Best Plants For Low Humidity: Plants That Do Well In Low Humidity

(Image credit: Almaje)

Finding houseplants that do well in low humidity is a dream come true for many people. It can be a challenge to provide a high humidity environment, such as with daily misting, humidifiers or pebble trays. With today’s busy lifestyles, decorating with low-humidity plants is a timesaver. 

Plants that like dry air are few and far between, but many plants will tolerate low humidity. From cacti to general houseplants, here is a sampling of plants to try. 

Houseplants For Low Humidity

Low-humidity houseplants thrive in 25 to 30 percent humidity, which is typical for the average home. Compare this to the relative humidity of 70 to 80 percent that most plants need, and you can see why including some low humidity plants in your home can save some effort. 

Not surprisingly, several cacti and succulents do well in this type of environment, such as torch cacti, Kalanchoe, and jade plant. A bamboo palm is on the list as well as other houseplants for dry air such as a rubber plant, Chinese evergreen, and snake plant. 

If the humidity in your home drops below 20 percent, plants can sustain injury. Symptoms of low humidity include dry, curling leaves, brown leaf tips, or small leaves. During winter is when the home humidity is likely to drop below 20 percent. To measure the humidity in your home, you can buy a portable humidity monitor. 

Types of Indoor Plants for Low Humidity

Here are suggested houseplants for dry air: 

If plants are suffering due to low humidity, you can locate plants in the kitchen or bathroom, where the humidity is highest. You also can group plants together, which will raise the humidity. The jury is still out on whether daily misting increases humidity, plus it can increase the chance of fungal infection.

Susan Albert
Writer

After graduating from Oklahoma State University with a degree in English, Susan pursued a career in communications. In addition, she wrote garden articles for magazines and authored a newspaper gardening column for many years. She contributed South-Central regional gardening columns for four years to Lowes.com. While living in Oklahoma, she served as a master gardener for 17 years.