I did an experiment several years ago to see how effective a humidity tray might be. I'll share my results and anyone considering using one can decide whether or not it's likely to be useful. I had a small tree in a 6 x 9 pot and figured it needed more humidity. I bought a 9 x 15 humidity tray, added enough washed peastone to almost cover the bottom, then nestled 4 medicine bottle caps into the stone to position the plant on, thereby preventing a pathway through which the water in the tray could make way back into the grow medium. when I was done, there was a layer of peastone that fully covered the bottom of the pot, with enough water to cover 1/3 - 1/2 of the larger stones. I was sure to see the capillary pull of the stones was enough to ensure the stones were entirely wet, which increased the wet surface area from which water could evaporate by a factor of at least 2-3X. Once situated, I wedged a digital hygrometer in the branches. After taking readings for 2 days, the highest RH reading above ambient levels was only .4% (4/10 of 1%) greater. Since the level of RH in the room in the mid to upper 20s, the air was nowhere near the point where evaporation would be expected to be low due to air saturation, just the opposite. Also, some of that .4% increase in RH would have been due to normal transpirational water loss through foliage. Oh - we have hot water heat, not forced air, so air movement was limited to normal convective currents, which would tend to better hold any humidity gained from the tray nearer the plants. I decided that a .4% increase wasn't worth the effort and scrapped that idea. Now, if you had say 20 humidity trays, it might make some difference, but a humidifier is indeed the way to go. I make my own from a few fairly inexpensive parts and they work extremely well. A, tub for a reservoir, small static fan, and an ultrasonic fogger/ mist maker is all that's needed, though you can by devices that allow you to adjust the volume of water put into the air, fan speed, and the humidity levels/ parameters. Al

You are very welcome nca270 :) I recieved a cutting from a friend a while back in Florida. Thank you for sharing the agar agar jelly idea...maybe my next mission :) Happy gardening!

The larger size will be a matter of water. Although they can be surprisingly drought tolerant they do like a lot of water, even soggy conditions. The pups should be okay if cut off close to the trunk and allowed to dry off a bit (the cut that is). Reduce the leaves. I'd start them in pots first so they can be kept in a sheltered place and then plant out when established. I've found that cutting pups off usually causes about a dozen new shoots for every pup you remove. Okay, slight exaggeration but you know what I mean. I gather from the thread title yours is the prickly variegated one (Pandanus is synonymous with 'pain', although a couple are not prickly). That's supposed to be P. veichii which is very prone to clumpiness and generally doesn't get so tall. The smooth variegated one is P. sanderi which seems to grow taller than veichii. I have the smooth one but it just recently started producing a green shoot that's growing faster than the others. Not sure what that means for ID or whether the variegation is going to disappear and it's going to revert to all green. Another clump isn't doing that at all.

The leaves would be wonderful for weaving. They are smooth and have no stickers on them. They don't cut you. Too bad, we're going to be throwing lots of them away. Come on down and we'll give you some. Also, it hasn't fruited nor bloomed in the four years we have owned the home. So I can't help you there.