Just Add Water: Using a Humidifier for Plants

House plants have surged in popularity over the last few years. Google searches for “house plants” have more than tripled, and Instagram will have you staring at awe-inspiring plant rooms for hours.

Different plants need different kinds of care, but all plants need water to survive. Most plants love humidity around 40-60%. Adding a humidifier to your plant room - or whole house - is an easy way to set and maintain healthy humidity levels for both your plants and you.

KEEPING HUMIDITY CONSTANT
An indoor relative humidity (RH) of 40-60% is generally the ideal humidity level for both plants and people. Many evaporative and ultrasonic humidifiers have a built-in hygrometer and automatic humidistat. The hygrometer monitors the RH in your room or home, while the humidistat turns the humidifier’s fan on and off as needed to maintain your humidity settings. These features let you set your desired humidity level on the humidifier, and the humidifier does the rest.

PRO TIP: If your humidifier does not have a hygrometer, you can buy one to monitor the humidity around your plants. Our 1990 digital hygrometer will work with any humidifier brand. Once you know the RH level in your home, you can adjust your humidifier to maintain the 40-60% range.

THE BEST HUMIDIFIER FOR PLANTS
Since humidity is just water vapor, all humidity is pretty much the same once it leaves the humidifier. So, the kind of humidifier you get is really up to you!

• Evaporative or ultrasonic: Evaporative humidifiers, like our Companion, work with a wicking filter. This filter absorbs water, and humidity is created as this water evaporates. Ultrasonic humidifiers, like our AURORA, work with an oscillator vibrating at an ultrasonic frequency. This creates water droplets that create humidity. Ultrasonic humidifiers do not need wicks and are nearly silent, but evaporative models are better for larger spaces and generally produce more humidity.
• Room humidifier or whole house humidifier: If you just want added humidity in your plant room, then a single room evaporative or ultrasonic model is a good choice. Whole house humidifiers, like our Horizon, can add needed humidity to your entire home – and everyone in it! A healthy RH of 40-60% benefits people as well as plants, especially in dry winter months. Humidifiers help relieve dry skin, static electricity, snoring, allergies, and cold and flu symptoms.
• Warm or cool mist: For plants, either mist option works well. Many humidifiers, like our DUET, feature both warm and cool mist settings. Warm mist can make your home feel warmer during the winter, so having both options is a plus.

A humidifier won’t take the place of regular watering and misting, so be sure to continue giving your plants plenty to drink! They’ll be sure to thank you for the added humidity.

If you have any questions about our humidifiers, our experts are here to help by phone, email, or chat. We are happy to help you, and your plants, in any way we can.