start holding some humidity.

[rhines81]

Yep, wiping the woodwork down with a damp rag got me up to 40% - now if it gets above 45% I'll need to turn the dehumidifier down to low.

[rhines81]

Well, darn it all ... 8 hours later and it's 36% and dropping again. The humidifier has still been on max. Maybe I just need to hose the whole room down!

Tuesday we're supposed to get a high near 60, low 41 with rain ... might be a good day to just open up all the windows while I am at work.

I ended up watering plants again this evening that I had soaked yesterday. This is not fun.

[Nan_PA_6b]

I run a fan on my seedlings and they dry up quickly. I just assume they'll need watering every day.

Nan

[rhines81]

Originally Posted by Nan_PA_6b

I run a fan on my seedlings and they dry up quickly. I just assume they'll need watering every day.

Nan

I expect the fan to contribute to the evaporation, but I don't recall even close to this much watering in years past. Twice a week was more of the norm.

Humidity back down to 32% this morning.

[MissS]

Go to a Big Box Store and buy a cheap vaporizer. Wash the floor and woodwork again since that seemed to help. Just water more frequently, it seems to work.

[rhines81]

Originally Posted by MissS

Just water more frequently, it seems to work.

This is my issue!

Too much, too frequent ... taking too much of my time!

In the end, I don't mind ... just that I never had to work this hard to keep seedlings hydrated before!

[Nan_PA_6b]

Rhines, are you sue it's the low humidity? Different soils dry out at different rates. Have you done anything else differently this year?

Nan

[Worth1]

Just set them in a pan of water that is what I do works great.
Worth

[rhines81]

Originally Posted by Worth1

Just set them in a pan of water that is what I do works great.
Worth

Kind of hard to set 200+ plants in a pan of water I have 14 10x20 trays at various stages of growth. I took 2 trays out of the mix today, they are on their own, window sill light only and water as needed, but still 1/2 gallon each per day. They are all over my 12" height limit with about 4-6 more trays to follow that pattern in the next week. The next 4 weeks will be interesting because I have my quick grows to start soon too.

At least this year the tomato and peppers have massive thick stems and I am not just burying the spindles. These are really nice plants this year, glad I finally ponied up and went with some grow lamps, been fighting doing that for years - I can definitely say, wow, it's a big difference.

The humidity; however, this year is KILLING me with the watering chores. Every time I turn around, it seems a tray that I just watered yesterday has droopy dry plants. Yea, I am complaining, but I am also watering as needed ... just really wishing I did not have to do it so often.

FYI ... 36% now; better than the past few weeks, but still a little too dry (and yes, the fans ... like a desert in here).

[rhines81]

Originally Posted by Nan_PA_6b

Rhines, are you sue it's the low humidity? Different soils dry out at different rates. Have you done anything else differently this year?

Nan

Yep same soils ... two types depending on the stage of growth. The major difference is the artificial lighting which as far as I can tell does NOTHING to heat, but perhaps makes the plants consume more water. So yes, I do have a different set-up - but the area is the same except for the lighting - which could very well be the difference; however, as a human we have never had this low humidity in our living area either; so this year seems very different from others. 40-50% is more normal here, but I also started sowing seed a month earlier too (normally don't pay attention to the environment until I have seed sown) ... so YES - There is a difference between other years!

[rhines81]

Bigger pots are helping the matter, but it's going to take all week to fix that. When I came home from work today, I had 2 trays drooping and potted up what I could (3 hours 11 plants (I'm slow)). I watered the rest and propped them up with BBQ skewers. The ones that were potted up were perky again in 30 minutes.
Bonus, the humidity is now above 40% again, tomorrow will be warmer and rainy outside so I think that will get me through the week while I keep potting up. Next week there will be more to do.
5 more weeks until they go in the ground (which is early, but it looks OK so far).

BTW, my peppers have been fine and in control throughout this whole mess ... maybe that's why I love peppers. Tomatoes cause STRESS! LOL!!!

[KarenO]

I don't see how wiping a whole room down with a wet cloth is easier than watering?
Daily watering is normal as far as I'm concerned. Larger pots would help next year Along with the use of a potting mix with polymers for retention of water. Option two, plant later. The larger the seedling, the more water it needs and there is no getting around that. Post some pics
KarenO