Hey all, new to this forum and excited to get some insights and help! Thanks for your time
I've recently moved home to the Bay Area in California and am bringing my tropical fruit obsession with me.
My home has a previously unused south-facing sunroom on the second floor that I am in the process of turning into a greenhouse. I have a bunch of plants on the way (finger lime, abiu, soursop, achachairu, moringa, bilimbi, vanilla, dragonfruit) but so far just have a few passionfruit cuttings, rescue orchids and seeds germinating in there. It's a small space, a bit over 100 sf, with electricity. I have a humidifier and small fan that are up to the task of keeping humidity and airflow at appropriate levels for tropicals. However, it gets HOT in there in the afternoon. It hit 107˚F in there yesterday before I opened the window, which brought the temperature back down to 85˚F, but the humidity then plunged to around 30%. This time of year the sun is low enough in the sky that the room gets flooded with direct sunlight basically all day, but summers are mild here (80˚F max) and only the plants right up against the windows will get direct light so I'm (potentially incorrectly!) less worried about the heat in there during the summer.
I'd love to hear what you think my best options are for managing the hottest & sunniest parts of the day without losing all that good humidity. I would like to use as little electricity and water as possible so would prefer physical options like curtains or a thermal mass (and don't have a good window for an A/C unit) but am open to any and all suggestions. Thanks so much!