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Watering your houseplants can be a comforting job. It brings tranquility to your mind as well as offers some refreshment.
And if you are a nature lover, this job will give you a scope to spend some quality time with your plants. So a wise man can conclude that misting the houseplants is beneficial for both the greenskeeper and the plants.
However, pothos does not require frequent misting compared to other houseplants. As pothos or devil’s ivy is a tropical vine, a warm and humid climate promotes healthy growth.
Here many people might feel perplexed since humidity helps pothos to thrive quickly. Though misting raises the humidity levels rapidly, it only lasts for a short period and can affect your pothos. Misting also enhances the chances of pest infestation in your pothos.
Should you mist the pothos plants?
You should rarely mist your pothos plant because it can harm your vine. Many people consider misting as a supplement to watering. But it is not the case. Misting enhances humidity for a brief time.
As humidity increases pothos’ thriving by 50%, you cannot ignore the significance of it.
As we have said earlier, being a tropical climate vine, pothos requires humidity. But, the moistness of the area where you live is another significant fact to remember. It will calculate how often you should mist your pothos.
If you place your vine in a locality with an arid climate, your pothos will badly need humidity. If you think only misting can provide the required moisture, then you are wrong. Sufficient watering along with proper misting will do the best for your devil’s ivy.
On the other hand, too much humidity can spell harm to your vine. If you reside in an area with over 60% humidity, misting your pothos will make it dead.
With that amount of moisture in the air, the soil of your vine will never have the needed time to absorb the water and become dry. Because of heavy humidity, the water circulation in the plant cannot move well.
Since the water does not shift at a time, your pothos can hold the water leading to leaf damage, pest infestation, and many problems. So, look whether the excess water is draining properly from the pot or not. It is more significant than misting or watering.
Besides the climate, understanding the requirements of your vines is no less significant. The stipulation of your pothos might not be equal to other houseplants. So before misting, always check whether your vines need a humidity or not.
Expert horticulturists always advise scheduling the watering and misting time for your pothos. Do not maintain the same routine throughout all seasons, as the humidity varies. You can avoid frequent misting only by keeping a proper schedule. It will cause your pothos to look more energetic than before.
Related:
Do pothos like to be misted?
Your pothos does not like to get misted often, as it does not require a lot of moisture. Irrespective of being a plant of tropical climate, pothos do not want that much moisture compared to other houseplants. Though humidity helps pothos to grow quickly and sturdily, this vine needs the lowest water. Remember the fact that frequent misting can promote pest infestation and plant diseases.
As the heavy moisture does not lead the water to move, pothos can hold water for a very long time.
This phenomenon leads to unfortunate results like leaf damage, rotten roots, etc. In addition, since the dampness locks the moisture, your pothos might suffer from a lack of oxygen. It can lead to the death of your favorite houseplant.
Excessive misting can promote the loss of strength in the pothos. So if you notice any abnormality in your devil’s ivy or suddenly discover it has fallen, these can result from imprudent humidity.
Frequent misting also leads to deformed leaves, misshaped short yellow leaves, or leaf-drooping in your vine. Direct spraying on leaves can welcome pest infestation too.
Thus experienced nurserymen always advise you to mist the soil of your pothos instead of leaves. In addition, legends whisper a secret way of misting your pothos that will do wonders to your plant. Just mix neem oil with your misting water, and this elixir will permanently prevent pest infestation in your pothos.
Do pothos like humidifiers?
In most cases, the pothos likes humidifiers, as these increase the moisture in the air. The plant humidifiers work in a pretty simple way. It comes with a built-in thermostat and hygrometer.
The thermostat reads the temperature while the hygrometer maintains the humidity of the encompassing air. You can always change the settings as the weather differs throughout the year.
Some humidifiers boil the water at high temperatures to convert the water into vapor.
The vapor comes through the nozzle of the equipment and adds extra moisture to the surrounding air. It requires a lot of energy to run these humidifiers. Other humidifiers churn or whip the purified water to create a mist.
Therefore, many people install humidifiers if they think their residential area is not humid enough for their plants.
However, planting pothos in an arid climate can be tough since the vine cannot collect the required humidity from the air. So, if this is the scenario in your house, you can also consider buying humidifiers for your pothos.
As we have said earlier, the thriving of pothos multiplies when it gets the required temperature and humidity. Humidity helps the plant to become sturdier and taller. Since the indoor air is relatively drier than the outer air, your tropical houseplants with pothos will need a humidifier.
Do misting plants help?
Yes, for particular plants, a proper misting on the surface helps them to grow. Although, misting plants is not a mystery, as there is a rising controversy surrounding it. Many experts’ opinion regarding misting the plants is that this elevates the dampness in the air. However, most veteran horticulturists disagree with this. They believe that direct misting on the leaves does nothing but leaf damage, and misting cannot escalate the humidity in the surrounding area.
So, after some research, we have concluded that a perfect amount of misting helps some plants. Unfortunately, many people do it in the wrong way, as they spray directly onto the leaves.
However, misting the soil of your plants does the trick, as it oxygenates and moisturizes the soil simultaneously. Though spraying water is not the ultimate solution due to the lack of humidity, misting dampens the plants for only a short time.
During a dry season or the growing period of your plant, misting can be a handy option to boost an extra dose of moisture.
Whenever you notice your plants are feeling dry or the soil needs moisture, mist the soil. Frequently checking the soil moisture level and the condition of the leaves are similarly significant tasks along with misting.
As the nature of the plants differs from one another, some love misting while others do not. Plants like aloe vera, pothos, orchids, ferns appreciate a little dose of humidity booster, while cacti, succulents dislike it. Therefore, along with the requirements, the frequency of misting plays a vital role.
An arid climate naturally demands more humidity than a humid one. Still, if you cannot figure out how often you should do it, never over mist your plant and take the help of an expert.
You can mist only a particular area of your plant if you notice any lack of moisture there. It might be a leaf or a segment of a stem. But if the misting alone does not help, consider installing a humidifier to elevate the moisture in the air for an extended period.
What are the signs your pothos need humidity?
Indoor gardeners often turn a blind eye to humidity while nurturing house plants like pothos. Irrespective of being a tropical vine, pothos can live with minimal moisture. Still, if you provide adequate water to the plant, it will flourish with full potential. Pothos can also tolerate a vast range of humidity levels.
Incorrect levels of humidity affect your pothos in the long run. When an excessive amount interrupts the transpiration level in the plant, lack of moisture can damage the pothos, too.
If your plant suffers from a shortage of humidity, it creates tension around the stomata. So the pores cannot open up fully, resulting in slow transpiration.
Maybe you will not spot the damage instantly, but moisture deficiency harms pothos persistently. So here, we have shared some symptoms your pothos might show in case there is any lack of humidity.
- The green pointy leaf tips of the pothos will turn brown
- You may notice a crunchy and crumbly leaf margin in your pothos
- The abnormal withering of leaves in your vine
- In the last stage, a shortage of humidity will prematurely turn all the leaves of your pothos yellow.
What are the ways to increase humidity for your pothos plant?
For increasing humidity around your plant area, you have plenty of options to choose from. It varies even from DIY to top tech tools. Here we have listed some of the practical ones to increase the humidity level near your pothos.
- Grouping of plants
This method works on the basic transpiration process of your pothos. First, you have to place the plants in a group. Their dense placement and group transpiration automatically elevate the humidity level around them. Thus, the plants create a mini-microclimate in their vicinity.
- Humidifier
This humidifying equipment is engineered to distribute some extra moisture in the adjacent air. As there are many options, select a humidifier according to the size of your room. If you need to humidify plenty of houseplants, you ought to go for a higher potential one. The humidifier is the best option for tropical houseplants like pothos.
- Greenhouse under the roof
Many indoor gardeners favor this option, as the greenhouse enhances the aesthetic value of the room. You can place pothos along with other houseplants adjacently and cover them with a glass or plastic sheet. Naturally, the group transpiration of the plants escalates the ambient moisture.
- Misting
It is a year-old method for instantly adding some moisture around the pothos. You have to spray some water on your vine whenever the plant needs humidity. Since this humidity is transient and sometimes welcomes plant diseases, many consider misting a controversial method.
- Pebble tray
All you need is to put some pebbles on a tray and place your pothos pot on it. The evaporated water affixes the encompassing humidity.
Conclusion
As pothos is one of the most robust houseplants, it includes the potentiality to tolerate even the lowest humidity. So an indoor gardener can skip the misting part, as it just wets pothos and does nothing more. However, if you feel the ambient air is exceptionally dry, you may try other tactics to humidify your plants.