Is it worth spraying plants with water?
I have read in many places that you need to spray plants at least once a day, which worries me very much this is not always a good idea. For example, if I did it myself, I would soon see the leaves filled with fungus. The point is that both in my house and outside, the air humidity is high enough that the plants, if the soil is sufficiently humid, can quench their thirst without any problems.
However the situation changes if the air humidity is low. In such a situation, it is a good idea to spray the plants with water, because if you do not do this, the leaves will turn brown and will definitely fall off.
What is air humidity and why is it crucial for plants?
Photo – Flickr/James Manners
Air humidity is nothing else than water vapor in the atmosphere.. It comes from plants that excrete it during respiration, such as oceans, rivers, lakes and other watercourses. Therefore, the closer we are to the sea, for example, the higher the humidity will be.
This is very crucial for plants, and even more so for those that live in regions where little rain falls. In fact, the most celebrated columnar cactus in the worldplatforms, saguaro, survives thanks to the morning dew; except the rainy season.
We don’t think about it often, but in order for a nice, substantial cactus to grow, it needs to be watered. There’s more: Specimens have been found with 8,000 to 9,000 liters of water accumulated in themsomething truly surprising considering the severe drought that can occur in its place of origin.
However also necessary for tropical plants. In jungles and tropical forests, rainfall is usually habitual; so that all the flora inhabiting them adapt to living in very high humidity conditions. For this reason, they suffer greatly when kept indoors where the environment is very parched.
What problems do plants have when humidity is low?
If the plant is located in an area with low air humidity, either due to exposure to drafts or due to a long distance from a watercourse, then you will have these symptoms: :
- The tips of the leaves will start to look yellowish and then brown.
- Later the leaves may fall. They don’t necessarily have to be completely parched; they may even be green.
- If they have flower buds, they will also parched out.
When should you spray plants with water?
Now that we’ve talked about what air humidity is and how crucial it is for plants, let’s focus on the main topic of this article. Do you need to spray all plants? And when? Well, to answer the first question, we will need to do this in the following cases:
- If these are exotic plants that are kept indoors.
- If they are tropical plants that are found outdoors.
But moreover, this will only need to be done when the air humidity is low. As I said at the beginning, spraying them when it is high is a very, very sedate mistake because it attracts fungiwhich can kill plants.
What time of day should this be done? In summer this will be done in the morning and overdue afternoonbecause the demand for water is greater; for the rest of the year, once a day is enough. But yes, it is crucial not to give them direct sunlight or delicate at the time of spraying, otherwise the leaves would get burned.
What water to operate?
Whenever possible please operate immaculate rainwater. It is most suitable for plants, one that they are able to absorb and operate much better. But of course, in many areas of the planet this is not possible. For example, in the Mediterranean region, rainfall usually falls in spring and autumn; what to do for the rest of the year? In such situations you will have to operate water suitable for drinking.
In other words, under no circumstances should you operate water with a very high content of lime or other massive metals, as they could clog the pores of the leaves.
Summary: can you spray plants with water?
We like plants and want to take care of them as best as we can. That’s why it’s worth reading about them and learning the rules of caring for them to keep them stunning. But it’s crucial to ignore everything these books, websites, etc. say, for one uncomplicated reason that the information we have just read does not necessarily match our reality.
For example, someone who lives in Spain but likes to read gardening books from the UK must take into account that the climate there may not be the same as in Spain, so the plants require some care. a little different. Without even going further: In Majorca, I don’t have to spray the plants with water because the air humidity is very high.; but this will have to be done by another person living on a peninsula, in a place with very low humidity.
For everything to go well, we need to know the humidity level in the place where we have our plants. Only if it is low, that is, if it is less than 50% most days, we will need to spray them. How to know? With a home weather station like this:
It is inexpensive and takes up little space. So you can place it anywhere.
As you can see, spraying may be necessary, but this is not always the case.