How to Turn Your Home into an Indoor Jungle: Part 1: Know Your Space Step 2: Know Your Humidity

How to Handle Humidity

Humidity is something that many beginners and even lifetime plant growers have trouble getting a handle on. I think one of the major factors to this (though I am sure there are many others) comes down to the fact that most of us simply do not have a good method for determining the humidity levels to an accurate degree in the places we want to grow our plants. Many of us know most indoor plants come from the tropics and thrive in humid environments, but how do we achieve this without rotting our walls with thick moist air? How do we create an environment that is pleasing to our plants, ourselves, and our families? In this installment of ‘How to turn your home into an indoor jungle’ we look at all things humidity because once we have that down, along with our understanding of the light in our space, we will be able to create an environment where almost any plant will not only survive but thrive.

Humidity Variations

One of the biggest challenges to creating an environment with the right amount of humidity is that most of us only have a vague idea of the humidity level of our space. Even in the room where I type this, although the average humidity is around 65% over by the heater it can be as low as 45% and by the old drafty doors to my balcony, it can be as high as 80% or more depending on the weather outside. This works out well because even in the small room I work in, there are several microclimates that I can use to my advantage to help keep plants in their best-suited environments. 

Humidity Measuring Tool

However, this only works because I know how humid these places are. And the reason I know that is because I measure it constantly. Hygrometers (humidity measuring devices) are great, cheap, easy-to-use tools to add to your plant care arsenal. You can find digital versions online for around $10.00 or so. It might be worth it to get a few of them so you won’t be constantly moving one hygrometer from location to location, but if your space is small, or you're limited on funds, there is no reason to get more than one. And just like we discussed in the last blog on lighting, the humidity can change drastically throughout the year and even day-to-day. Knowing exactly how humid your space is will help you know what you need to do in order to bring your space into the optimal zone for both you and your plants.

Best Humidity Level for Plants

While most of your tropical/indoor plants want about as much humidity as you can give them, this isn’t ideal for the inside of your home. Most plants do well at around 60%-70% humidity, few require more than that. I also find this percentage range low enough that my home environment is still comfortable to live in. It’s what I like to call the ‘optimal compromise zone.’

There are of course exceptions to this, but unless you are a collector of super-rare plants, this should be just fine. Heck, depending on your plant collection even thinking about adjusting humidity levels is overkill. But I have yet to find this to be too humid for any plant, even the arid growers such as my cactuses and succulents don’t seem to mind the higher-than-normal humidity, so long as I don’t overwater them.

Not Enough Humidity

But what do you do if your space falls outside of this ‘optimal compromise zone’ of 60%-70%? Are you doomed to grow nothing more than golden pothos and mother-in-law's tongues? Clearly not or I wouldn’t be writing this. If your space is more humid most if not all of your plants will enjoy that, though it might not be the best for your health.

If, on the other hand, your space is less humid not to worry, there are several ways you can increase the humidity, either in the space as a whole or localized to the area directly around your plants.

Misting Plants

One common method to increase the humidity around your plants, of which I am not a big fan, is to mist any moisture-loving plant with a spray bottle. While I own several spray bottles and am misting certain plantings constantly, misting plants directly is reserved for tender young plants (usually in a humidity dome) and moss.  

The first major issue I have with spraying plants as a way to increase humidity is just how ineffective it is. This humidity is only increased as long as the plant is wet. Iif your environment is already on the drier side then this will only be about for about 10 minutes or so. So unless you are like me, and can dedicate large amounts of time every day to care for your plants then it simply doesn’t make sense. Another issue I have with spray bottles, and this is particularly the case here in Berlin, as well as many places all around the world, is that spraying the leaves of your plants with water often leaves hard water spots and mineral build-up. Not only does this take away from the beauty of the plant it also reduces the effectiveness at which the plant can photosynthesize and exchange gases. The buildup of dust will do the same and so you should make sure and dust your indoor plants somewhat regularly, but I find dust easier to remove than hard water spots. One thing spray bottles are good for is moistening the top layer of soil, a practice that can replace the morning and evening dew processes that happen on the other side of our windows.

Another common method used to increase the humidity directly around the plant, one that is a bit more effective than using a spray bottle is to put a tray of water under each plant that requires higher humidity. This is often done by filling the tray with pebbles or gravel to ensure the bottom of the plant’s pot does not sit directly in the water. As the water evaporates the air around the plant is more humid than the air in the rest of the room. This method can be quite effective for small plants but even then, the effectiveness is directly related to the size of the tray. The larger the tray the greater the humidity, simply because you have more standing water and more surface area for water to make contact with the dry air. So, if you want to have large plants in your indoor jungle (and why wouldn’t you?) you’d need really large trays of standing water all over, and that takes up a lot of space. Not only that but the microclimate you create dissipates into the room quite quickly meaning you much of the humidity you create won’t even make it to plant.

In my opinion, if you really want to create an indoor jungle, the most effective method for increasing your humidity is to get a machine to do it for you. You have several different options, using a traditional humidifier or an essential oil diffuser. Essential oil diffusers tend to be much smaller, and cheaper than traditional humidifiers. They are great for smaller spaces and localized groupings of plants. The downside is that because they are often smaller, they will need to be refilled more often. They also are not designed to be humidifiers per se (though depending on the model you go with they can get the job done) so they lack many of the features found on a more traditional humidifier. They are a great starting off point, particularly if money is an issue.

For my space, I use a combination of all the methods mentioned above but my workhorse is the Levoit LV600. In my opinion, it is one of the best humidifiers for almost any space. There are many features I like, however, I am sure you can find them on many other humidifiers as well. One thing you will want to keep an eye out for if you are shopping for a humidifier is a built-in hygrometer. My particular humidifier has the ability to set my desired level of humidity and will keep my space within a 5% range of the target. It shuts off automatically when the desired humidity level is reached and turns back on again if it drops 5% below the desired level. It helps take out a lot of the guesswork and grunt work when trying to create a happy and healthy environment.

All that being said, my favorite method of increasing the humidity of your indoor jungle is to have more plants. Plants are constantly taking water from the soil and transpiring in through their leaves. The more plants you have, the more moisture they will release into your space. This works for both localized groupings of plants and for your space overall. The more plants you have the more stable and favorable your humidity levels will be.

Now that we have covered how to get a handle on both lighting and humidity in Step 3 of Part 1 of this series we will take a closer look at some of the last key elements we need to consider before begin growing our indoor jungle. Check it here!

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