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Thank you for sharing! I've been guarding my clay pots for years - I will not give them away even when I want to move an orchid on to someone else. But in my current space, like yourself, I struggle many winter days for humidity between 35-40%. For me, clay pots are just a no-no, except for vandacious types that tend to want a quick wet-dry cycle. My catts languish in clay pots. We're comparable in the number of plants. I have an even 30 now, not counting two paphs that I'm expecting. When I go to the store, I buy at least 16 gallons of spring water, which is all that will fit in the grocery cart, and that I feel I can get away with without raised eyebrows from the checkout person. Is distilled cheaper? It really isn't a matter of cost - roughly a buck a gallon where I am. I have this illusion, though, that I have better things to do with my time. I don't know about that. My fear is that I'm going to run out of good water at a critical point. That hasn't actually happened but it could. Contingency plans are always good. That's really what I'm after. Cheers!

I think you misunderstood what I meant about clay pots/crockery....
During the day when the orchidarium is at 80+ degrees F, I simply spray distilled water on the outside of empty clay pots that I stack to get plants closer to the lights. The water evaporated from the clay pots pretty quickly.....
Like you, without doing this I'm at 30% or so in winter but by spraying the clay pots down, I get 60-80% (my goal is 60). I do this a couple times during the day and then make sure things like leaves are not left damp over night.
 
I think you misunderstood what I meant about clay pots/crockery....
During the day when the orchidarium is at 80+ degrees F, I simply spray distilled water on the outside of empty clay pots that I stack to get plants closer to the lights. The water evaporated from the clay pots pretty quickly.....
Like you, without doing this I'm at 30% or so in winter but by spraying the clay pots down, I get 60-80% (my goal is 60). I do this a couple times during the day and then make sure things like leaves are not left damp over night.
I totally misunderstood - what a great idea!
 

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