Should I Mist My Schefflera? (+Humidity Requirement Guide)

Schefflera or Umbrella plant is a popular plant native to Australia, Taiwan, and China. Many growers have questions regarding whether they should mist their Schefflera plant or how much humidity they should give to their plant.

Despite its short-lived effects, you can mist your Schefflera occasionally as it is a popular way to increase the humidity around the plant. Misting also helps in keeping the leaves clean. However, if you are looking for a long-term solution to increasing humidity, you should use a humidifier.

In this article, I will explain how misting can help your Schefflera plant and the other options for increasing the humidity around them.

Does Schefflera like to be misted?

Schefflera plants like to be misted because misting increases the humidity around the plant and keep the leaves clean and dust-free.

Though misting is not compulsory for this plant, you can do it to get its benefits.

Misting the leaves of plants helps increase the humidity and allows the plants to photosynthesize better and use the energy efficiently.

While misting, you can add a few drops of Neem oil to the water, which magically prevents bugs and pests.

However, if you live in a dry area and depend solely on misting to raise humidity levels, it will not give long-term results.

This is because the water on the plant evaporates quickly and does not leave a long-lasting result.

You should also remember that if you live in an area that is already very humid, misting can lead to complications like pests and fungus growth due to the water droplets not being able to evaporate due to too much humidity.

Should I mist my Schefflera?

Many plant lovers remain confused about whether they should mist their plants or not.

Because misting has certain benefits, too much misting or misting at the wrong time can also cause issues to your plant, like fungus growth.

Here, let’s look at the pros and cons of misting, which would help you clear your doubts.

After understanding both the advantages and disadvantages of misting, you can decide whether you want to mist the plant or not.

Advantages and disadvantages of misting a Schefflera

Advantages	Disadvantages
Misting is an easy and simple way to increase humidity around the plant quickly.	Though easy, the effects of misting are quite short-lived.
Misting helps to clean the leaves of dust and pollution.	If the water stays for long without getting evaporated, it can harm the plant.
It helps to prevent pests like spider mites and mealybugs.	It can lead to fungal growth if not let dry.

However, if you choose to mist your Schefflera, you must know a few more things because misting at the wrong time and way can harm the plant.

• Depending solely on misting to raise humidity will not be much effective. 
• If you live in a dry area with humidity below 35%-40%, you should opt for other ways like pebble trays and humidifiers and use them along with misting.
• While misting, adding Neem oil will help keep your Schefflera free from bugs once in a while. Neem oil is a natural pesticide that repels every kind of pests and bug without damaging the plant. 
• Do not mist your plant too frequently unless you see the plant needs humidity. Misting without the need keeps the plant wet for longer, giving rise to pests’ attacks.
• Always mist only with room temperature water. Too hot or too cold water can stress the plant.
• Do not mist your plant during monsoon season or on gloomy, rainy days because then the water droplets do not evaporate and stay wet for a longer time giving rise to the risk of pest infestations.
• It is advisable to mist the Schefflera in the mornings so that the light and air during the rest of the day help get the water droplets evaporated.

Do Schefflera plants like humidity?

Schefflera plants belong to the tropical world, where they thrive in humidity.

They thrive in high humidity conditions, and experts suggest humidity levels around this plant should be at least 50% for them to flourish.

Generally, households have humidity around 15-20%, so you must use artificial ways to increase humidity around the plant in such circumstances.

If you keep the Schefflera plant in an area with extremely low humidity below 40% for a certain period without giving it humidity, your plant’s health is bound to suffer.

You must keep your umbrella plant away from cold vents, air conditioners, and heaters as they tend to suck up the moisture out of your plants.

The plant will begin to dry up because due to a higher transpiration rate, the plant will start losing moisture resulting in dry shriveled-looking plants.

This will make the plant weaker and more easily attacked by pests and fungus.

Therefore if you grow tropical plants like Schefflera as houseplants, you must give the plant sufficient humidity. 

How do you check the humidity level around the plant?

It often gets tricky for plant growers, especially beginners, to understand how much humidity the plant is getting.

The easiest way to measure the humidity around the plant is by using a device called a hygrometer to measure the humidity and indoor temperatures.

They are very easily available in the market or online and serve as an important tool for people who like to grow plants indoors.

With the help of this, you can understand whether the humidity range in your house is suitable for your Schefflera.

If you find it low, you can then use ways to increase the humidity that would suit your plant’s requirements.

How much humidity is required for Schefflera?

Experts suggest that you give your Schefflera plant at least 50-60% of humidity to let it thrive.

Belonging to the tropical regions, this plant requires adequate humidity to grow indoors.

You have to set up a humid, warm condition similar to the native place they grow in.

If you do not follow that, your plant’s health will suffer, and unless cured, ignoring the plant’s need for a long period can kill it too.

Signs that your plant requires more humidity

While growing tropical plants as houseplants, lower humidity is a common problem many growers face.

Schefflera plants are very hardy, but they still require suitable growth conditions, including high humidity.

When your plant gets lower humidity than it needs, it shows several signs.

If you see these signs on your umbrella plant, you must act immediately.

Let us see some of your Schefflera’s signs when it gets low humidity.

• Yellow and brown leaves signify that your plant is not getting enough humidity, and they are losing moisture from the leaves. 
• Curling leaves: The leaves begin to curl up to save moisture loss from the plant.
• Shedding leaves is another sign of low humidity.
• Dehydrated and dry-looking plant: As the plant loses humidity and becomes weaker, it gradually loses its shine and becomes diseased. 
• Dry and crispy leaves are caused by excessive moisture loss from the leaves as they begin to grow dehydrated and weak.

However, you also must remember that these signs can indicate some other problems.

So when you notice these signs, you can use a hygrometer and check the moisture level around the plant.

If it is within range, there must be another problem that the plant faces.  

And if you see the humidity level is causing the stress, you have to resort to artificial means to increase the humidity around.

How to increase the humidity around Schefflera?

There are multiple ways to increase the humidity level around your Schefflera artificially.

Let us discuss those.

Humidifier

If you live in an area where the air is really dry and want to grow houseplants, humidifiers are the most important devices you must buy.

Humidifiers are small portable devices that provide the most long-lasting effect and keep the environment humid for a long time. 

All you need to do is invest in a good humidifier from the market to get this or buy it online.

Fill it up with distilled water or rainwater and place it near your plant.

This helps replicate the plant’s natural environment, which helps it thrive and grow.

Humidifiers let you control the humidity level and increase or decrease the humidity around the plant.

Grouping

An easy and popular way to raise the humidity level around your Schefflera is by grouping it with other humidity-loving houseplants.

By doing this, the plants enjoy an environment similar to their natural habitat, and the moisture given off by the plants creates a rich, humid and warm environment.

However, you must examine all your plants carefully before grouping them because, in this process, bugs or pests from one plant easily spread to the others. 

Pebble tray

Another popular way to increase the humidity level is by using pebble trays.

For this, you need a tray r a saucer to fill it with 1 inch of pebbles or rocks. 

Pour water onto this plate so that the pebbles get moist and stay half submerged. Now place the plant pot on this layer of the pebble. 

As the water from the plate evaporates, the area around your plant will get humid, raising the humidity around the plant.

However, one note of precaution you must remember.

Do not let the water directly touch the bottom of the pot as that might lead to wet soil resulting in root rots and fungus, which can be dangerous for the plant.

On hot summer days, the water will evaporate faster, and you have to refill the plate, which might be a hassle for some.

Keep the plant near an aquarium.

Using aquariums is another way to raise the humidity around your plant.

It works similar to the pebble tray.

As the water from the aquarium evaporates, the area around it gets more humidity.

Keeping the plant near it will benefit from this water and solve the low humidity problem.

Relocate the plant

For those who find using the other ways quite a nuisance, the best way is to relocate the Schefflera to a humid area of your home.

Bathrooms, kitchen, and laundry rooms are some of the areas in our homes that are most humid.

If these rooms are well-lit and airy, you can keep your Schefflera plant here. 

Use a mini greenhouse.

Nurseries keep their plants in greenhouses because they are the ideal spots where your plants grow the best.

You can also invest in greenhouses if you have the space to arrange one. 

Final words 

Misting is a good and easy way to give your plant an instant humidity boost and keep the leaves shiny ad glossy. However, it does not provide a long-term solution to the humidity requirement of your plant.

If increasing humidity is the primary job, you must employ any of the other methods like pebble trays, humidifiers, and the ones discussed above, and then along with that, you can mist your plant.

Remember to use Neem oil diluted in the water while misting every month to keep the plant naturally protected against pests infestations.

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Reference: Wikipedia, Sciencedirect, Britannica, American Society for Horticultural Science, Schefflera taxonomic history.