Tropicals & Tender Perennials: humidity chamber, 0 by tucsonplumeriaz

tucsonplumeriaz wrote:
you know i am always trying to find a way to get these darn plumeria cuttings to root before they shrivel up in our dry heat. haha! well, i think i might have finally come up with something that will work for any cuttings that would benefit from a humid environment. this is version 2 - styrofoam container.

i started out with a home depot bucket and no fan. little fuzzies started growing on the cuttings after a day or so in the humid environment. plus, condensation covered the inside walls of the container. well, i add the fan for some air circulation. the fuzzies went away but the condensation still built up on the inside of the wall where the airflow wasn't that strong. that lead me to styrofoam because of its insulation property. well, i am happy to say that there is no condensation on the inside walls of the chamber.

the nice thing about the fan is that is supplies heat to the chamber. it was 83º and 78% humidity in there this morning w/o any external heat source when the room temp was 69º. i keep the humidity up by blowing air across the surface of the water not like it is shown in the pic. just switch the position of the fan and water dish in the pic. also, i mist the cuttings with vitamin B-1. the nice thing is that the cuttings do not stay wet long because of the air flow. however, the air will remain humid.

i make a fresh cutting recently from one of my dormant plumeria which is notorious for die back. not only did the cutting not die back, it produced visible callus w/i two weeks. woo hoo!

it is not the most attractive living room piece but it does the trick. it gets hit by direct sunlight during the day through the sliding glass door.