What is the best humidity level for growing indoor plants?
Flowering plants grow best when humidity is at 40 per cent, and ideally in a range of 50 to 60 per cent. You can assess humidity using a hygrometer available at plant suppliers or hardware stores. This not so expensive instrument measures humidity (the moisture in the air) just as a thermometer measures and records the temperature. A hair hygrometer costs more but is much more precise than those that depend on paper.
There are several ways to increase the humidity around your fluorescent-lighted garden.
-Grow plants on top of a
-Set glasses of water among your plants or put potted plants on bricks sitting in water.
There are many kinds of fogging devices which growers utilize everyday or several times a day to maintain the moist in the air.
-Check your hygrometer in the morning time. When relative humidity is less than 50 per cent, use warm water instead to mist the air surrounding your plants, and fog them until beads of moisture are visible on all foliage.
Electrical humidifiers are a real blessing to indoor gardening success. Even a gallon-size
one will bring up the humidity in a small plant room. Choose a cool-vapor type, an ideally one with a humidistat. It would be an advantage if your home were centrally humidified. You may keep the humidity between 40 and 50 per cent and would still feel comfortable in the winter with temperatures at 70 degrees.
If you want a fluorescent-lighted basement garden, but do not want to try humidifying the whole basement, you can rapidly and inexpensively set up walls of polyethylene plastic. Install a cool-vapor humidifier and humidistat, a small circulating fan to maintain air movement, and your basement greenhouse would be complete. If you burn numerous fluorescent units inside, they would create enough warmth to put the average basement temperatures into an ideal rate for most pot plants.
Basic Fluorescent Light Setups for Indoor Gardening
How Much Light Does Your Indoor Garden Need?
How Fluorescent Lights Promote Growth and Flowering
© 2012 Athena Goodlight
