This post was sponsored by Honeywell Plugged in (www.honeywellpluggedin.com). All opinions and data are my own.
Last year, I wrote about the basics of humidifiers – why they’re good for plants, and how to select and care for one. You can read that post here.
I decided to take a deeper dive into the options to increase humidity. Many people reference using trays of pebbles in water or diffusers close to plants to create microclimates of increased humidity close to plants. I wondered how well this works.
Some people use a tray of pebbles below the plant to increase ambient humidity.
Others use diffusers close to clusters of plants.
First, let’s touch on ideal conditions. Tropical plants tend to do best with humidity at least 50% and above. They’re even happier up in the 80%- range, but that starts to get very uncomfortable for us humans. For those reasons I like to maintain humidity in the 50s-60s. For me, the toughest time to do this is when we get something called Santa Ana conditions in Southern California. Normally, near the coast the humidity is naturally in my desired range. During Santa Ana conditions, very dry air blows offshore from the desert and humidity drops in to the teens or lower. Some of you live where it gets extremely cold in the winter, and you have to run your heater 24/7 for weeks or months. Humidity outside might be high because of snow on the ground (evaporation), but your plants experience extreme dryness indoors. When it gets down in to the teens, you need to be able to boost humidity as much as 30%. Incidentally, your body will appreciate this too (airways, nasal passages, eyes, skin).
In fairly unscientific , real life conditions, I decided to take a series of measurements comparing pebble trays, diffusers, and cool mist humidifiers in terms of how well they can boost humidity. Using 3 different humidity gauges to ensure validity, I found that pebble trays and diffusers were only able to boost levels about 5% maximum in the microclimate around the plant. My cool mist humidifiers boosted humidity at least 20% or more, depending on the baseline levels.
Some of you know I don’t really have a separate area for plants in our home – they’re dispersed around well-lit areas. I’m not a huge fan of the classic boxy-looking humidifiers we’ve all seen around. I’m happy to say there’s some more aesthetic options now. I was recently gifted this Honeywell Designer Series cool mist humidifier and I love it. Not only is it aesthetically pleasing, it has a 1.25 gallon tank. The last thing I want to do is worry about refilling the tank twice a day. For more see www.honeywellpluggedin.com, and get $15 off your order using code Plant15.
The designer series cool mist humidifier by Honeywell Plugged In checks all the boxes.
So, I guess you could say I’m a convert now. Nothing beats a humidifier for optimizing dry conditions for us and our plants.