Hi growers of rainforest palms!
What is your experience with the minimal relative humidity of the air for growing understory palms such as Kerriodoxa, Joey palm and tropical chamaedoreas?
I read that they need high humidity. But how high is enough? 60%? 70%
Are more adult palms more tolerante to dryer air than seedlings?
Thanks

I can't speak for the others but my outdoor C. Benezeii got hella sunburned this summer in Texas, my C. Plumosa loved the heat and extra watering, and my indoor C. Cataractarum literally gets leftover dog water and occasionally misted and it's trunking and flowering. 

 

I have threads "Indoor Squad" and "Patio Squad" under the Palms In Pots subthread documenting my palms.  

Hi John,
Thanks for your info! It certainly depends on each species. On Instagram I follow a 'Rhapidophyllum' guy that grows his Kerriodoxa in his living room. And it looks mind blowing.
Then some people install pretty sophisticated plant terrariums...

On 11/19/2022 at 10:55 AM, fotodimatti said:

Hi growers of rainforest palms!
What is your experience with the minimal relative humidity of the air for growing understory palms such as Kerriodoxa, Joey palm and tropical chamaedoreas?
I read that they need high humidity. But how high is enough? 60%? 70%
Are more adult palms more tolerante to dryer air than seedlings?
Thanks

For Chamaedoreas, they have some tolerance of low humidity but will respond by slowing growth. Low humidity also increases risk of spider mites and brown tips. Ideally, at a minimum get a plant mister and spray once every three days. 

Hi Robert,
Thanks for your insights.
Do you know more species / genera that have tolerance to low humidity? I currently have good experience with young Joey palms.
 

I am currently experimenting with a regular room air humidifier from Philips plus these small ultrasound humidifier that produce some mist.
With that I have elevated the relative air humidity of the living room. Usually its in a range between 55 and 65%.
I fear that with even higher levels I am risking mould in the walls..

What is your experience please?

My joey & Sabinaria seedlings are in a heated propagator with 60-70% humidity and they still get brown tips; I'll probably take them out this spring. My Keriodoxa is outside (still in the room, indoors) where the humidity is more like 50-60% and cooler on average, and it has a lot of brown tips but is still growing strongly. I do have an humidifier but I never use it now as all the plants in the room release ample humidity themselves. If anything, I might invest in a dehumidifier.
I think you need good air movement and to maintain a relatively high temperature to avoid getting mould. Temperature is important as there's no such thing as absolute humidity—it depends on temperature.

I disagree that high humidity discourages spider mites—it is the artefacts and/or causes of high humidity such as water droplets and rain which physically dislodge them, but they will do fine in a controlled high-humidity environment without these risks. This is why plants benefit from being put outside in summer rainstorms.

Warm conditions and a very well-draining medium ought to reduce humidity requirements.

My Joeys doing amazingly good (so far). Rather at 50-60% humidity. At only 16-18 degrees C for the winter months.