Monsteras are one of the most common plants you can find at the place of any plant lover. Typically known for their gigantic, beautiful leaves with decorative split holes, these plants add a different elegance to our house.
These plants make great outdoor as well as indoor plants. However, when it comes indoors, dealing with the right amount of humidity is an important task. In this article, we will discuss the requirements of a monstera plant.
Monstera deliciosa is native to the tropical forests of Central America and southern Mexico. In such places, humidity is natural and significantly higher than how much it is in our homes.
So, if you live in a region where humidity isn’t naturally high, or you have kept your monstera indoors, you might have to use artificial techniques to make them grow to the fullest and look their best.
Do monstera like humidity?
Yes! Monsteras love humidity and misting. They are not too demanding or challenging to take care of when it comes to their environmental conditions, but keeping them in humidity ensures that they are in their best condition.
If you live in a dry climate or have noticed dry, crispy leaves on your monsteras, it is a good idea to salvage their condition by increasing the humidity. To do that, you can either keep a humidifier or place a pebble tray beside your plant.
High levels of humidity will keep your monsteras great; however, it is not necessary for their survival.
They can adapt to less humid climates, but they do not flourish as well as they do in their optimal temperature.
So, if you want to create an optimal condition to ensure your monsteras’ healthy and luscious growth, increasing the humidity levels should be at the top of your list.
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Why monsteras thrive in excess humidity
Like it is mentioned, monsteras have a Central American and South Mexican origin. Those places are usually high in humidity throughout the year.
Monsteras have their roots in areas with high humidity, warm temperatures, and bright sunlight. When given these exact conditions, they become huge and grow close to 60 feet tall.
Their waxy dark green leaves with beautiful slits and holes make them look stunning and elegant. In its natural habitat, monstera grows the best under 65-80 degrees Fahrenheit.
Their humidity levels are between 60-80%, with 6 hours of bright and indirect sunlight throughout the day.
They grow so beautifully in their native because all these conditions are naturally met.
So, if you want your monsteras to flourish at your home, your goal should be to get them the ideal temperature, humidity, and light conditions.
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Ideal conditions for healthy growth of monsteras
If you want to create ideal growing conditions for your monstera, the best option is to replicate the native conditions.
It is an excellent way to grow monsteras if you live in a not warm or tropical place.
The second-best choice you can opt for is to develop the monsteras in the greenhouse of the conservatory, where you can trap the required amount of sunlight and humidity.
Well, not all of us have access to a heated greenhouse where we can grow our plants, and people mostly prefer to grow these big beautiful plants in their most-used living spaces where the beauty of the plant can be admired.
Luckily, there are ideal indoor conditions as well if you are planning to grow your monstera indoors.
In order to know if your monstera is lacking humidity indoors, you need to check for dry leaves, brown leaf edges, and doomed brown tips.
The soils will also dry very quickly between the watering sessions.
If your indoor plant displays these conditions, it means it is time for you to increase the humidity of your house.
There are various ways to do that. You can either keep your plant at a sunny spot near the window, use a humidifier or a pebble plate to increase the humidity levels of your house.
Monsteras need plenty of light (but not direct sun), so keeping them next to a bright window is a great location for this plant in most indoor settings.
Usually, the plant does fine with average temperature and humidity settings, but if you notice the above-written symptoms, i.e., drying leaves, drying soil, brown tips, you should adjust the humidity levels as per the requirement of the plant.
How much humidity does a monstera need?
Monstera plant thrives within the normal humidity range with levels above 60% or so. The problem is, if you do not live in a warm region or in a tropical zone, the normal humidity levels of your house will be less than that.
However, you don’t need to worry as a monstera will survive even if the humidity level drops to 40%.
Monsteras are native to high humidity places. So, it required a good amount of humidity to flourish at its best.
Since the plant is not very demanding about its condition, it is easy for it to survive in almost all situations unless they are extreme.
Also, it is advisable to maintain a temperature of 60 to 80°F (15 to 26°C) along with the ideal humidity level if you want to make your monsteras grow beautifully.
If you are in doubt whether or not your monsteras are receiving enough humidity or not, you should check the humidity level of your house.
There are several ways you can do that. You can either use a hygrometer or apply the ice-cube method to find the humidity level of your home.
Hygrometer
A hygrometer is a humidity testing device that measures the humidity levels of a particular environment. The method is to simply measure the amount of vapor in the environment.
Most hygrometers are accompanied by built-in thermometers since temperature affects the humidity level. Click here to get one.
If you are using a hygrometer to measure the humidity levels of your house, here is how to proceed:
- For a wall-mounted hygrometer, select a good spot where you can mount it. Place it in the center part of your room that it can cover the humidity levels of the entire room.
- Turn the device on and wait for some time to let the machine adjust to the environment.
- Set the meter to humidity and choose the units in which you want it to be displayed
- Monitor the humidity recording every 3 to 4 hours. Note down the highest and lowest humidity range and see if it complies with the ideal condition of your monstera.
- Your hygrometer should be safely and securely mounted on the wall to avoid all damage.
You can either use a hand-carry or wall-mounted hygrometer. There’s no such difference between these two types except the way it is used.
A wall-mounted hygrometer is excellent for monitoring the humidity levels of small areas from time to time. On the other hand, a hand-carry hygrometer checks a larger area’s maximum and minimum humidity levels.
To check your monsteras from time to time, the best option is to use a wall-mounted hygrometer.
Ice cube testing method
Even though it will not give you the exact humidity readings, you will get an estimated idea of how much humidity you have in the room with the ice cube method.
Place the glass with 5-6 ice cubes near your monstera plant and leave the room.
Come back 10 to 15 minutes later. If you notice that the outer portion of the glass is full of water droplets, it means the room has high humidity.
Otherwise, if there is little to no droplet formation on the surface of the glass, it means the air is extremely dry, and you need to change the humidity setting for your monsteras.
What are the signs your monstera needs humidity?
These are the signs your monsteras will display if they need more humidity:
- The leaves will become brittle and break easily. Monstera is a water-loving plant and can absorb considerable amount of water. If the water you provide is not enough, they will become dry and crispy, which displays signs of a shortage of water.
- Browning of edges on monstera leaves also shows a lack of humidity.
- Check for drooping and wilting of leaves.
If your monstera is showing these symptoms, it can either be due to a lack of water or very little humidity. Be thorough with the watering schedule and also provide optimal humidity to revive the plant.
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Ways to keep monstera humid when needed
It’s okay if your house cannot provide the optimum level of humidity your monstera needs naturally. There are some effective ways by which you can achieve the requirements of your plants.
Grouping Plants
Plants produce moisture and humidity through their foliage, and this process is known as transpiration.
If you keep your plants close to each other, moisture will be retained, and humidity in the environment will increase. Group your monstera together or keep it close to other houseplants to increase its level of humidity.
Gravel Trays
Gravel trays are effective methods to increase humidity in house plants.
Here’s how you can make a gravel tray:
- In a clean tray, fill up gravels and pebbles to an inch’s height.
- Pour water, and half fill the tray
- Place your pot on top of the gravel. Make sure that the pot does not directly come in contact with water.
- Keep the tray clean and rinse it regularly to avoid pathogenic growth.
Use Humidifier
A humidifier is undoubtedly the simplest, most effective, and easiest way to increase the humidity of your monsteras.
Keep the humidifier about four to five feet away from your plants. Using this will increase the humidity of your entire room, providing the best conditions for your monstera to thrive.
Indoor Greenhouse
Even though a greenhouse is a little complicated to maintain, it will give your monsteras outstanding results. Get the right size depending upon where you want to keep your monsteras.
The greenhouse provides the best results because it traps the sunlight making the inside warm and increasing the humidity.
All plants are also closely packed together in a greenhouse, which helps produce and maintain the humidity inside.
You can place your greenhouse in a south-facing window which will ensure maximum exposure to sunlight.
Moreover, if you live in a colder region, getting grow lights is an ideal choice as well.
Misting
Misting is an excellent method to increase humidity in monsteras. However, you need to be cautious as a lot can go wrong with this process if not done right.
If you live in a high humid region, avoid misting as it can cause the leaves to hold water and get a pathogenic infection. Excessive watering can even lead to deformity in the roots of the plant.
If you are in a low humid region, you can frequently mist your monsteras to get ideal results.
Conclusion
To conclude, monsteras are humid and heat-loving plants.
If you try and keep their humid levels optimum, you will get gorgeous-looking monsteras. In this article, we have discussed everything you need to know about the humidity of your monsteras.
To sum up, the plant needs to be within a humidity range of 60%, use a hygrometer to check the indoor humidity level, and use a humidifier, gravel tray, or other methods to increase humidity if required.