Greenhouser, where you keep plants exclusively in one particular room, as in a greenhouse, I suppose such high humidity level would work for the plants benefit.
Definitely not though for anybody who was to take up residence in such a room.
The normal humidity level for the average home is 40 - 50 percent. Anything above those levels your nasal passages would feel it, the walls would run and the temperature in the room would feel lower and not be very comforatable.

In the average home where plants are not kept in such rooms, if they need such higher humidity they can be usually accommodated with trays or bowls of water nearby or regularly misted. At this time of season it may be more necessary than other times due to the dryness of rooms when the furnace comes on. But still, humidity above the 50% would have to be arranged for by mechanical means such as humidifiers.
Sometimes, there are such add-ons to furnaces, water is tubed into an attached tray for which the furnace air wafting over it then delivers it through the system to all the rooms. It can be fixed to deliver more air to a level of water.

I have plants all over the house, but I do have a humidifier in the area where the majority of them are located that keeps it around 50%.
Most of my plants are grouped together, which helps with the humidity issue.

jeannie7

Most of my plants are in a large sunroom with 2 doorways. One to the kitchen and one to a hallway. It does feel cooler and there and I love it when the sun is out. The sun heats that room like a greenhouse (I also have 2 of those) making it uncomfortable. Now it stays cooler. Two of the humidifiers are the swamp-cooler type and two the water breaker type. There is no condensation on the walls, windows or ceilings. A fan runs constantly to keep the air moving. As you know plants don't like stagnant air.

I had a auto-humidifier in the other house I lived in and now regret not having one installed when we built this house.

Pics of the sunroom taken in the past 2 months.

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my office is one of the warmest, driest I've ever been in. Usual temps is 72-76, sometimes up to eighty. Forced air heat. People complain if it gets below 74 (not me.)

As a result, I have a fan going, which only dries the air out more.

I don't know how dry it is, but my water trays dry out in 2 days, and I water my peace lilies about that often as well.

Greenhouser,
You have some very nice plants there!

Do you happen to know the name of the plant in your first photo, the plant is on the far left with the pleated leaves? It looks similar to one's I have seen at Lowe's, but there is never any id tags.

Thanks,
Billy Rae

Gratt: I got that plant at Home Depot last fall. I have no idea what it is. I couldn't even guess. I didn't see it in any of my houseplant books.

Blutarski: You can get a cheap hygrometer for your office. I can see the improvement in my plants since adding the humidifiers.

greattigerdane / greenhouser:

The plant with pleated leaves in the first pic is a Carludovica 'Jungle Drum'.

I suspected it was some kind of palm but the trunk part didn't look palm-like. So I thought it had to be something else. Eeeeek! They get big.

There is nothing drier than a winter air. 'Course the reason being, cold air doesn't hold as much moisture as warm air.
In fact, the Sahara Desert is more moister than the average home in winter without steps to correct.

Too much moisture in the air of a home makes it uncomfortable and can cause the sniffles and runny noses.
Plants like the air cooler, especially at night. They take up much less water and with low light they rest better.

Blutarski, in your office you might try putting a tray of water in front of the heat vent. Let the moving air put moisture into the surrounding air.
A plant that likes being moist, put on a window sill can give some moisture to the area around it.
Otherwise, a tray there where in direct path of the sun through the glass can raise the moisture level.
If you are close to where the heat is controlled, you might try dropping it a degree---others may not notice the change and live with it. Then drop it another degree....take it slow and devious, see if anybody complains and they might see that 68 - 70 is a good temperature to work in.
The trouble often is that the control (thermostat) is in direct path of a door that is continually being opened allowing cold air to decide how the control should say whether the boiler should come on or not.

Convince the boss that the range when the boiler comes on can be dropped so that instead of 72 - 76....make it 68 - 72. Those that do have a faint heart suggest a sweater that can be put on or taken off.

Drier air in winter is less comfortable than more humid air. Dry air leads to chapped or cracked skin, nosebleeds, and sinus problems. Moist air is better for plants and people alike. Also furniture. And pets.

Lowering the temperature will increase the relative humidity, but it doesn't cause there to be more moisture in the air. Humidity level is defined relative to the maximum amount of water vapor that air can hold (air at 50% humidity contains half as much water vapor as it can; at 100% humidity there's nowhere for additional moisture to go, and you start to get rain or dew). Warmer air has more capacity than cooler air. Increasing humidity levels by lowering the temperature is a little bit like trying to raise a flag by lowering the pole it's attached to.

Most indoor plants will do better with a lower night temperature, but most indoor plants are also tropical, so their idea of "low" isn't very cold at all (and in fact, a lot of them can be damaged by temperatures below 60F / 16C). I would not put a tropical plant on a windowsill in cold weather: leaves touching the window can be damaged, and the overall temperature tends to be much colder by a window. If it's not practical / permissible to use an actual humidifier, bringing plants home for the season, grouping several plants together or surrounding plants with damp moss or pebble trays, adding a glass or plastic cover for the plants, or using plants that don't care about humidity levels (and there are more of those than you'd think) are pretty much the only options.

To answer the original question: the room I'm typing in right now is about 76F (24C) and 55% humidity. The humidity level is normal; the temperature is a little higher than usual.

mr_subjunctive,

Thank you much for the id!

Billy Rae

I have a 2 gal. Air o Swiss and try to keep mine up over 50%. Right now it's 60%. In the main plant area in a west picture window.

I have a humidifier running 24 hours in my livingroom, and I can't get the humidity above 60. Usually below that. I also have some plants on humidity trays with pebbles. My 3 kitties still spark when I pet them. :(
Greenhouser, your greenhouse is enviable. Also, your Jungle Drum looks great. I have one, and my leaves are browing around the edges and it's on a pebble tray. Congrats!

Sherry

Humidity in my terrs is about 70%. In my apt ... about 20% sometimes less. The "joys" of furnaces.

Thank you. I really love my plants. Now that I'm retired I'm really getting carried away. I can't wait for spring so I can get out and play in the dirt. :) I love outdoor gardening as much as I love my indoor houseplants.

WOW WOw WOW..What a beautiful room you have. I have always wanted a room full of plants like this. I also use a humidifyer and keep my room at 60 humidity. But my question is this...How do you not fear getting an infestation of some kind of insect such as spidermites, thrips, or other , and if so ,what would you do to solve the problem in the middle of winter.? Are you concerned? The more plants you have , the more risk you take with insects right? Please, tell me what you feel on this so I can begin to not worry about growing so many plants I would love to grow in one room together myself. Thanks so much.
Looking forward to hearing from you. Beautiful plants you have .Great job!:-)

Humidity inside my fluorescent light garden ranges from 60-80%. Not sure what the humidity in the rest of the apartment is anymore since I moved my hygrometer into the light garden, but it usually averaged 30-40%. Though it has been known to shoot up to 90% if I take a long, hot shower or do the dishes. At any rate, it seems to work for my regular houseplants.

I gave up pebble trays long ago as impractical because, IMHO they don't seem to be a significant source of humidity. I find that grouping plants close together works better. I also have most of my plants in or near the kitchen as well so they're always getting at least some boost in humidity.

Billy, I bought a Jungle Drum at Home Depot Saturday. Since they're Exotic Angel plants, HD gets quite a few..they also sell larger potted JD's there.

I prefer 50%+ humidity in winter..Each room in our house varies...50-70%. Since gas heat dries the air, we have to provide sources that will help maintain moisture..not only for plants, but pets and people, too...we keep 2 humidifers and 2 indoor foutains running, daily misting, humidity trays, and little cups of water behind small plants..Every little effort helps. Toni

Currently it's 64% on my humidity tray, 51% on the other side of the room and 32% on the other side of the house. Of course, back here there's about 110 plants between two rooms (lots of small pots!) a 10 gallon fishtank, two fishbowls and an ornamental fountain along with the humidity tray.