A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2004 Humidity

Hi I am new to house plants. I have been reading this site and found out that misting plants doesn’t provide adequate humidity. I live in Arizona so humidity is very low here. I believe I read that I should put out trays of water and something about having rocks in them?? I currently have all my plants in new pots on the fireplace mantle so that my kitty wont eat them. There is not a lot of room left up there. (5 plants all new.. first month at attempting to grow plants). If I should put trays of water how many do they need? And do all plants need humidity to grow? This is what I have above my fireplace. I did some reading and I learned these are good for people starting out.

Dumb Cane
Schefflera
Peperomia
Peace lilly
Lucky Bamboo.

Any suggestions on special care or tips for successful growing would be most helpful.

Thanks everyone..

I will post pictures as they get bigger..(hopefully)

hi minnycourt about the trays of water. the point about the tray of water with pebbles or rocks is this:
a tray of water under the plant provides humidity by having the water evaporate around the plant, thereby increasing the humidity in the immediate vicinity of the plant. trays under plants should have pebbles or rocks in them only to provide support for the plant so that it isn't sitting directly in the water which can cause root root.

about the plants you bought. i have a peace lily, 2 scheffleras, and 2 "sticks" of lucky bamboo. the peace lily is the easiest to know when to water because as soon as the soil gets too dry, the leaves will droop. i say the plant is pouting

the schefflera will tolerate dryness better than the peace lily, although, once you get to know your plants, you will see that the schefflera will pout also.

as far as the lucky bamboo is concerned, i potted mine up into potting soil and water it when i water the schefflera. (they are the same room) it will pout also, but it is tempermental with me, so i don't really let it get to me.

good luck!

Jiffymouse thanks for all the advice on the watering. I totally agree with you on the lucky bamboo. The leaves on my curl in and I have no idea why. It receives bottled water and it’s changed weekly. (no dirt just water) Some days the leaves open slightly and other days they are almost completely curled around..

One question about the humidity …I planted my new plants in pots with the bottoms attached. There is not really any way to have rocks and water in the bottom of them. So can I place water in small dishes around the plants? Will this evaporated an be enough to raise the humidity level?

minnycourt, it isn't so important that the water reach the soil. what i would do is get some pie plates or something that is slightly larger in diameter than the pot bottoms and set the pots in them. then add the water.

by the way, my lucky bamboo got much less tempermental after i potted it up. i just put in in a pot that had good drainage and a water tray underneath. it's much much happier now!

Jiffymouse that is a good idea I will pot my bamboo tomorrow. Hopefully they will not curl there leaves around after that. On the pie plates too big. My mantel above the fireplace isn’t that wide.. Maybe I will just go get some small dishes and place water in those. I will then place those in between my plants..Hopefully that will work so they don't dry out. Summer along with the dry season is quickly comming.

I’ll let you know how it goes.

Minnycourt,

None of the plants you have listed require high humidity.

If you are new to indoor plants, don't get distractd by the humidity issue. It is not very important. Light is the most important and proper potting and watering are next most important considerations.

Different plants have different light requirements. It is very important that you match the available light with appropriate plants.

New plants should not be repotted. Unnecessary repotting is the single most common cause of plant failure.

Different plant species have different watering requirements. Unfortunately you cannot put all of them on the same schedule.