Chinese evergreen plant, also known as Aglaonema, is a tropical shrub native to Southeast Asia. This plant prefers high humidity and indirect sunlight every day. Therefore, many people are very concerned about moisture problems when growing Chinese evergreen plants.
Chinese evergreen humidity is becoming one of the keywords that many people search for the answer to on gardening forums and blogs. What is the ideal humidity for Chinese evergreen plants to grow best? How to maintain humidity in the room? What are the signs of humidity that are too high or too low for plant health? All answers are in the article below.
Do Chinese Evergreen Plants Like Humidity?
Chinese evergreen plants are native to the tropical forests of Southeast Asia. Therefore, the ideal humidity for the best growth of this plant is between 60 and 70%. If Chinese evergreen plants receive enough indirect light and ideal humidity, they will grow quickly and thrive. The foliage will have a bright green color and unique patterns on the leaves.
However, plants are known for their ability to adapt to a variety of living conditions. Therefore, they can survive in rooms with an average humidity of 40-50%, even 30%. Too low humidity will put undue stress on Chinese evergreen plants and affect their growth rate of the plants.
In particular, low humidity will cause plants to lose water quickly. Water vapor in the cells will evaporate to the outside through the stomata on the leaves during photosynthesis and metabolism. If you put the potted plant in an area with direct sunlight with high intensity plus low humidity, it will cause the plants to get sunburned and overstressed.
Read more: Chinese Evergreen Light Requirements: How Much Light Is Enough?
What Are The Signs Of Chinese Evergreen Plants For Lack Of Moisture?
To determine the humidity in the room accurately, you can use a hygrometer. This instrument will tell you exactly how much humidity is in your room. In addition, you can observe some of the behavior of plants when they are deprived of moisture below.
Leaves droop, brittle, and curl: Lack of moisture in the air and soil will cause leaves to droop around the pot and roll up. The reason is that the water vapor in the cells is evaporated to the outside, while the root system does not provide enough water to replace it. Therefore, the cells in the leaves will become dehydrated and deformed. The leaf shape cannot be maintained as it should, so it will droop or curl due to the breakdown of the topology from the cells.
Leaves change color at the same time: Low humidity and lack of water cause the leaves of plants to turn yellow simultaneously. If you do not water and increase the humidity of the plants, the leaves will fall. Lack of water and lack of moisture also inhibits the photosynthesis of plants. Therefore, plants cannot photosynthesize and produce chlorophyll to maintain the green color of their leaves. The color of the foliage will vary from yellow to brown depending on how dehydrated the plant is.
Plant growth stunted: When there is a lack of moisture and lack of water, the root system is unable to transport water, nutrients, and other substances necessary for plant growth. Therefore, Chinese evergreen plants will grow stunted, wilt, and lose their leaves. Take a look at the ground and check the moisture in the soil. Cracks are a sign of a severe lack of moisture in the soil.
How To Increase Humidity For Chinese Evergreen Plants?
As you know, Chinese evergreen plants are plants that prefer high-humidity environments. Therefore, you need to create an ideal living environment with high humidity to stimulate plant growth. There are many ways to increase humidity and maintain ideal humidity for plants. Here are some methods you can apply to maintain humidity in your home.
Use A Humidifier
It is the simplest and most effective method to maintain ideal humidity for Chinese evergreen plants. The humidifier will always ensure the temperature is at the level you set without being affected by the effects of outside weather. So your plants will always live in the ideal environment they prefer.
Many people worry about using a humidifier that will change the humidity in the house and affect other plants. However, today, there are many types of humidifiers with different purposes and sizes. You can use local humidifiers with small sizes to maintain humidity in a certain space. So it won’t change the humidity of the whole house or a large space. In addition, you can also use a portable humidifier to place near the potted area without affecting other plants in your house.
Mist For Plants
Misting is also one of the methods that many people apply to increase moisture in plants. It produces tiny water droplets that stick to the surface of the leaves. These water beads will act to provide temporary moisture to the plants to avoid excessive stress.
However, according to many studies, if the humidity in your room is below 50%, misting will not bring noticeable effects. The reason is that high temperatures will cause water vapor to rise quickly and not be of much help to plants. If the humidity in your home is high and you continue to mist your plants, fungal diseases will increase. This is because a humid environment creates favorable conditions for fungal diseases and infections to increase.
Some important notes when you mist Chinese Evergreen plants
- Mist plants with room temperature water. Do not use cold water for misting in summer and warm water for misting in winter. Plants will be severely affected by this misconception.
- Do not mist at night or at night. Lack of sunlight will slow evaporation. Therefore, water particles will create a humid environment, and harmful fungi and bacteria will quickly invade and attack plants.
- You should not spray mist on low-temperature, rainy, and cloudy days. Because the humidity in the air will be high and plants do not need more water and moisture on the leaves.
- The frequency of misting depends on the actual temperature and humidity of the day. You should not abuse continuous misting to avoid causing fungal diseases.
Place Potted Plants Next To Fish Tanks Or Water Trays
You can increase the humidity of the plants by placing the pot next to the aquarium or water tray. The process of evaporating water from aquariums and water trays can strengthen plants and maintain regular humidity. Humidity around the aquarium and water tray will be 5% higher than in other areas of your house. In addition, you can use the water in the aquarium to water the plants. The water in the aquarium has a high nitrogen content, so it is good for maintaining the green color of the plants.
Put The Potted Plants Next To Each Other
You can increase the humidity of Chinese evergreen plants by placing pots side by side. However, you need to be aware that these different plants all prefer high humidity in the air. The process of plant respiration and air exchange will also produce water vapor continuously. So when you group plants next to each other, they can take advantage of the constant evaporation of water from other plants to maintain moisture.
However, you should not put them too close together, and create gaps to promote respiration and air circulation. In particular, the pots are not too close to each other to avoid the risk of infection with fungal diseases and pests.
Place Potted Plants Near The Bathroom
The bathroom or water source area is where the humidity is higher in your home. You can place the potted plant in the bathroom to take advantage of the moisture that rises from the water during your use. Make sure your bathroom area has windows and plants still get 8 to 10 hours of indirect sunlight each day. In addition, using a mini greenhouse is an effective method to maintain the ideal humidity for plants without being affected by external weather influences.
Read this post: Can You Put Earthworms in Potted Plants? The Pros and Cons
Final Conclusion
Chinese evergreen plants are plants that are native to tropical forests. Therefore, they usually prefer high humidity of 60-70%. High humidity will promote growth and maintain the irrigated green color of the foliage. Conversely, low humidity will cause many serious health problems for plants. Some common signs include dry, wilted, curled, or drooping leaves around the pot. In addition, leaves also turn yellow or brown simultaneously with stunted growth.
Some methods you can use to maintain and increase the humidity in your home such as using a humidifier and placing potted plants next to an aquarium, water tray, or bathroom to take advantage of the rising moisture. In addition, you can also group pots next to each other or use mini greenhouses to maintain ideal humidity for plants.
If you have any questions, don’t forget to leave a comment below the article and we will discuss the most suitable methods. Thank you for listening to my comments.