"Should I mist my plants?"
I'm asked this question pretty regularly so I've made a short video that should hopefully answer the questions and included in text (In case you have a friend who is more likely to read than watch who needs to hear this!)
In short, you likely don't need to be misting your plants.
Let's figure out why you want to mist your plants - you most likely want to feel like you're doing something good for your plants. You've convinced yourself it's something they need and they may even be absorbing some moisture through their leaves or you're raising the humdity around them.
Sadly, the humidity increase your plants get from you misting them is very small and doesn't last very long (Just a few minutes later and the humidity is back to what it was before).
I think there are actually more risks that arise from misting your plant - like mildew or additional pests that may thrive in a wet environment (Like fungus gnats).
So, is there a time it makes sense to mist your plants?
As a business who sells different types of mister bottles, yes!
- If you're working with an open or closed terrarium and you want to be conscious of how much water you're adding to the enviroment of your terrarium misting is a great way to introduce a little water at a time.
- Another great plant that will benefit from misting are air plants! I think they benefit more from a weekly or biweekly deep soap but they can absorb moisture an nutrients readily through their foliage so if you'd rather mist them daily it's an option!
- Lastly you can mist your plant when you're using a leaf cleaning solution to treat or prevent pests that needs to be left on either briefly before wiping off or long term (Maybe Reset Leaf to prevent spider mites on the Alocasias in your collection)
Did you find this helpful? Hoping I didn't burst your bubble too much :)
Josh, Founder of Planti Peeps