Increased humidity is fantastic not only for your houseplants but also for your own wellbeing. Learn more about the benefits of humidifier for plants, how to choose the right humidifier and how to use them correctly.
The benefits of a humidifier are greatly worth discussing and you should think about getting one now!
Houseplants are live beings that more often than not, are not local to where you live. They come from places where moisture levels are high and would thrive in humidity levels of 50% and above.
Specifically, during cold winters, when we tend to keep doors closed and heating devices on, the air becomes so dry and air circulation is so limited that it can harm not only your own body, but also your houseplants.
How do humidifiers benefit you & your plants thrive?
Thriving Plants With The Help Of A Humidifier
A humidifier benefits your indoor plants a better chance of thriving.
If you are growing an indoor plant collection, you may have noticed that some species dry out quickly and require extra moisture. You may have noticed that some foliage changes color fast, curls, or becomes crispy no matter what you do!
Through their pores, plants intake carbon dioxide and release oxygen. But when the air is too dry, plants tend to close down those pores/stomata in order to protect themselves. That is their way of trying to retain moisture for longer periods. But as they do that, they are not breathing, and that’s why leaves eventually turn brown.
You are probably keeping your humidity-loving plants in your bathroom or kitchen already. You might be misting their leaves regularly, grouping them together, or adding vases filled with water around them, hoping for that to be enough!
While all of these are valuable ideas, nothing beats a good humidifier when it comes to keeping your plants thriving and happy with consistent moisture levels.
Ambient humidity will prevent your houseplants from losing water through their foliage in a way that misting cannot effectively do. Besides, spaying water directly into a plant’s leaves can ultimately cause bacterial infections and higher the chances of fungal diseases.
The Benefits Of A Humidifier To Your Own Wellbeing
Whilst extra moisture in the air will immensely benefit your plants’ wellbeing, it will simultaneously increase your own comfort!
Keeping the humidity level between 30% and 50% is the usual recommendation. And although too high levels can be damaging too, keeping controlled amounts of water vapor in the air can help in many ways:
- Sleeping quality: helping you breathe better and battling the dry air that causes snoring.
- Coughing, sneezing, and allergies: combating the dryness of the air helps avoid cold, flu and also prevents your nasal cavity from drying out.
- Dry skin, hair, eyes, and lips: keeping your body healthy and moisturized.
- Stops bloody noses and headaches.
- Saves you money: keeping your home at higher levels of humidity also contributes for it to become warmer during winter months, meaning it saves you money on utilities too.
- Prevents static electricity.
We were recently asked about the number of humidifiers anyone should consider having at home and thought we would address that question here as well. Knowing this is not quite the expected here, truth is there’s no right or wrong answer as it will depend on your local humidity levels, construction type, and other factors.
For us, in a house that gets extremely dry during the winter with central heating constantly on, it would make sense to have 2 humidifiers, as we mostly have two rooms where we place most plants (the living room and the spare bedroom).
Apart from those two rooms, we do have plants in the bathroom as well, which benefit from the humidity provided by our showers.
Having this setting in mind, at the moment there is only one humidifier that we keep in our living room. It wouldn’t hurt getting another, for the second plant-y area. But since these aren’t cheap, we currently try to keep the humidity loving plants in the living room downstairs (as close to the machine as possible). Plants that don’t seem to mind the dryness so much, stay in the second bedroom upstairs.
Do you already have a humidifier or consider having one? Get in touch and let us know.
