How To Increase Humidity For Indoor Plants-7 Simple Ways

Did you know that many of our lovely indoor plants come from tropical regions? They love humidity. Let’s discuss how to increase humidity for indoor plants.

The humidity in the jungle is wonderfully high, which these plants enjoy very well. In our homes, this is usually not the case. What influence the humidity has on your plants and how you can use this knowledge in your plant care, are discussed in this article.

What is Humidity

Simply put, humidity is the amount of water vapor that is present in the air. If the air is very cold, it has little water vapor because it saturates quickly and turns it back into liquid; that’s why when you breathe in winter you see smoke coming out of your mouth or nose. 

When the air is very hot, it can hold more water vapor and prevent it from turning liquid. This is why when you hang wet clothes on sunny days and with some wind, they dry very quickly but if it is cold or cloudy, the clothes take longer to dry or they do not dry out. 

How To Increase Humidity For Indoor Plants

How Can You Measure The Humidity In Your Home

You can measure the humidity of your home with a simple and cheap hygrometer that expresses the humidity in a percentage. For example, the ideal humidity in your home is between 50 and 60%. If you turn on the heating in winter, the humidity drops much lower, sometimes as low as 20%. And in the jungle, it can be between 60 and 90%.

How To Increase Humidity For Indoor Plants

Ideal Humidity For Indoor Plants

Indoor plants of tropical origin, such as Monstera, Peace Lilies, Anthuriums, and Calatheas, among others, require an ideal humidity level between 60 and 80%, although this is difficult to maintain indoors. If you manage to keep it between 50 to 60%, it will be adequate and you can help your plants by spraying a little water on their leaves from time to time.

If you have succulents and cacti, you should know that these plants store water inside their leaves, so they can survive in drier environments. This is why the ideal humidity levels for succulents are around 30%. If they are in environments that are too humid, they can develop fungus or rot. For this reason, it is better to keep them separate from tropical plants. However, succulents require direct sun while tropical ones prefer indirect light.

How To Increase Humidity For Indoor Plants

Before you get depressed because the humidity levels in your home are too low to have that collection of Calatheas or that army of Monsteras that you dream of, you need to know that it is quite easy to modify the humidity levels.

First of all, you must take into account the region in which you live, which is not the same to have an apartment in Madrid as in the Canary Islands. The second step is to determine if your plants are suffering from a lack of moisture. Look for signs such as dry leaves, burnt tips, yellow leaves, and slow or no growth. In any case, there are some tricks you can apply to improve the humidity in your space:

1. Group your plants

Plants eliminate moisture through perspiration, so when you group them together, a microclimate is created that will benefit your plants. This is wonderful, not only because they will take care of the problem themselves, but you will have the perfect excuse to buy more plants and increase your collection. Remember to leave cacti and succulents out of this group.

Grouping indoor plants

2. Use A Pebble Tray

This is an old trick. Place trays with pebbles and place your plants on them. Pour water into the tray, but let it reach the middle of the pebbles, without completely covering them. This will protect the roots from excess water while offering the plants moisture as the water in the tray will slowly evaporate. Remember to rinse and replace the water in the trays regularly to prevent them from attracting insects.

3. Mist Your Indoor Plants

A water spray is the best friend of those who loves tropical plants. Get a sprayer to cover your plant with a fine mist, because if you get them too wet you can attract fungi and other diseases. Use filtered, rain or mineral water to avoid lime deposits or stains on the leaves. If your plant has velvety leaves, such as African violets, you should not spray them because they can cause leaf disease. Likewise, succulents or cacti should not get wet either.

Misting indoor plants

4. Use a Humidifier

Technology is your ally to take care of your plants, regardless of environmental conditions. You can buy a nice humidifier, which will take care of keeping the water vapor levels in a perfect balance. I am also sure that your skin and hair will also thank you for the presence of this small device.

humidifiers for indoor plants

5. Put Houseplants In Your Bathroom

Bathrooms are a great place for indoor plants generally, and plants that need high humidity levels will thrive in these conditions.

6. Give Them A Bath Or Shower

You can put indoor plants in your bath or shower and give them a rinse down. This not only cleans the leaves of your little green, which is a good thing to do to keep your houseplants in top shape but drenching the foliage and soil of your plants will lead to increased evaporation.

7. Bowls of Water

You can also place bowls of water on the heating to increase the humidity. With the warm, dry air from the radiator, moisture also evaporates. Top up the water when the container is empty and clean it regularly to prevent bacteria from developing.

The Perfect Humidity Levels For Indoor Plants

The humidity levels depend on each species of plant, but the phase in which said plant is found must also be taken into account. For example, young plants and cuttings are growing, their roots are barely developing, and they require a lot of water and humidity, between 80 and 85%.

When the plant grows, the humidity should be reduced; especially if there are flowers and fruits because excess humidity can cause the fruits to rot. This applies to plants grown outdoors, but what about indoor plants? In this case, it is important to know its origin and type.

Whenever we read about a plant species, its country or region of origin is usually included in the information. This is not only an interesting fact and that’s it, but it will allow you to have many clues about what the environment should be that you must recreate to keep her happy.

The vast majority of indoor plants come from tropical or subtropical regions, where there are high temperatures throughout the year and grow protected by a canopy created by the tops of the tallest trees, which filter the sun’s rays and provide levels of very high humidity. Succulents and cacti, on the other hand, come from desert regions or regions with high temperatures and low humidity, which is why they have developed this mechanism that allows them to store water in their leaves.

This makes us notice a couple of things: these plants are not acclimated to the exterior life of our continent, but they can live happily indoors, thanks to the technological advances of our era. We live in spaces that maintain a more or less temperature.

But the temperature is not the problem but the humidity, because the devices that we use to regulate the temperature such as air conditioning, fans or heating, are responsible for leaving the environment dry.

Which plants do not need high humidity?

Plants that naturally grow in a dry environment do not need extra humidity. Think of many cacti and succulents. These certainly do not need to be sprayed and remain more beautiful and healthier if they are properly placed in drier air. Are they can place in a room where the humidity is very high? Then adjust the amount of water you give downwards. This way you prevent your cactus or succulent plant from getting too much water.

What humidity is too high for plants?

Many indoor plants do best at a relative humidity of 60 to 80%, a level that is often difficult to maintain in our home. But we do not recommend increasing humidity above 80%.

Do all plants love humidity?

Many of our indoor plants originated from tropical humid environments, so moisture in the air is vital to keep our indoor plants lush and healthy. The ideal humidity for indoor plants is 40-60% higher than the humidity levels found in our homes, especially during the winter when heating systems run.

Which indoor plants like humidity

Many ferns, such as Kimberly queen fern, bird’s nest fern and blue star fern, Spider plant, Parlor palm, Prayer plant, Nerve plant, Monstera love humidity.

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