What are humidity stones and how do they work? If you have indoor plants, you need to make sure that they are well-watered especially during the summer season. While indoor plants love moisture, they should not be soaked in water because they can start to rot. Fortunately, there are humidity stones that you can use to maintain moisture and humidity in your indoor plants. Let us learn more about this below.
How do humidity stones work? Humidity stones work by producing evaporation. The water that is poured on the stones will evaporate which increases the level of humidity around the stones. Placing a pot of indoor plants on top of the humidity stones can help it gather much-needed moisture without getting soaked in water.
Humidity stones are a great help for indoor plants that need higher air humidity. You can purchase them at your local garden center, or you can even make one at home. What are humidity stones? Do humidity stones really work? How do stones create humidity? What is the best humidity for indoor plants? These are some of the questions that we will discuss. Read the rest of the article below for tips on how to use humidity stones for plants and how to make your own.
What are Humidity Stones?
Humidity stones are basically stones you can find in your garden. When water is poured into the stones, they help increase the air humidity around the plants. Humidity stones are a simple and easy way to provide your indoor plants with a comfortable and humid environment. Simply place the potted plant at the top of the humidity stones and pour water into the stones.
The stones will prevent the plant from gathering too much water. Water from the stones evaporates into the air and gets soaked by the plants. A lot of indoor plants can benefit from humidity stones which include orchids. By using humidity stones, there is no need to install a humidifier to help increase the moisture in the air. Place the indoor plant at the top of the humidity stones and allow it to benefit from the moisture that is released from the stones as water evaporates.
Are Humidity Stones Any Good?
Humidity stones are a good and helpful tool that you can use to help your indoor plants thrive. Water evaporates from the stones and increases humidity. Water that is poured on the tray will turn to gas and will diffuse in all directions. These water molecules will spread throughout the room. Placing a pot of indoor plants on top of the stones will allow it to soak moisture. On the other hand, take note that if you add only a small amount of water into the humidity stones, it will not make any difference in the humidity level of the room.
How to Make a Humidity Tray from Stones
To make a humidity tray from humidity stones, you will need a few materials such as a tray, stones, and water. Making a humidity tray is simple and easy. All the materials that you need are available in your home. You can use an ordinary tray that you can purchase at your local garden centers. If you do not have one, you can also use any container that is about an inch deep. Below, we have shared the steps on how to make a humidity tray from stones.
Step 1 – Choose a Tray
The first step is to choose a tray that can hold water. It is recommended that you choose a tray or a container that is at least an inch deep. You can choose a tray that is small to hold a single indoor plant, or you can also choose a large tray that can hold multiple indoor plants.
Step 2 – Add Stones
Once you have chosen the tray, the next step is to add the stones. You can use whatever stones you have at home. Thoroughly clean the stones before you add them to the tray. You can also purchase stones from your garden center.
Step 3 – Add Water
Once you have placed the stones on the tray, the next step is to add water. Take note that if you will place pots with drainage holes at the top of the stones, the water that you add should not be too high. Otherwise, the water level will reach the bottom of the pots. You can use tap water. However, if your tap water produces a lot of white mineral buildup, you can use distilled water.
Step 4 – Place the Pots
The next step is to place the pots at the top of the humidity tray. Let it soak the moisture that comes from the tray. Add water into the tray as needed.
✅ Video – Making a Humidity Tray
Growing Wisdom shared the video below on YouTube. It discusses how to make a humidity tray. In the video, Dave shows the step-by-step process of how to make a humidity tray for your indoor plants. Check out the video for the visual demonstration.
Do Humidity Stones Really Work?
Humidity stones work because they help provide humidity to your plants. Humidity stones are best used during the spring and all season. The temperature is cooler and your indoor plants can soak all the moisture from the stones. However, humidity stones should not be used during the winter season because they will not work.
How to Increase the Humidity for Your Plants
There are different ways to increase humidity for your plants which include using humidity stones, misting your plants, and using a humidifier. The new plants that you have purchased have probably spent a lot of time exposed to a warm and humid environment. Placing them indoors can affect the growth of the plants because the conditions inside your house are quite dry, especially during the winter season. For your plants to thrive and flourish, it is important that you provide the appropriate humidity indoors.
Humidity Stones
One of the ways to increase humidity for your plants is to use humidity stones. Place stones in a tray and add water. Next, place the potted plants at the top of the stones. The stones effectively hold the plant above the water making sure that the roots are not wet. Water on the stones will start to evaporate and increases the moisture in the air.
Misting
Another way to increase humidity for your plants is to mist them. On the other hand, the effects of misting are only temporary. Moreover, some plants should not be misted. These are mostly plants with hairy leaves. This is because the hair on the leaves of the plants can hold water which can encourage diseases when exposed to too much water.
Humidifier
You can also use a humidifier to increase the humidity level in the room. Humidifiers are good for plants, but they also provide benefits for humans.
Microclimate
Create a microclimate to increase humidity for your plants. Placing several plants in a group will create a pocket of humidity.
Watering
Water your plants regularly especially during the winter season. This will provide extra moisture and will also remove any dust from the leaves where tiny pests would like to hide.
What is the Best Humidity for Indoor Plants?
The best humidity for indoor plants varies because the different plant requires different humidity level. This will mainly depend on the origin of the plant. For instance, desert cactus requires different growing conditions as compared to plants that come from other regions. Moreover, plants that grow in tropical regions experience an excess of about eighty percent in humidity levels.
The most common tropical indoor plants thrive in environments with a humidity level of around 50%. When the humidity drops from this level, the plants will have trouble. Take note that plants use their roots to collect water. The collected water moves up through the stem, into the leaves, and escapes into the air. The water at the roots of the indoor plants can compensate for low humidity levels. On the other hand, every plant has a limit on how far they can be able t handle this. Check out this article that we have shared that discusses if cement is stronger than plaster of Paris. We have shared more helpful information about the topic.
How Do Stones Create Humidity?
Stones create humidity when the water that is poured into them evaporates. This is good for your indoor plants. Put some stones in a tray or a container and add water until the Stones are not quite covered. Next, place the indoor plants at the top of the stones. You can also check out this article titled, can you remove limewash from brick? We have shared helpful tips and ideas about limewashing bricks that you can refer to.
Do Humidity Stone Trays Attract Bugs?
Humidity stones should not attract bugs. In case you see some bugs on the stones, it might come from the outdoors where you have gathered the stones. To prevent bugs, make sure to wash and clean the stones before placing them into the tray. You can also check out this article that we have shared that discusses if you can mix white cement and plaster of Paris. We have shared an in-depth discussion about the topic.
Conclusion
You have reached the end of this article that discusses how humidity stones work. In this article, we have discussed what humidity stones are and how they work. Humidity stones are helpful for indoor plants because they increase the humidity level in the room which the plants need. We have also shared tips on how to make humidity trays from stones. Thank you for reading!