Naturalistic Humidity.

cyberlocc

Chameleon Enthusiast
Hello guys, I just wanted to share something I just seen.

I know there has been a lot of talk around here as of late, about foggers and raising nighttime humidity. However there was rightful concerns about bacteria and such.

I think I found a possible solution. This may or may not work with fully screened cages.

However Arcea Palms, (Dypsis lutescens) are extremely effiencent natural humidifiers. NASAs fresh air study, they found they can transpire 1liter of water per day for a 6ft well watered plant. That is more than some foggers!

There is a few other good ones (not nearly as good as the palm) Boston/Sword ferns are also excellent humdifers as are dragon trees.

Obviously most of us don't have 6ft cages, however a light mist before the lights go out, well damp soil, a 4ft Areca, and some sword ferns, might actually raise the humidity by quite a bit at night when the lights are off. Especially in an enclosed cage.


I am going to have my large enclosed Viv setup, soon TM long before a cham goes in. So I will see what my results are and let you guys know, how just those plants and a short mist after lights out does.

In my large cage, will be a large Arcea, 3-4 Dragon trees, and a few sword ferns, so unfair advantage but we can at least see how it preforms there. If some screenies want to try one as well that would be cool.

Best part for Madgascan keepers, all 3 of those are native to Madgascar :).
 
I don't know about the species you mentioned but most plants only transpire during the day, using evaporation to pull nutrients to thru the plant. At night they use close their stoma and don't transpire with the exemption of some desert plants.
Interested to hear how it goes.
 
I am using an Areca palm in Raistlin's enclosure and it is very nice! I am also fogging at night, but without using the fogger I did not notice a spike of humidity levels. To be honest, I probably wasn't looking for one either, but nothing more than what I would normally see without the palm for what I can recall. They are excellent plants for enclosures though! Can't wait to see your results.
 
I don't know about the species you mentioned but most plants only transpire during the day, using evaporation to pull nutrients to thru the plant. At night they use close their stoma and don't transpire with the exemption of some desert plants.
Interested to hear how it goes.

I honestly don't know, I agree that normally they open stomas to excahnge gases for photosynthesis which leads to transpiration.

From what I was reading, the plant transpires 24/7, at an equal rate or at least that's how I took it. I think it's more of a defense mechanism the plant has aquired from living in a rainforest, as it is found in the most rain heavy areas of Madgascar, where it can rain all day and all night, even sometimes without stopping for days at a time.

The marginata, and sword ferns, are found all over Madgascar, so I assuming likely a day time transpiration just higher than normal. They are found in similar forest areas, but not exclusively, Arcea is found exclusively in rain forests. The rain forests Madgascar (and other rain forests where it's found native)

Edit:
From what I was just reading there is alot of plants that do transpire at night. Plants open there stomas for different reasons on top of gas exchange. Also, apparently the Arcea, and the Draecana both put out O2 24/7, which would mean the gas exchange happens at all times not just during photosynthesis. Which would mean they are transpiring 24/7 right? That's also why NASA said they are 2 of the best plants for air purifaction, its a 24/7 job for them.

I am using an Areca palm in Raistlin's enclosure and it is very nice! I am also fogging at night, but without using the fogger I did not notice a spike of humidity levels. To be honest, I probably wasn't looking for one either, but nothing more than what I would normally see without the palm for what I can recall. They are excellent plants for enclosures though! Can't wait to see your results.

Hmm, how wet was your soil? That could prove to lend my above theory. They did say that it only worked if the plant was heavily watered.

This may not work in something like a panther enclosure, with 15 misting a day?

We will see, for me this Viv is for a Parsons Cristifer, so a true rainforest Chameleon, needing tons and tons of water :p.

There was a few different sites I seen from way back, talking about this. The claim (and we will test it) was that 3 6ft Areca palms watered normally would humidify a bedroom as much as a hot air humidifier.

Now in an overwatering environment, 1 plant may do the same. In a glass cage, which is small(relative to a room) it may just work :). We shall see :).
 
Last edited:
Ha! NASA... What do they know anyway :geek:

Well they are pretty good at making moon landings I will give them that :p.

But whether they transpire 24/7 and if we can get them to transpire in a enough of a noticeable amount to matter. Are two completely different questions.

They claim they can transpire up to 1 liter for a 6ft tree in a 24 hour period. A fogger can do 500ml in an hour. So we would likely need a bushy, or tall plant or a few of them. However they can also only transpire what they are given.

In my tests in my smaller plant Viv, which is glass, it takes a fogger about 20 mins to hit 100%, I can turn it off for over an hour without it dropping below 90. So in a heavily watered enclosed cage, it may just work. My paint is drying and then I need to get doors on, so I should be able to put this to test in the next couple weeks :).

Of course my current tests, don't take into the fact there is no heating in my house yet. Winter heating inside is my real concern, as that will suck the humidity out.

But for me, with fully bioactive Viv, heavily planted along with these plants and cork bark walls, I may not need a fogger. Here's hoping because I don't feel like cleaning it :p.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top Bottom