Photo of MistKing misting system running: Below the frame is a bathtub! Pump lower left corner, vase is reservoir, black things are nozzles. Photo taken at dusk so the mist and water is visible. Plastic protecting the window sill and lower window corners is visible.

I had to pause on my dreams of a fog wall for now. Tests showed that when the air conditioning was running there was enough of a crossbreeze to move the fog onto the wall instead of the window, which would have rotted the paint.

Due to my plants reproducing and my purchasing of more air plants from a couple of other local airplant addicts, I needed more water. But I need to keep the droplets big enough to not blow around yet small enough not to make big splashy drips or sprays that soak the area around the window frame.

My previous ReptiRain fogger wasn't powerful enough to feed my airplant problem. So I used a Canadian system called MistKing. To avoid international shipping charges I bought it in the US from a company called Josh's Frogs. I bought the starter kit, and three extra "t" jointed nozzles. I also got extra clips to hang the water lines. The starter kit does not come with screws for mounting the pump to the wall.

This home misting system has really directional nozzles, whether the air conditioning is running or the bathroom fan is sucking air out, the spray will swirl a little but doesn't leave the intended area. I can run it for ten minutes and the walls don't feel moist, though the humidity in the room definitely goes up way too much if I let the system go for so long. You can see the mist swirl where the nozzles' coverage overlaps. I sealed the base of the window with plastic sheet and clear packing tape. I also sealed the edges of the window and wall with clear packing tape. It keeps the rare stray water droplet from contacting the paint.

I run it for 30 seconds to a minute at a time, to avoid making the room so humid that I will corrode the outlets. By letting the room dry out in between mistings, the plants are very happy and I don't think I'm destroying the drywall and paint.

The reservoir for the system is a glass vase from Pier One, it is transparent so when there is sunlight behind it it fills the whole room with little motes of sunlight like a mirror ball. I can see where the water level is, which I like. I bought a glass circular drill bit from the Home Depot that was 1/16 of an inch larger than the kit instructions said I needed and I sealed the outlet to the vase using silicone window sealant. Over time I expect the vibration from pump to loosen the seal, but since this is all over a bathtub I really don't care. The instructions for the pump say it needs to be gravity fed so one is supposed to put the water inlet for the pump at the bottom of the reservoir. See how pretty the glass is during midday light?

I found a drinking water company for paranoid people in my town who want zero ions in their water. I buy five gallons of purified water at a time and refill the reservoir as needed. This mineral-free keeps the glass clear, and I use orchid food in a spray bottle at the manufacturer's concentration once a month since the water is devoid of minerals for the plants. Three puffs per tiny baby plant, five puffs for the palm sized plants and 20 puffs for the big mature plants.

I haven't figured out what the optimal misting schedule will be with these new nozzles and pump, my goal is to only refill the reservoir once a month. The reservoir holds about three gallons. The system comes with a super amazing timer, and I can set up a large number of programs, per day of the week, ahead of time and change between them with a button press if the plants are too wet or too dry. I have the scheduling unit mounted up near the light switches for easy access.

The pump is pleasantly quiet. The pump is definitely ugly, like an all-black, extra-big Coke can held to my wall with four screws. I am going to make some sort of cute artsy cover for it. In a perfect world I'd make an inset and hide it in the wall but I don't feel like mucking with drywall right now.

Once I am totally sure I like the nozzle placement, I will paint the black water lines with acrylic to match the paint and window frame. I wanted folks to be able to see the lines and nozzles, so I took pictures before painting.

I left the long loop of water line tubing coming from the reservoir so that I have enough slack to move the reservoir into the tub and rinse it out. Disconnecting the line pretty much destroys the end of the tubing so I don't want to disconnect the line unless I really have to.