**Ask a monkey a physics question thread**

[OngBonga]

Does mould take water directly from humid air, or does it rely on condensation to occur?

[MadMojoMonkey]

Does mould take water directly from humid air, or does it rely on condensation to occur?

Yes. As far as I can tell, the mold doesn't care. There are loads of different species of molds, and they may differ in this. Some molds live underwater, some on the surface of a liquid and some in places which are only occasionally moist. There's a lot of variation in molds.

Again, as far as I can tell:
They absorb water from their environment, and they don't really care whether it's airborne humidity or a standing pool of water.

It may take a condensed pool or prolonged period of wetness for a mold colony to take hold, but once it's there, it will happily lie dormant if the environment becomes desiccated and wait until the humidity goes up, at which point it reactivates. Some molds become powdery when they dry out, making it easier for air currents to take them somewhere else.