A pebble humidity tray is a great aesthetic addition to your plants but do they really work? Will they help out with the air humidity levels around your plants? Do you need a specific store-bought one in order for it to be effective or can you make one yourself?
Humidity trays will help out with increasing the air humidity around your plants. You do not need to purchase any special kind of pebbles or stones in order to have an effective humidity tray.
What are they and how do they work?
Pebble humidity trays are trays (or similar) filled with stones and water. They are an inexpensive solution that helps with humidity levels around plants.
They can be placed near plants or under the plant pots. Humidity trays are a welcomed addition for any indoor plant that requires a slightly higher air humidity.
The water poured on the pebble tray slowly evaporates, increasing air humidity around the tray.
Placing a glass of water next to the plant would also have this effect, but pebbly trays are a way more attractive solution.
You can place the pots with holes on top of humidity trays too. Make sure the pot is not in contact with water (unless you have a plant that likes to sit in water).
How to make a humidity tray for your plants?
Making your own humidity tray is easy
- Pick a dish, tray, or saucer that can hold water. The choice of the size of the tray is completely up to you. You can have a small pebble humidity tray that supports one plant or a large one that hosts a collection of plants on top of it.
- Add pebbles to the tray.
- You can collect stones in nature. We made our trays with river stones and they are doing a great job. If you’ll be collecting stones outside, make sure they are thoroughly cleaned before you start making a humidity tray.
- Store-bought stones such as aquarium gravel are a great option.
- Add water. If you will be placing pots with drainage holes on top of your tray, make sure the water isn’t poured too high. You don’t want your pots to sit in water.
- tap water is OK, however, if you see a lot of white mineral buildup, distilled water might be a better choice for you.
- All done. Place your plants next to or on top of the tray and enjoy the view. Add more water when it is needed.
Would a Pebbly Tray Attract bugs?
Generally no, the pebble tray should not attract bugs.
If you brought the stones from outdoors and see bugs soon after the reason would be the stones not being adequately cleaned before making a humidity tray. The bugs you are seeing were likely on stones already.
