Sigh!!! You really need a larger tray to catch all the drips. In other words a drip tray.
Just looked at the gadget. It says 20C with humidity 52%. Just as well humidity trays do not work as people imagine otherwise there would be green slime growing on the walls of this room, droplets of water falling from the ceiling and so on.
Why? Because the room also contains a 600 litre heated tropical fish tank left here by my departed son. Luckily for the population of the world there is some law or other that describes how evaporated water disperses in the available contained space which in this case is the house with leaky windows and doors.

well, i think i'm using it more as a "drip tray" then a "humidity tray" i keep having pots fall over when they can't balance on the rocks on the saucers. plus i figure it should add a teeny bit of humidity.

so yes, i know its more a drip tray then a humidity tray.

There have been some great discussions about this topic in the past year or so that I've visited the forum. I would recommend the search feature (at the bottom of the main forum page) as a great way to get your initial questions answered. A search for 'drip tray' comes up with these threads. They're quite a good read.

Best,
~Jem

Try the link below and see if you can find a size or sizes you could use.

When growing inside I found the humidity did raise 10% within a few inches of the tray. No it won't humidify an open room, but it certainly helps with the plant sitting on the tray.

To keep the trays from getting scummy, a T. of Physan will keep the tray super clean.

Brooke

Here is a link that might be useful: boot trays/humidity trays

I'll take a look at the link Brooke, thanks!

I've looked at past discussion threads regarding humidity trays and/or drip trays but it seems like many people are way more creative then I as far as putting something together yourself. I think I rather just buy something and wanted to get people's opinion.

I buy big sheets of plastic grating (used for ceiling lights)at Home Depot and cut it (easy) to fit any tray I have. I have humidity trays I've purchased years ago, but my home-made ones work just at well. You can cut the plastic grating to fit anything, like pie pans or rubbermaid pans. I use it on my deck in the summer to put the plants on so they aren't sitting on the hot wood. Lots of uses for it.

Jane

I've done the same thing as Jane but taken it to the ultimate. I've cut those grating sheets into individual circles to fit small and large plastic drip saucers (6" and 8") and a few trays 29" x 6.5" also purchased at Home Depot. I don't have any orchids that are NOT on one of these and right now that's approx. 140 !!
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Chryss

These pix will give you the idea of how I do it.
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The black trays on the lower shelf below are plastic 10.5" x 21"
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you can see 2 of the 29" x 6.5" trays in this pix
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Chryss

I agree with Arthurm. It's really not efficient at all and I have tried them and for me they have made little if any difference.

If you have a whole bunch of them in an area it would help but just one tray? I don't think so.

thanks for all the input...

i'm going to look at home depot this weekend. if I can't make one, i'll buy one online.

Like Brooke, my experience with measuring humidity either on the tray or at leaf level is that trays do raise the humidity level in the immediate plant area. That is what you are trying to achieve, after all.

Counsellor, Oak Hill offers humidity trays in a number of different sizes, including long narrow ones.

Chryss, you lucky thing! Cutting grid into circles to fit individual saucers is a great idea, Chryss. And BTW, what a beautiful growing area (defined as stuffed with plants and light fixtures :)

You are definitely making me rethink the layout in my basement light room when I add t5's.

yeah, i want the tray to increase the humidity just a bit for the orchids that sit on it and to act as a drip tray as well.

I bought large black plastic trays for planting seeds or seedlings. They are a bit flimsy so I put two together to make them strongter. Then I bought the plastic crates in the electrical department at Home Depot and cut them to fit. I put the crate over a layer of stones to raise it up a bit to create a deeper well. I use it to catch water when I water the plants. If it gives the plants some humdidity, more the better.

If you want something really pretty for a desk, you might try the below link. They'll make any size you need. I've had two of their custom-made trays, one for home and one for the office. Both were leak-proof, very attractive and complimentary to plants, and reasonably priced for what you get.

HTH

John

Here is a link that might be useful: Copper Humidity Trays

John, you are mean, mean! Copper hearts!! Too much, I have to get one.

Chryss I love your growing area. So organized, I'm feeling very messy now. Great set-up.

Arthur, who cares about humidity?? We just need something to catch all the spills. Actually, I'm going to try Chryss's idea and cut circles for some large plastic plant saucers. I can fit a bunch of pot on them outside.

Counsellor, why spend all that money on humidity trays? Just by a piece of that grate.

Jane

Jane,
The commercially available trays ARE expensive but the main motive was that they DON'T make them in individual sizes. I can raise and/or lower the individuals to alter the height of each plant to the lights !! Check that out in my pix. I found that the long trays are only good for seedlings or plants of the same height so I don't use but a few of them. You can see the black seedling trays in my pix where all the plants are young Phals of the same approximate height.

Chryss

Charley's Greenhouse sells a 12"x26" tray for $30. I've orchids on two of them. They have a drain hose built in which is very handy for draining the water out and the tray is quite sturdy.

Unfortunately my camera is refusing to work at the moment, but a couple of things that do seem to work. (i am talking about Phal Cultivation inside all year)

Pots sitting in cut off plastic coke bottles with a gap between the water surface and the bottom of the pot.

Pots sitting tightly in cache pots.

In both these cases any evaporation is forced through the mix.

Conditions on the top of the fishtank now 20.6C 59% humidity
Conditions in the next room 20.0C Humidity 58%
Conditons outside 21.1C humidity 47%
Conditions in one glasshouse 22.2C humidity 65% (temperature dropping fast in late afternoon)

All this humidity stuff is poorly understood. That glasshouse with be about 8C with very high humidity early tomorrow morning before the fan heater comes on for an hour.

Perhaps the humidity readings inside a house are not all that important because the temperature moves in a narrow band compared with outside. Those phals on the top of the fish tank are getting a lot of sunlight now the sun has moved north and perhaps the sunlight is making up for low house temps.Day temps never get above the low 20's C in late autumn/winter.

Some great drip tray suggestions in the posts above.