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 use any of the strategies below to raise humidity, please make sure that you also supply good air circulation. 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. Any glass or plastic container can be used 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.)
Does every houseplant require humidity?
Depending on the type of plant and the stage of development, different plants require different degrees of humidity. The amount of humidity you need can also depend on the weather or your living situation.
The majority of indoor plants, including the Parlor Palm, Pothos, English Ivy, Begonia, Ferns, Ficus plant, Peace Lily, Philodendron, Areca Palm, and Orchid plants, are native to tropical or subtropical climates. They are excellent air-purifying plants and are known to maintain the quality of the air in your home.
It rains a lot in tropical locations, and the summers are hot and muggy. Around 70–90% humidity is what they encounter. Most dwellings, in contrast, have very low humidity levels. Particularly during the winter, when heating systems remove moisture, causing humidity levels to fall to 20% or even lower.
Conversely, other plants, like the majority of succulents, can easily survive at low humidity levels of around 10%. Most indoor plants can flourish in humidity levels of 40 to 60 percent on average. Here is a list of different humidity levels and the plants that may like them:
0% – 20%: While the air is too dry for most houseplants at this level, cacti or succulents can live down to about 10% lowest.
For most interior locations, the humidity will be between 20 and 40 percent. While some plants, particularly those from tropical regions, will survive, others won’t blossom, leading to droopy leaves.
This humidity range, between 40 and 60 percent, is appropriate for most homes in the summer and for most plants to grow well. Other plants can readily survive when humidity is increased in specific methods, such as sprinkling. The optimal level for flowering and vegetation is likewise at this level.
This humidity range, while is ideal for a greenhouse, can be challenging and uncomfortable to maintain at home. It works best with tropical plants.
80 percent +: Tropical plants like pineapples demand extremely high humidity levels of 90 percent, which is impossible at home. Additionally ideal for seed germination and seedling development, this level.
Which plants are hygrophilic?
- 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.
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.
Does humidity favor spider plants?
Although your spider plant will survive in lesser light levels, it will thrive in strong indirect light. With indirect lighting, the leaf stripes will be more visible. Avoid the sun’s direct rays since they will burn the leaves. Use a grow light if you don’t have the best place for your spider plant.
When the top half of the soil is dry, water your spider plant. till liquid passes through the water
Drain any excess water from the saucer using the drainage hole in the bottom of the pot. Browning leaf tips may be caused by chemicals found in water that lead to build-up. If so, either use filtered water or let the water lie outside all night before watering.
Although it will thrive with a little more humidity, your spider plant will survive in low humidity situations. If your spider plant’s leaf tips are brown, the air may be excessively dry; thus, spritz it frequently with a Mister.
Feed indoor plants once a month in the spring and summer using a liquid fertilizer like our All Purpose Fertilizer (20-20-20).
The “spiderettes,” or “pups,” of mature spider plants. These are fresh plant ramifications of the
mother plant from which you can cut off and grow a new plant from scratch. Cut the baby plant from the mother and put the bottom end in a glass of water to reproduce it. In 24 weeks, roots ought to start to appear. Plant the pup in soil once roots have formed, and water it frequently. Use clean, sharp Plant Snips to tidy up your plant if your Spider Plant needs a trim.
Are humidity trays effective?
No and yes. For indoor plants, pebble trays can only go so far in raising the humidity level. Since your plant’s pot is on top of the tray, the water from the tray should evaporate upward, providing your plants with additional hydration.
Due to the fact that your plant is not resting in a water puddle, this strategy prevents root rot. Instead, it is perched a little higher than your pebble tray. The humidity level can always be checked using a hygrometer to see if the pebble tray is effective.
A humidity tray won’t normally help your houseplants much if your home is frequently drier than average. It would hardly provide the air with enough moisture to make your plants happy, much less your tropical plants, which need a medium to high level of humidity.
Personally, I prefer to use these trays primarily as decoration. Pebbles really make potted plants look so much more elegant. When you need a little more humidity but not enough to purchase a humidifier, pebble trays perform much better.
Your tropical plants will benefit from making a tray once the temperature begins to drop. The humidity levels will alter little, but if the weather continues to become colder, buying a humidifier might be a smart move (this one does an incredible job).
How can indoor plants get humidity?
Humidity levels that are higher than what our homes normally give are frequently beneficial to indoor plants. Winter, when we have the heating on and the windows closed, might make this issue worse. To provide a more comfortable environment for you and your indoor plants, this article will show you some wonderful techniques to boost humidity.
How to increase humidity for indoor plants: Group your plants together, spritz them, use a humidifier, or use a humidity tray to enhance humidity for your houseplants. It can also be quite beneficial to place your plants in a bathroom or grow them in a terrarium or indoor greenhouse.
There are several ways to make indoor plants more humid. Due to the fact that moderate humidity levels are significantly more pleasant than low humidity, it can be advantageous for both you and your indoor plants. Continue reading to learn why and how to boost the humidity in your home for your houseplants.
Does spraying vegetation raise humidity levels?
It is simple to raise the humidity levels in the house, and doing so will eventually pay off. The most widely used techniques for increasing humidity are misting plants, grouping them, and using pebble trays filled with water.
Although the effect is transient, misting plants with a light mist of water increases the humidity in the area around the plant. African violets and other plants with hairy leaves shouldn’t be misted, though. The “hair” on the leaves traps water, which promotes illness and causes ugly blemishes on the foliage.
In addition to being quite attractive from a design standpoint, grouping indoor plants also helps to create a pocket of dampness. By putting a bowl of water in the cluster’s middle, you can raise the humidity even further. To make it simple to refill the water in the dish, keep a container of water close by.
Placing your plants on a tray with water and pebbles is another approach to raise the humidity levels around them. Pebbles should be layered in the tray, then water should be added until the pebbles are just barely submerged. In order to prevent the roots from becoming waterlogged, the pebbles keep the plant above the water. The moisture in the air around the plant rises as the water in the tray evaporates.
Does snake plant enjoy moisture?
The ideal humidity range for your snake plant is between 30 to 50%, which is what most homes typically have as their usual humidity level. This indicates that the Snake Plant frequently favors our environment. Find out how to dehumidify your area here if you need to.
How to Tell If A Snake Plant Needs More Humidity?
Your Snake Plant will effectively start battling for additional moisture if there isn’t enough humidity for it. Plants will display thirst-related symptoms if there is insufficient moisture. The most typical indications that your plant needs additional humidity are listed below:
- The edges of leaves turn dark.
- Plants droop and wilt.
- Yellowing of the leaves
- The leaves become touchably crisp.