When it comes to taking care of our plants, we indoor gardeners frequently ignore one of the environmental factors: humidity. Despite being tropical plants, Pothos Humidity can withstand only deficient levels of moisture.
If you provide them with humidity conditions that most nearly resemble their natural environment, they will perform to their total capacity.
Pothos plants can withstand a wide range of humidity. Anything outside of this range can generally be corrected with minor adjustments like grouping plants and utilizing gravel trays.
In this post, we’ll look at a few quick techniques to accomplish that and the warning signs and symptoms that an unsatisfactory humidity level will show on your plant.
Which humidity is ideal for a pothos?
High humidity is ideal for Pothos. Temperatures range from 70°F to 90°F (21°C to 32.2°C), and humidity levels range from 60% to 100% in the pothos’ natural environment. Although these are ideal settings, most homes can get by with 40% to 60% humidity and 70° to 80°F (21° to 26.6°C) temperatures.
How Does Your Pothos React to Humidity?
Inadequate humidity interferes with the rate of transpiration in your Pothos. When the plant has consumed the nutrients in the water delivering the nutrients, the excess water is discharged through tiny holes on the underside of the leaves, known as stomata.
When a plant doesn’t have enough humidity, it panics, and its pores don’t fully open. As a result, respiration becomes less rapid, and the plant’s general health starts to decline.
The Pothos is a very hardy plant, so it might not exhibit any negative symptoms immediately, but overall performance will be reduced.
The Pothos will develop into a much healthier and more attractive plant once the humidity levels are up to what it needs.
Your plant will be more vulnerable to mold and fungi if the humidity level is too high. Wet brown patches and drooping leaves and stems may result from them. In more severe cases, it may cause root rot, which, if untreated, can be lethal.
What Level of Humidity Is Required for Pothos?
In essence, humidity is the capacity of the air to hold water vapor. More moisture will be present in the air as the temperature rises.
It’s not relatively easy because humidity levels can be low even in desert locations when the air is dry and scorching. This is because humidity can only develop when warmth and moisture are present.
The air will grow drier, and the humidity level will decrease if you heat your home with no moisture. If there is moisture present, it can be absorbed by the heated air, increasing humidity. To best fit your indoor plants, you want to keep moisture levels at a certain percentage.
This certainly sounds very hard, but as you shall see, it can be kept within the desired range by employing a few straightforward techniques and routine humidity measurements.
Your Pothos like high humidity because it is native to warm, tropical regions of the planet. It thrives best at humidity levels between 50 and 70 percent. It can even withstand humidity levels as high as 85%.
How can I measure the humidity in my house?
Using a hydrometer is the only reliable approach to detecting relative air humidity. Fortunately, these little tools are affordable and straightforward to use. These days, they are more likely to be digital and, when activated, frequently provide you with the room’s temperature and humidity level.
You only need to be aware that different room areas could have varied humidity levels, so make sure you are getting your reading close to the plant. Between 65 and 85°F (18-30°C) is the perfect temperature for a Pothos.
It is a good idea to have two or three separate hydro meters scattered throughout your indoor garden if you have a lot of house plants. You will be able to evaluate humidity levels in every area and respond appropriately.
The hydrometer’s effectiveness depends on how frequently you check it. Remind yourself that various elements can affect humidity, including weather, heating, and soil conditions. You can only get a precise picture of the whole situation by often reading the hydrometer.
Taking Care of High Humidity with Your Pothos
Since we now understand how to gauge humidity levels and how they affect your Poths. We need to start considering solutions for any issues where humidity levels are too low. We’ll begin by examining excessive humidity.
Overwatering
Avoiding overwatering your plant is an excellent place to start. If you water your plants too frequently. The potting soil will become damp, and part of the water may evaporate and enter the atmosphere.
Naturally, this will raise the humidity levels, and your hydrometer will rapidly alert you if the humidity level has reached an unhealthy level.
The most straightforward solution is to adopt the proper watering schedule. These plants can tolerate low water levels. So let them dry out between waterings and wait until the top two inches of soil are completely dry before watering them again.
Sticking my finger into the ground until it reaches the second knuckle is the quickest and most accurate way to determine this.
I can tell when it’s time to water if the earth seems dry. Put your Pothos through a thorough soak, let the water drain away completely, then put it back in the plant saucer where it belongs.
Growing Medium
Different kinds of potting soil can retain varying amounts of moisture. Your Pothos should ideally be planted in a high-quality house plant compost with good drainage.
The potting mix will hold much more moisture if there is excessive moisture-retentive material present, such as peat or coconut husk. This is not ideal when there is a lot of humidity.
Before planting your Pothos, add twenty to thirty percent perlite or grit to the potting mix to improve drainage.
These plants like a relatively small space and do not like having many growing mediums around them. When you eventually need to replant into a larger pot, use a pot that is only an extra one or two inches in diameter than the one from which the plant was just removed.
Circulation of Air
Another factor that could contribute to an excessive buildup of humidity around your Pothos is a lack of air circulation.
You might discover that you can reduce the humidity in the room to more manageable levels by just opening a few doors or windows when the air begins to circulate more freely.
Regarding windows, your plant will benefit from growing on a windowsill as long as it is not exposed to direct sunlight for an extended period.
Lower humidity levels and additional lighting are both excellent for your Pothos. You can improve airflow by opening the window for an hour or two in the middle of the day, provided it is not too chilly outdoors.
Grow Lamps
Grow lights are the last method for enhancing growing conditions and lowering humidity. This artificial lighting enhances evaporation, mimics sunlight, and lengthens the daily growing period. They are beneficial in northern locations with shorter days where you grow indoor plants.
Grow lights used to be so expensive that most domestic home plant growers could not afford them. The cost has decreased significantly due to technological advancements, and the indoor gardener has access to various alternative lighting options.
To select the lights best for your circumstances, you must study. Instead of choosing lights with a 360° spread, I would advise setting lights you can point directly at your plant.
The temptation to leave lights on all day hoping that the additional daylight hours will result in larger, more attractive plants should be resisted. To function at their peak, all plants require a rest period, during which they are shrouded in darkness. (Really, a lot like gardeners.)
Your Pothos May Need More Humidity
When it comes to house plants in the US and Europe, low humidity is a much more frequent issue than excess humidity. Many of our favorite indoor plants are native to humid tropical regions.
We heat our homes and use double glazing to trap the air inside, which is one of the reasons they have such low humidity levels.
These are the symptoms to watch out for if your Pothos suffers from insufficient humidity.
- leaves’ brown tips
- leaf margins that turn dry and crunchy
- leaf wilting and widespread leaf drooping
- Eventually, the leaves could begin to yellow and fall.
While a hydrometer can rapidly confirm your diagnosis if you have any of these symptoms, they are not specific to a lack of humidity.
Keep in mind that these plants are incredibly forgiving, so even if they don’t exhibit any of the symptoms listed above, a lack of humidity may keep them from performing to their full potential.
How to Make It More Humidity?
You have a variety of alternatives when it comes to increasing the humidity levels around your plants. They range in technology from low to slightly higher.
I would advise starting with some of the most straightforward techniques and only moving on to more complex ones if necessary to obtain the desired outcomes.
Plant grouping:
As you arrange your plants in a group, the humidity level around them rises. This is because the plants’ combined transpiration automatically raises the relative humidity in the area and develops a mini-microclimate. I usually start with this tried-and-true approach when dealing with low-humidity issues.
Gravel Trays:
A water or moisture source from which the air can pull moisture is necessary for the humidity level to rise. Given that the air doesn’t care much where it gets its water, you have a variety of possibilities.
Aquariums and water bowls will work, but a gravel tray is a far simpler solution. The plant pot is on top of a tray or a saucer filled with gravel. Water cannot be added to the tray until it reaches the level of the top layer of gravel. As a result, evaporation will be able to happen immediately next to your Pothos plant.
Humidifiers:
These devices are made to raise the air’s natural moisture content. They may be purchased online and in a lot of garden centers.
They often have a thermostat that reads the temperature. The integrated hydrometer lets you tune them only to turn on when the air drops below the ambient humidity level.
Additionally, they have a broad range of rates, so you might wish to consult your provider before making a purchase. The size of the room where they will be used and the number of plants around them should be known to you.
They can generally be divided into two groups. To produce light steam, one raises the temperature of the water it contains—the second stir the water, making a thin mist.
The heat version will require more energy, while the mist version will require a supply of pure water. You should take into account both of these factors. Also, read about Pothos with holes.
Indoor Greenhouses:
The indoor greenhouse is a relatively new addition to the home gardener’s toolbox. These miniature greenhouses let you retain your plant in a smaller, clear plastic or glass-walled environment.
For me, these gadgets don’t have much visual appeal. While they might make it simpler to grow indoor plants, like Pothos, they are not appealing. Because most of us grow plants for their eye-catching attractiveness, incorporating anything unpleasant in the house defeats the purpose.
Misting is one method that has been used for a long time to increase humidity. Gardeners with plants needing more humidity would mist the leaves with a thin mist of water, which would immediately increase the humidity level.
The effectiveness of this approach has recently come under scrutiny in research. They appear to indicate that even though humidity does increase when the mist is first provided, even if they are not yet conclusive.