High air humidity only during the day?

[fotodimatti]

Hi indoor palm growers,

Am I correct in thinking that indoor plants need additional air humidity mostly during the day? So, I can shut down my humidifier during the night, which would help to avoid mold infestation on my apartment walls.

I am based in Germany, so my winter life mostly happens indoors. Therefore, I focus on palms that can thrive without Mediterranean levels of sunshine, such as tropical understory palms like Joey, Chamaedoreas, and Kerriodoxa. I think they make great indoor plants, but they tend to require high air humidity.

Here is what I hope to understand correctly about plant physiology: during the day, when plants receive light for photosynthesis, stomata open to take in carbon dioxide. However, transpiration also occurs, causing the plants to lose water through the open stomata. In dry environments, this could lead to increased water loss, posing challenges for hygrophilic plants. Increasing humidity during the day can help reduce water loss through transpiration, maintaining the plants in an overall more humid environment. At night, when photosynthesis is inactive and stomata are closed, water loss through transpiration is generally lower. Therefore, it might be less critical to increase humidity at night.

I am happy to get your opinion on this!
Thanks,
Matti

Photos:
1 Chamaedorea ernesti-augusti,
2 Two Kerriodoxa elegans,
3 Joey Palm

[Jadd Correia]

Hey Matti,

I think you are spot on with the idea to increase humidity during the day, and then shut off the humidifier at night. I use this same set-up for my indoor grow area and it is working well. I even got a little weather monitor and it shows a direct decease in humidity during the highest temp time of the day (and inverse for night). Good luck with the growing, and I hope to pick up those species you listed as well someday.

Jadd

[Jadd Correia]

Below is a shot of my palm and philodendron corner.

[JohnAndSancho]

16 minutes ago, Jadd Correia said:

Below is a shot of my palm and philodendron corner.

Nice set up, Jadd! What's the palm in the first pic with the red leaf?

[Jadd Correia]

13 minutes ago, JohnAndSancho said:

Nice set up, Jadd! What's the palm in the first pic with the red leaf?

Thanks! I’ve been working on it for a while and I feel I got a good balance between temp + humidity + light. 
 

The red leaf palm is Calyptrocalyx albertisianus. It’s proven to be pretty steady indoors and has beautiful red color emerging leaf. 

[fotodimatti]

On 12/17/2023 at 6:43 AM, Jadd Correia said:

Below is a shot of my palm and philodendron corner.

Hi Jadd,

these look indeed very nice. 
I wonder what it takes for some rare palms to become more spread out among indoor gardening.

please feel free to give IDs to all your palms. 

Thanks Matti

[Jadd Correia]

Thanks Matti. I agree that palms given the proper conditions can make amazing indoor species.

Lower left is Howea foresteriana. I picked this up as a small 5 gal triple at Home Despite for a good price to grow as an indoor specimen (I have 3 outside in the ground doing very well).

Center is Golden Malayan Coco. I have it on a small heat pad set to 75C, as well as being next to the small humidifier. It is doing very well and has a new spear just opening.

Just right of that is my Crytostachis renda. I planted it into a 2 gallon fast draining mix and have it sitting in about 1-1.5 inch of water. It seems happy with a new central spear growing out now of the oldest section of the palm.

Next to the lipstick palm are my two Calyptrocalyx. One C albertisianus + one C leptostachys.

Right of that and back is the Hydriastele beguinii. It has sort of limped along, but it seems to have settled in and has a single nice leaf that is gathering up light.

One Veitchia joannis + Veitchia montgomeryana to round out that back corner tucked up under the large Monstera deliciosa.

Not pictured (I will follow up with more) are my seed starts which include Brahea edulis collected locally in Oakland + Parajubaea cocoides also collected locally.

[Jadd Correia]

1 hour ago, Jadd Correia said:

Thanks Matti. I agree that palms given the proper conditions can make amazing indoor species.

Lower left is Howea foresteriana. I picked this up as a small 5 gal triple at Home Despite for a good price to grow as an indoor specimen (I have 3 outside in the ground doing very well).

Center is Golden Malayan Coco. I have it on a small heat pad set to 75C, as well as being next to the small humidifier. It is doing very well and has a new spear just opening.

Just right of that is my Crytostachis renda. I planted it into a 2 gallon fast draining mix and have it sitting in about 1-1.5 inch of water. It seems happy with a new central spear growing out now of the oldest section of the palm.

Next to the lipstick palm are my two Calyptrocalyx. One C albertisianus + one C leptostachys.

Right of that and back is the Hydriastele beguinii. It has sort of limped along, but it seems to have settled in and has a single nice leaf that is gathering up light.

One Veitchia joannis + Veitchia montgomeryana to round out that back corner tucked up under the large Monstera deliciosa.

Not pictured (I will follow up with more) are my seed starts which include Brahea edulis collected locally in Oakland + Parajubaea cocoides also collected locally.

Also an older Majesty palm that looks OK. 

[Foxpalms]

On 12/3/2023 at 10:45 AM, fotodimatti said:

 

I am based in Germany, so my winter life mostly happens indoors. Therefore, I focus on palms that can thrive without Mediterranean levels of sunshine, such as tropical understory palms like Joey, Chamaedoreas, and Kerriodoxa. I think they make great indoor plants, but they tend to require high air humidity.

The sun strength in the winter here won't be too different to Germany and I find even coconuts cope just fine with just the winter sun here as long as they get the heat and humidity. Mine though are in a glass conservatory so lots of natural light comes through.

[fotodimatti]

Hi Jadd,
Great palms!
Tell me more about your lipstick palm please? How much heat and humidity do you give it? I see it in tropical houses of botanical gardens...
Do you order these kind of palms online or do you have shops nearby?

Thanks, Matti

Edited January 1 by fotodimatti

[Than]

Amazing job Jadd!! I can't believe you managed to keep all these palms so healthy indoors, even picky species like Cyrtostachys! Are they all from seeds?

Re humidity, here humidity can be very very low in the summer; we are talking 20%. Yet I never noticed any plant struggling, provided I water daily. I am talking about pots outdoors though so I don't know if that makes a difference. Tbh I just don't care anymore when humidity becomes very low, unlike my panic attacks the first year. Now I feel confident plants will be fine, as long as their soil is moist.

In the winter I have too much humidity in my flat, about 85% and I am using a dehumidifier to lower it to 65%. 

Edited January 3 by ego

[Jadd Correia]

On 1/3/2024 at 11:05 AM, Than said:

Amazing job Jadd!! I can't believe you managed to keep all these palms so healthy indoors, even picky species like Cyrtostachys! Are they all from seeds?

Re humidity, here humidity can be very very low in the summer; we are talking 20%. Yet I never noticed any plant struggling, provided I water daily. I am talking about pots outdoors though so I don't know if that makes a difference. Tbh I just don't care anymore when humidity becomes very low, unlike my panic attacks the first year. Now I feel confident plants will be fine, as long as their soil is moist.

In the winter I have too much humidity in my flat, about 85% and I am using a dehumidifier to lower it to 65%. 

Thank you for the encouragement. I have a unique indoor setup that I am able to keep a decent variety of palms in as long as I consider their specific needs.

i would like to note the overall layout of my indoor growing area Including the south facing 8ft wall of windows that allows for tons of direct sun esp in Winter when the sun angle is lower. This affords me a huge advantage to growing high light need palms like the coconut and Veitchia. I then stagger the remaining palms behind the more direct sun palms to get filtered light.

I also run a heat mat suspended on plywood to keep a consistent temp of 75F for the coconut and Lipstick palm and Calyotrocalyxs. 

Ive purchased a lot of 4 inch plants over the years from reputable sellers on eBay and Etsy. I step them up as needed and I hope to get certain to 5 gallon size for outdoor planting, and others I will keep indoors or work on a long term custom greenhouse with extra height for future growth. 
 

Two pics below are the past weeks temp in F and humidity in my indoor growing area. I have a humidifier that I shoot directly at the Lipstick palm and other major tropical palms (Licuala grandis etc).