Tropicals & Tender Perennials: Humidity 101, 1 by hcmcdole

hcmcdole wrote:
Over the last 3 years I have become acutely aware of the effect of humidity on begonias (and other tropicals to a lesser extent). Begonias flourish inside a terrarium (fish tanks for the most part plus other glass bowls) but they can become costly if you housed hundreds of begonias in tanks. I've experimented with plastic baggies, humidity domes (these are good if you have the tray that matches for a good seal), and other various plastic bowls, cups, lids, etc.

I wish I had taken pictures of some of my poor looking begonias before I resorted to covers recently. Due to the overwhelming success with almost any kind of humidity cover, I have resorted to covering every (poor looking) begonia with something. For small pots, plastic drinking cups (I have the 9 and 16 oz cups from one of those wholesale places where they come in 100 and 200 packages for less than $10) have proved very handy. The one thing I have to pay attention to is mold since it loves these conditions. Some rhizomes and canes are bigger than the cup as well but I try to cover as much as possible even if that means that part of the rhizomes are sticking out or the cane is supporting the cup instead of the surrounding soil.

Anyway here is evidence of a sort. In this photo are two starts of hatacoa 'Silver' with a cup in place. The hatacoa on the outside looks healthy with the puckered leaf but two leaves have already been cut off due to dryness.