Some indoor plants require higher humidity levels than what we often have in our houses. In fact, some people may even display health problems if they don’t obtain enough moisture in the air.
As worried houseplant owners, we frequently search for more obvious solutions (such watering or lighting) to address issues. When the problem could be resolved with a slight increase in humidity, we may instead overcompensate by giving our plant too little water or light.
Plants that need high humidity
High humidity is ideal for ferns, carnivorous plants, prayer plants, nerve plants, philodendrons, monsteras, orchids, fiddle leaf figs, anthuriums, and the majority of other tropical plants!
Symptoms of Low Humidity
Due to curling, the underside of this Calathea ornata leaf is visible and is a dark maroon color. The tip is dark as well. Both indicate low humidity.
Because some symptoms of low humidity can be confused with those of being underwater or having too much light, diagnosing it can be a bit challenging. The tips or margins of leaves are susceptible to drying out and turning brown. (Underwatering is typically observed more on the sides, whereas tips typically indicate concerns with humidity.) Flowers or leaves may wither and dry out. Some plants have leaves that curl downward or inward. A young leaf that unravels and seems deformed may have grown when the humidity was too low.
Symptoms of too High Humidity
Some plants, such as the majority of cacti and succulents, favor dry environments. For too long, extremely humid conditions can cause fungus problems, which can cause the plants to lose leaves or branches and eventually perish. Overwatering could potentially cause similar symptoms.
Seasonal Differences
During the warmer months, a typical residence has a relative humidity of between 40 and 60 percent. While many houseplants are OK with this, some might require some additional care in order to thrive.
The relative humidity of a typical home drops to between 10% and 40% in the winter, especially when the central heating is on. This will be difficult for many plants, so you might need to take some action to raise it. Of course, most succulents and cacti won’t experience any problems!
Humidity and Air Circulation
If you want to increase humidity using any of the following methods, please also provide adequate air movement. A combination of high humidity and poor circulation might lead to fungal problems.
How to increase humidity?
Placement of plants in an area of your home that is naturally more humid is one of the simplest ways to boost humidity. Examples are the restroom or the area around the kitchen sink.
Grouping Plants
You might also consider putting your plants that benefit from dampness together. Plants enhance the humidity in their immediate environment by transpiring. They form little micro-climates with enhanced humidity when they are gathered together.
Humidity trays
You may easily raise the relative humidity directly around a plant by placing pebble trays with water in them underneath your plants. Make sure the stones are keeping the pot’s bottom above the water if you don’t want the substrate to become overly soaked (potting media.)
Humidifier
If you want more control over your humidity levels, buying a humidifier can be the best option. Many allow you to choose a desired level of humidity, and they will adjust their moisture production to meet that target.
Fountains and Aquariums
Other alternatives include an open-air aquarium or a bubbling, moving fountain like the one shown at the top of this piece. Aqua-scaping ideas can also be found in aquariums. (As an added plus, aquarium water makes excellent, gentle plant fertilizer.)
Terrariums and Cloches
Making a humid environment inside a transparent enclosure or dome is a fun technique to raise humidity. You may repurpose any glass or plastic container for this. Remember to sometimes open your vessel if it is primarily closed to ensure that your plants receive enough air circulation.
What About Misting?
Misting is frequently recommended as a means to boost humidity, however it has a minimal overall impact and only temporarily raises humidity. Plants will absorb water drops that fall on their leaves, but misting can also cause water to remain on leaves for an excessive amount of time, which may result in fungus problems (especially in cooler temperatures.)
Which plants thrive under high humidity?
- Fern. According to Mast, several ferns, like the Kimberly queen fern, bird’s nest fern, and blue star fern, thrive in additional wetness and flourish nicely in a bathroom habitat.
- Gardenia.
- Viper plant
- Venomous plant.
- lounge palm
- Plant a prayer.
- Nerve tissue.
- Monstera.
Are houseplants tolerant of high humidity?
Since many of our indoor plants are native to humid jungle conditions, maintaining air moisture is essential to maintaining lush, healthy plants. In particular, during the winter when fireplaces and heaters dry up the air, the optimal humidity for houseplants is 40–60% higher than the humidity levels present in our houses. It’s critical to raise the humidity for your plants in the winter to give them the best possible living conditions.
There are a number of ways to keep your plants (and yourself!) healthy and happy during the dry winter months, in addition to watering them frequently.
Which houseplants are capable of absorbing humidity?
An excessive amount of humidity in your home leads to wetness, mustiness, and winter mildew. The problem also exists in hot, humid climates. Plants are a lovely, more natural way to reduce some of the damp air and humid environment. Dehumidifiers and other methods can have an impact.
Humidity-absorbing indoor plants provide a dual role by absorbing moisture from the air and releasing it outdoors.
Is humidity beneficial for houseplants?
Consider yourself a house plant. You are developing in a greenhouse with a high humidity level. You are relocated from this comfortable setting to a new residence with an air conditioner that blows frigid air and absorbs moisture. The heater keeps the air dry and warm during the winter. Your leaves begin to develop browning edges and tips with yellowing leaves as a result. You quickly start to wilt, and your foliage starts to turn crisp. Furthermore, why are these red spider mites eating the juice from your stems? Your body is asking for more humidity for the houseplants through these symptoms. quite similar to what your motherland offered you in the tropical rainforest!
Most people’s houses don’t resemble a rainforest with 100 percent humidity, but you may create a simple rainforest-like alternative and raise the humidity for your indoor plants. Humidity is another important consideration in addition to meeting your plant’s needs for water, light, and temperature. To thrive in their new surroundings, they require it. When purchasing and caring for indoor plants, many plant owners fail to take this aspect of the plant equation into account.
Give your plant a shower when you had it for a few months. During your weekly watering rituals, repeat this. Fill a watering can with this to begin. To give chemicals time to evaporate, use filtered water, room-temperature rainwater, or water from your tap that has been sitting for 24 hours (chlorine or fluoride). Put your plant in the shower or bathtub and water it (except for plants with hairy leaves like African violets). This shower will remove any dust and debris in addition to raising the humidity. Place it back in its resting area after letting it air dry.
The humidity levels for your indoor plant will be increased if you set up a pebble tray underneath it to allow water to evaporate up around it. To do this, gather a plate that is a little bit bigger than the size of your pot. Use an 8-inch plant tray if your pot is 6-inches, for example. A couple handfuls of clean pebble gravel or vibrant glass fire marbles will fill the dish; add just enough water to cover the stones. Place the planter on top of the stones. In addition to maintaining appropriate drainage, the stones will offer the container that extra boost of humidity needed for the indoor plant. Keep an eye on the dish’s inclination to evaporate and how often you need to replace it. More frequently than you might anticipate!
You can also add a hand mister to your indoor plant as a supplement. Use only filtered water, rainwater, or water that has sat overnight to allow all of the contaminants in city water to dissipate. To give your plant that extra boost of humidity, mist it many times throughout the day. Be extra cautious in locations where the mist can end up on drapes, upholstery, or wooden furniture. If this is the case, spread out a bath towel, set the plant on it, spray it, and then put it back where it was. This will prevent damage to your surrounds, and your plant will be overjoyed to have that layer of moist dew on its leaves.
Plant clustering raises the air’s humidity level. The temperature in the room rises when people congregate, and the same is true for your green-leafed babies. Their stalks, flowers, and leaves all exude. As a result of this process, the other plants in the area will have humidity. When it comes to raising the humidity levels, they prefer a crowd, so to speak, and the more the merrier. Through this fascinating process, the environment and the leaf are exchanging vapor to aid each other’s humidity rise while also absorbing carbon dioxide.
Use a humidifier set to warm mist if you have a group that prefers greater humidity levels. Fill your humidifier with distilled or filtered water. This warmth also resembles the rainforest, which is its native habitat! To enhance the amount of moisture in the air for your indoor plants, place it all around the group of plants. To determine your current level of humidity and when it is too low for your indoor plants, use a hygrometer. For the majority of tropical indoor plants, maintain a humidity level of 50 to 60 percent. (The humidity in a typical home hovers around 30 to 40 percent.) Just be mindful of your surrounds and where the moisture will collect to avoid damaging nearby furniture or floors. A whole-house humidifier installation is an additional choice. Consult your HVAC provider about adding one to your system.
Another choice is to place your indoor plants in humid rooms of the house, such as well-lit bathrooms, laundry rooms, or kitchens. Your plant will like the additional steam from a shower, and another factor that increases humidity is boiling water entering the air in a kitchen. Additional moisture input, such as the humidifier option, may be necessary to maintain the humidity at a constant level.
Keep the plants that require humidity away from radiators, heat sources, and areas with radiant heated flooring. Plants can suffer if there is less moisture around them, which can happen in doorways, corridors, or places that experience wind or drafts.
You can benefit from boosting humidity for your plants by moisturizing your skin, relieving chapped lips, avoiding runny noses and scratchy throats, and avoiding dry eyes, nasal passages, and lungs. As you roam around your home throughout the winter, static electricity will also lessen. Therefore, having the right amount of moisture in the air can aid in treating asthma, allergy, and sinus issues. Of course, consult your physician before using a humidifier.
What are you still holding out for? Why not add some moisture to your house to improve the happiness and health of both you and your plants?
Which plants do humidifier trays favor?
Homemade pebble trays are surprisingly simple to make. How can you tell if your plants need more ambient moisture before learning how to construct a pebble tray? A lack of humidity can result in browning leaf tips and edges, curled or wilted foliage, and malformed or damaged new growth.
Typically, tropical areas are home to plants that enjoy additional humidity. We particularly appreciate ferns, Begonias, and prayer plants (such as Maranta, Calathea, and Ctenanthe) as plants that thrive in high humidity.
- Locate a shallow tray or dish that can store water and is the right size for the plant or plants that require more watering.
- Put beautiful rocks or stones in the tray.
- Make sure to add water until the tops of the stones just barely protrude above the water’s surface. In this manner, the roots of your plant won’t be submerged in water when you set it on top.
- I’m done now! Regularly check in to refill the tray as necessary. This may occur quite frequently during heat waves and in dry places with air conditioning
Use of a humidifier or mister is another simple method to increase humidity in a space. Get a larger humidifier for large rooms and a smaller humidifier for small areas so that the humidifier is the right size for the space. Large water droplets shouldn’t ever remain on your delicate leaves for an extended period of time, hence misters should have a fine spray. The next time you take a shower, you might even think about bringing your plants along for a field trip to your bathroom so they can enjoy the steam!
In order to stop your friends’ tips from browning, just add some beautiful stones to a small bowl of water and let science take care of the rest.
Does pothos enjoy moisture?
accept low and medium light. In brighter light, the variegation will be more noticeable. Direct sunshine will not be good for your Pothos because it will scorch the foliage.
In the saucer, they gathered. Watch out for yellow leaves; they are a sign of excess moisture.
Although it will flourish in a more humid setting, such a bathroom or kitchen, this plant will survive in low-humidity areas. Brown leaf tips could be a sign of very dry air.
Use a general-purpose indoor plant fertilizer to feed your plants once a month or every other month in the spring and summer. Make sure the soil is moist before adding any fertilizer, regardless of form.
Both people and pets are slightly poisonous from pothos. Ingestion frequently results in tongue and stomach discomfort, as well as potential vomiting.
As they appear, remove any stems or leaves that are infected, damaged, discolored, or dead. In order to prevent ripping or bruising of the stems, use clean, sharp scissors. Just above a leaf node, trim stems; new growth will sprout from this cut.