Depending on where you live and the time of year, dry air can be an issue. And just as dry air can be hard on your skin, it can be even harder on the delicate leaves and stems of your plants. Since Monstera Adansoniis is a tropical plant with unique and delicate foliage, humidity is essential to its health and beauty.
Do Monstera Adansoniis like humidity? Absolutely! Monstera Adansoniis are tropical plants that thrive with humidity levels around 50-60%. And while there are a few strategies, like misting or adding pebble trays, to increase household humidity, using a humidifier is the most reliable way to keep your Monstera beautiful all year long.
Ready to help your plant stay protected, even in drier months? Continue reading for some great tips for keeping your plant’s foliage healthy and moist without worrying about pests, overwatering, or mold.
Houseplants and Humidity
Seasonal changes, air conditioning, fireplaces, furnaces, ovens, irons, and other factors can reduce the humidity in your home. This dry air can be particularly stressful for many of our foliage-producing friends because most popular indoor plants are tropical.
Tropical plants often have large leaves designed to absorb the maximum amount of sunlight and may have the ability to climb using delicate aerial roots. While these adaptations work well in warm, humid environments, they can struggle and dehydrate without adequate humidity.
Each plant species has its own needs, but most indoor plants require humidity between 40% – 60%. When the air becomes too dry, you will soon see the effects in the form of dry leaves and noticeable dehydration.
Monstera Adansonii Humidity Preferences
Native to the rainforests in Mexico and Panama, Monstera adansonii definitely benefits from increased humidity. While some plant species can thrive with lower moisture, humidity between 50% – 60% is best for your Monstera Adansonii. This will help protect its delicate leaves and aerial roots, as well as help it achieve its full growth potential.
How can you tell if more humidity is needed? Dry leaf tips, yellowing, leaf drop, wilting, and other signs of shock may indicate that your Monstera needs more humidity. Unfortunately, these signs can be confused with a need for increased water, which can lead to overwatering if you aren’t careful. And overwatering your Monstera Adansonii can lead to root rot, which can be fatal for any plant.
But if a need for humidity, and a need for water, can both cause dry and yellowing leaves, how can you tell the difference? The best way to diagnose whether your Monstera Adansonii needs more humidity is to check the humidity in your home.
How to Check the Humidity in Your Home
Most people probably never check the humidity in their homes. This is because humans and animals have ways to safely increase their hydration to balance changes in air dryness. While static electricity, cold spaces (despite thermostat settings), and dry skin can be signs of low humidity, there are more exact ways to determine if more moisture is needed.
A hygrometer is an affordable and easy-to-use device that can help determine how much humidity you have in your home. Hygrometers can be purchased at many large home retailers or online. These hand devices (like this one from Amazon) feature a digital display indicating the temperature and percentage of moisture in the air.
Measuring with a hygrometer can help you quickly determine if there is too much or too little humidity in the air, what rooms are best for your tropical houseplants, and if your efforts to improve the moisture balance in a specific room are working.
If your Monstera exhibits signs of dehydration or shock, and your home’s humidity is below 40% – 50%, you may want to increase the humidity in the air around your plant. But once you know you have a humidity problem in your home, how do you safely solve it?
Where to Place a Monstera Adansonii for Increased Humidity
One effective strategy for helping your plant maintain the humidity that it needs is to be mindful of its location in your home. While it’s natural to want to place your beautiful plant in a location that everyone will see, such as an entryway, drafty windows and doors can create dry environments.
Instead, place your Monstera Adansonii far from heating and cooling vents, radiators, fans, frequently opened doors, drafty spaces, and other locations that may have low humidity. If possible, set your Monstera in or near your bathroom, kitchen, or another area where warm, moist air is common.
But what if you have your heart set on placing your plant in a different location, or you have multiple Monstera Adansonii throughout your home? There are some steps you can take to modify the moisture levels throughout your home to improve your Monstera’s health.
How To Increase Humidity Around Your Monstera
There are some general ways to increase humidity throughout your home, helping your plant, and your own health, during the drier months.
Believe it or not, one simple strategy involves leaving pans or decorative bowls of water in different locations in your home. As the water evaporates, it will introduce more humidity to the air. This is a slow strategy, and it does have disadvantages since uncovered water can attract insects or even mold. However, it is one free way to add a bit of moisture to the air.
You can also consider boiling water on the stove, though this uses electricity, which may add a few dollars to your utility bill and may not reach all parts of your home quickly. Additionally, leaving bathroom doors open after showers and baths can add some moist air to your house. Though, this too is a slower strategy for adding humidity.
To Mist or Not to Mist?
But what about misting? This popular strategy involves taking a spray bottle of clean water and lightly misting the air around the plant to add additional moisture.
Since this approach is free and easy, it is often the first suggestion for increasing humidity around your plant. However, it’s not a perfect solution. For example, it can be hard to determine exactly how much moisture (if any) is being added to the space, and it can be easy to forget to mist your plant, leaving it high and dry.
Another issue with misting is that it can lead to water buildup on the leaves and stem of your plant, leading to the presence of insects, bacteria, and moldy residue. This can lead to an infection or root rot. But there is a better way to provide humidity for your plant that doesn’t lead to insects or overwatering.
Humidifiers for Houseplants
One of the simplest, fastest, and safest ways to increase your home’s humidity is by using a humidifier. These devices come in a number of varieties, including portable versions that can be carried from room to room, as well as stationary humidifiers that can add moisture to entire homes.
However, no matter the size, these devices work by dispersing moisture from a closed tank into the air, usually until a predetermined percentage of moisture is reached.
Humidifiers can range in price from ten dollars to hundreds of dollars, but reasonably-priced, high-quality models, such as this humidifier, can be found in many home retailers and online stores. For more information on humidifiers, check out our article here.
Using these devices, you can intentionally add humidity to the air around your plant, meeting your Monstera’s humidity needs without the danger of overwatering.
Closing Thoughts
Remember, even with proper watering, dry air can lead to dehydrated leaves, leaf drop, and even shock to your plant. And the solution is probably not adding more water to the planter. Instead, maintaining a humidity level between 50% – 60% around your Monstera Adansonii can keep your plant healthy and vibrant.
While there are popular strategies, like misting, that can help introduce more moisture to your environment, using a humidifier is a safe and reliable way to keep your plants beautiful and healthy all year round. Trust me – your plants, and your skin, will thank you!
