Do Monstera Like To Be Misted? (Monstera’s Humidity Requirements Included)

Your Monstera might have made a long way to reach your home from the far hot and humid tropical forest but the question is would the plant like to be misted? You might have heard some plant parents saying that Monsteras love to get misted, as humidity help the tropical plant thrive, while others say misting can cause serious damage to a Monstera Deliciosa plant. If you are a new plant parent and want to know the right answer, you need to do some research.

Misting a Monstera plant is not as necessary as you may think. If your Monstera grows within an optimal environment, it will grow healthy. However, even though your little friend can grow in either condition, if you want to see your Monstera growing gorgeous, you have to create a humid atmosphere for it. You can help your Monstera thrive by raising the humidity level of your room.

Now the question is whether you should mist your Monstera or not. We are here to clear all your doubts regarding the issue. In this article, we will talk about the humidity requirements of a Monstera plant, what kind of humidity a Monstera wants, signs your Monstera wants humidity, ways to raise the humidity level of an area, and more. If you are a new plant parent, our guide can help you in many ways.

TL; DR

Misting a Monstera Deliciosa plant to raise the level of humidity around the plant is a short-lived solution. Frequent misting can lead to many issues like fungal disease, pest infestation, etc. It is better to make effort to raise the level of humidity in your room by adding a greenhouse box, an aquarium, a moss pole, or a humidifier to the room.

Does Your Monstera Like Humidity?

Monstera is a tropical vine and it enjoys growing in a hot and humid environment. A warm and humid atmosphere is the natural condition for a Monstera plant. Such an environment is very important for their growth and well-being.

Monstera plants that grow inside rooms often struggle for a habitable environment. If the atmosphere in a room does not imitate the natural habitat of Monstera plants, the plant will struggle to attain a natural growth rate.

Now the question is why is humidity so important for a houseplant like Monstera Deliciosa. Tropical houseplants use humidity for transpiration. Large leaves of Monstera plants contain numerous pores on their surface. Those pores play a major role in the process of photosynthesis. When the level of humidity is high, pores across the leaves open up to exchange air.

In low humid conditions, plants lost a lot of moisture in the air through the pores during transpiration. For this reason, your Monstera prefers to refrain from transpiration in low humid conditions. On the other hand, a plant does not emit a lot of water and moisture when growing within a warm and humid environment.

What Kind of Humidity Does Your Monstera Want?

As a plant parent, you may ask how much humidity a Monstera Deliciosa plant needs to survive and thrive. Well, a tropical vine-like the Monstera Deliciosa can survive in a low humid environment. A Monstera plant can even survive within an environment with a 40-50% humidity level.

However, if survival is not everything for you and you want your Monstera to thrive happily, you have to create an environment with more than 60% of humidity level. If you can provide your Monstera with an atmosphere with proper temperature and humidity level, you will see the Monstera Deliciosa plant proliferate.

[ Read: Why Is My Monstera Plant Dripping Water? ]

Signs Your Monstera Wants More Moisture

Monstera Deliciosa is a kind of houseplant that reacts immediately on finding anything unusual. As a plant parent, you have to identify those signs and take preventive measures, if needed. Like any other issues such as over-watering, underwatering, over-fertilization, rootbound and, low humidity can cause many problems.

If your Monstera Deliciosa plant is suffering from insufficient humidity levels, it will react with some symptoms. Here are some signs you need to be careful about.

• Brown and dry leaves
• Drooping and curling leaves
• Yellowing leaves
• Fading leaves

Well, many of these issues can be caused by practices like inappropriate watering, over-fertilization, pest infestation, etc. Hence, before you take steps to raise the level of humidity in your room, make sure, other problem-creating factors are in check.

1. Getting Familiar with the Humidity Levels:

The level of humidity inside our rooms can vary from one season to another. For example, you cannot expect the same level of humidity in your room in winter as in summer. In winter, the air inside our room gets drier. While in summer, we get excessive humidity.

However, as a new plant parent, you may not be aware of the exact level of humidity inside your room. In winter, the level of humidity can drop below 30% in some areas. While in summer, the level can rise above 60%.

However, if you want your Monstera to grow happily, you must ensure a balanced humidity level. To get the exact statistics, you can use a device. A hygrometer can give the full picture of your room condition by measuring the level of humidity across various parts of your home.

Remember, places like bathrooms, basements, and areas with no or fewer windows can be most humid. These areas are not ideal to grow plants like Monstera Deliciosa.

2. Misting the Plant is Not the Only Solution:

In many cases, plant parents prefer to mist their Monstera plant to meet humidity needs. Well, this is not an ideal way to achieve the feat. If you live in an area, where the humidity level is below 40%, misting the plant a few times may not give you the expected outcome.

This is because if the weather is warm and the air is dry, the water droplets will evaporate quickly. Misting will not help your plant get the much-needed moisture for an extended period. The best way to maintain a balanced humidity level is to keep the air around the Monstera plant moist most of the time.

On the other hand, plant parents who live in areas with above 60% humidity level should be careful with their misting practices. The air in highly humid areas is saturated with moisture and if you try to add more moisture to your Monstera through misting, the plant may develop mold.

Ways to Keep the Environment Humid

Misting your Monstera may help you for a short period but if you want a long-term solution you have to keep the environment humid for an extended period. If the humidity level of your area is low, you have to take additional steps to make the environment favorable for your beloved Monstera. Here are some ways to maintain the right humidity level in your room.

1. Adding Greenhouse to Your Room:

You can prepare a mini greenhouse for your Monstera. A small greenhouse made of glass or plastic can help your Monstera retain the much-needed moisture. You can prepare it on your own or buy it online.

The greenhouse box will create a mini-environment inside your room and help houseplants like Monstera Deliciosa to thrive. If your Monstera plant is big enough, you have to bring a larger size greenhouse box.

2. Bring a Moss Pole:

You can give your Monstera a moss poll to improve the level of humidity around the plant. One of the best things about a moss pole is that it can absorb and retain water for an extended period. The water absorbed by the moss pole evaporates gradually and raises the level of humidity around the plant.

Also, a moss pole can help a Monstera grow aerial roots, which can lead to a better growth rate for your Monstera. You can visit a nearby nursery to buy a moss pole or order it online for your convenience.

3. An Aquarium May Do the Job:

This may sound like an out-of-the-box idea but even a small aquarium can add a lot of moisture to the air. An aquarium act as a little waterbody inside your room. It raises the level of humidity in the room by evaporating the water slowly, thereby giving your Monstera a perfect environment to grow.

Also, an aquarium can provide water fertilizer. Aquarium water is very rich in molecules like nitrogen which you can provide to your Monstera regularly.

4. Minimizing the Room Temperature:

This is an effective solution to keep the humidity level in your room in check. Warm air cannot hold too much moisture and can make the environment dry. If you keep the temperature of your room low, you can improve the humidity level.

In some cases, plant parents make mistake by reducing the temperature of the room suddenly. Such action can stress your Monstera. Hence, you have to bring the temperature down slowly and make the environment favourable for the plant.

5. Keep Plants Clumped Together:

If you keep houseplants in a group, you can help them benefit from each other. This is a simple way to raise the level of humidity around your Monstera plant. Remember, each plant releases a small amount of moisture during transpiration.

If you keep them in a group, they can make the environment favorable for each other. However, keeping a low humidity plant with a higher one will not be a good idea. Make, sure you have chosen the right plants for grouping.

6. Bring a Humidifier into Your Room:

If you are ready to spend some money on your Monstera and other houseplants in your house, you can invest in a humidifier. Remember, a quality humidifier can be a game-changer. You can use a humidifier to raise the humidity level of your room.

Hence, if you are too busy to apply other methods, you can buy a humidifier to get your job done. Humidifiers are available in various sizes and you can choose one according to the size of the area you want to cover with the device.

When choosing the type, you can prefer a warm mist humidifier. This type of humidifier can mimic the natural habitat of the Monstera plant. Also, before installing a humidifier in your room, make sure the level of humidity in your room is low otherwise excessive humidity can cause mold.

So, Should You Mist Your Monstera?

Many plant parents recommend misting for raising the humidity level around Monstera plants. However, the question is that is misting an effective method to add humidity around a houseplant.

Well, as a responsible plant parent, you may feel good about doing something for your beloved Monstera Deliciosa plant. But the fact is that misting is a very short-lived solution.

Once you mist your Monstera, water droplets all over the plant may last for 10 minutes. To ensure real impact, you may have to mist your Monstera multiple times. However, frequent misting can also invite issues like water spots and mold.

If you mist your Monstera frequently, you will find water spots across its shiny leaves. Also, too much water can make the process of evaporation slower, which can lead to the development of mould. Hence, misting only cannot help your Monstera enjoy a favorable environment to thrive. It is better to raise the level of humidity in the room instead of misting the plant only.

Conclusion

Monstera Deliciosa is a strong houseplant and it can survive even in unfavorable conditions. However, you can help the plant to thrive happily by providing it with an ideal environment. If you live in a dry area with below 40% humidity level, you should provide your Monstera with adequate humidity. Misting is a way to add moisture to the plant but if you only rely on misting, you may not get a satisfactory outcome. This is because misting only cannot help the plant to get moisture all the time. It is better to let the plant extract moisture from the environment itself. You can try the methods we have mentioned in the article to give your plant the amount of humidity it needs to thrive happily. We hope the information we have shared will help you take care of your Monstera effectively. We request readers to share their views on the same and help us learn more about the Monstera Deliciosa plant.

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