You may already know that houses are very dry places, much drier than the natural environment of most plants (except desert plants, of course).
If your home is too dry, you will struggle to grow tropical or exotic plants, especially if your bathroom doesn’t have sufficient light levels for plants.
So, do indoor plants need a humidifier?
This depends a bit on your house’s conditions and the plants that you want to grow, but if your house is very dry and the plants like wet conditions then yes, your indoor plants will need a humidifier to grow healthy.
Most plants will benefit from extra humidity, yes.
The natural world is considerably wetter than our indoor spaces, and if you can increase the humidity levels in your home, a lot of your plants will be happier and will need watering less frequently. They may grow better, have lusher leaves, and thicker foliage.
Not all plants are moisture-loving though, so it mostly depends on the needs of your plant. If you have tropical plants in your home, like Ferns or Orchids, then you most certainly need to create a humid environment for them, so a humidifier is the best solution.
On the other hand, if you’re lucky enough to have a plant that is easy to grow and tolerates dry air, like the Snake plant or Jade plant, then a humidifier won’t be a must-have in your home, as they will grow in almost any conditions, but they certainly won’t mind a humidifier next to them.
- Best humidifier for large rooms - Elechomes Humidifier
- Best humidifier for smaller rooms - Levoit Humidifier
5 Humidifiers for Indoor Plants
You can get all sorts of humidifiers, ranging in price and size, from the internet.
If you want a particularly large one, this Elechomes Humidifier is quite pricey, but can cover 775 square feet with mist, making it ideal if you have a large space with lots of plants in it.
Alternatively, if your space is a bit smaller, you could consider the Levoit Humidifier, which can cover around 370 square feet with moisture – the size of a reasonable bedroom or office space.
For much smaller operations, the Mooka Humidifier is stylishly designed and cute, but doesn’t say what area it covers. It runs quietly and takes up much less space than the other options.
You could also choose the SIXKIWI Humidifier, which glows beautiful colors and has a lotus flower design.
There is also the LtYioe Humidifier, another mini option that provides lovely lighting and would be perfect to position on a desk next to your favorite plant.
To sum it up, these 5 are my picks for best humidifiers for indoor plants:
- Elechomes Humidifier – best for large rooms
- Levoit Humidifier – best for smaller rooms
- Mooka Humidifier – best for tiny rooms, quiet
- SIXKIWI Humidifier – best if you want something attractive
- LtYioe Humidifier – best for the office
Any of these humidifiers could be a great way to increase the moisture levels in your home and keep your plants happy and healthy – and moist!
How Often Should I Use A Humidifier For My Plants?
As with everything, this will vary a little depending on your home and your plants; an already humid home will not need the humidifier running very much, while a dry home will need it more.
However, as a rule of thumb, you should turn the humidifier on in the morning and allow it to run for a few hours – often until around lunchtime. This should give your plants a good burst of humidity to get them through the day.
It’s always best to humidify the air early on in the day. You don’t really want wet air overnight, as this can contribute to mold issues and may harm your plants. It’s better to allow them to dry out a little during the afternoon, when in nature the sun would be burning off some of the humidity.
You can then leave them overnight, and mist in the morning again.
You might find having a humidity measure really helpful. The Hommak Hygrometer is perfect if you just need to measure humidity in one room, while a Four-Pack Mini Temperature Humidity Measure will suit you better if you want to keep an eye on several rooms at once.
These will help you to more accurately judge when to turn your humidifier on and off.
Where Should I Place A Humidifier For My Plants?
This will depend very much on the range of the humidifier, but as a rule of thumb, you should place the humidifier in the same room as your plants. If your humidifier has a low range, you might want to move it closer to the plants, but you don’t want it too close to the plant or the leaves may get too wet.
Try to position the humidifier somewhere between 3-5 feet away, and see how it does. If you have a humidity measure, you can position this beside the plant and get an accurate idea of how much it is helping. You can always move the humidifier closer if you need to.
Can A Humidifier Kill Plants?
Your humidifier shouldn’t do any harm to your plant. If your plant is one of the drought-lovers and you make its environment very moist, it may start to suffer and die, but in general, humidity is helpful, not harmful.
Running your humidifier in the morning and allowing plants to dry a bit before evening is a good way to ensure there are no mold issues associated with the humidity levels. Otherwise, nothing harmful should occur.
How To Make A Humidifier For Plants
If you don’t want to buy a humidifier, it’s quite easy to make one, although it may not be quite as good as an electric one.
You’ll need a tray, some pebbles, and some water: that’s it! You should fill the tray with pebbles, and then top it up with water until the pebbles are just proud of the surface of the water. You can then stand your plant pots on the pebbles.
The roots won’t touch the water, so your plants won’t be drowning, but as the water evaporates from the tray, it will provide a cool mist around the plants’ leaves. This is a great, cheap humidifier that you can make in minutes.
Simply top the tray up when the water levels get low, and your plants will be constantly bathed in a gentle mist. The evaporation will slow down at night, when the room temperature drops, and speed up again in the morning.
This isn’t quite the same as having a swish humidifier, but it’s a very simple and cost effective way to keep your plants humid.
You can also increase humidity levels by grouping your plants together, as most produce small amounts of humidity themselves, and this helps to trap it and keep it close to the plants. Having a humidifying tray beneath them will add to this benefit.
Another way to provide your plants with humidity is to mist them once in a while with a very fine plant mister. You can read more here about the benefits and things to look out for when misting your plants.
7 Indoor Plants That Need A Humidifier
Lots of plants benefit from increased humidity, but there are some that really need high humidity levels.
This type of plants need a humidifier to simulate the natural environment they are meant to grow in. The tropical plants are the most notable ones. Here are a few:
1) Boston Fern
With its beautifully rich foliage, Boston fern is a perfect addition to any bathroom.
2) Alocasia
With its striking arrowhead leaves and bold patterning, Alocasia is the happiest at 70% humidity level.
3) Air plants (Tillandsia)
Air plants need moisture in the air as they aren’t rooted in soil.
4) Bamboo
The Bamboo plant has elegant fronds and delicate leaves, and grows wonderfully well in bathrooms, even in low light levels.
5) Bird’s-nest fern
Most ferns love humidity and they don’t mind low light levels, so again, they’re good in bathrooms.
6) Orchids
Orchids love high humidity levels, but don’t like being watered much, so they are great plants to grow if you can keep them humid but not wet. they have amazing, beautiful blooms, too!
7) Dracaena
Dracaena has fabulous spiky leaves and looks wonderful in any setting.
There are many other plants that will benefit from high humidity, but these are just a few of the popular ones you can grow.
Final thoughts
Humidifiers can raise the bar for most of your houseplants, as many enjoy humidity levels between 40-70%, and most houses are much too dry.
While most plants will survive without this (except real moisture-lovers), adding a humidifier is a great way to keep your houseplants happy.
You can buy a humidifier online easily, or make your own using a tray and some pebbles. While bought ones are more effective, either will help to boost the humidity in your home and help your plants feel like they’re in the middle of nature!
