Protect Your Tropical Houseplants During Winter With A Clever Trick

You've no doubt taken some important steps to transition your houseplants to indoor life after letting them spend the warm seasons outdoors, such as checking them for hitchhiking pests or adding a grow light. But life inside your house in winter doesn't just come with less sunlight — it also means drier air. Very low levels of ambient moisture can actually cause damage to tropical plants, since dry air causes them to lose water from their foliage. One clever trick you can use to increase air moisture levels for plants is to use a humidifier, a device that adds water vapor to the air.

Many of our houseplants come from equatorial locales with naturally moderate or high amounts of moisture in the air. Because humidity levels tend to be reduced by home heating systems, our indoor environments can quickly become uncomfortable for tropical species used to muggy weather. Indoor conditions can involve very low air moisture levels during the cold months — down to 15% in some cases. So, addressing dry air may be the biggest change you can make this winter to help your tropical houseplants thrive. And since some of the other methods typically recommended to counteract dry air — such as misting and pebble trays — are inefficient, using humidifiers near indoor plants is often the best approach.

Before you buy a humidifier, use a specialized monitor known as a hygrometer to check household humidity levels and make sure it's really necessary. These measurement devices are inexpensive, and you can use them later to check air moisture levels once you get your machine set up. You'll also want to make sure the types of houseplants you're growing do indeed require supplemental humidity for winter. Examples of indoor plants that need protection from dry air include orchids, ferns, and prayer plants. Look for symptoms such as dry, brown leaf edges, which may indicate the air is too dry.

Levels of 70% to 80% air moisture are best for most tropical houseplants, but humans prefer a range between 40% to 60%. This means that you should use portable units for creating bubbles of higher humidity around your plants rather than trying to change the air moisture throughout the whole house. Whole home units are also more likely to lead to mold problems. Once you've bettered the lives of your indoor plants with a humidifier, don't forget to consider the other ways you should tweak your houseplant care routine for winter, such as reducing watering.