# Green Thumbs: Indoor Plant Dampness Problem

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/green-thumbs-indoor-plant-dampness-problem/982108>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [April 3, 2023, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/green-thumbs-indoor-plant-dampness-problem/982108 "2023-04-03T23:29:22Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\
**Post date:** [April 3, 2023, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/green-thumbs-indoor-plant-dampness-problem/982108/1 "2023-04-03T23:29:22Z")

</div>

My daughter has a fair collection of indoor plants in her bedroom. But, her room smells of dampness. In contrast, my late mother had quite a collection of house plants in the kitchen and family room. These rooms were larger with plenty of window area (a large, bay window and sliding glass doors) and probably better air flow.

Have you SD Green Thumbs run into this smell problem and what can be done to combat it (other than tossing the plants out)?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\
**Post date:** [April 3, 2023, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/green-thumbs-indoor-plant-dampness-problem/982108/2 "2023-04-03T23:37:38Z")

</div>

One thought may be using a small fan, but what impact will this have on the plants? Won’t it just dry out the soil creating a vicious cycle of watering, probably gaining us nothing???

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\
**Post date:** [April 4, 2023, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/green-thumbs-indoor-plant-dampness-problem/982108/3 "2023-04-04T00:15:29Z")

</div>

One more thought: Maybe she is overwatering her plants?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\
**Post date:** [April 4, 2023, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/green-thumbs-indoor-plant-dampness-problem/982108/4 "2023-04-04T02:19:13Z")

</div>

Have her put them out once a day, weather permitting.

Yeah, and don’t overeater.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\
**Post date:** [April 5, 2023, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/green-thumbs-indoor-plant-dampness-problem/982108/5 "2023-04-05T04:35:53Z")

</div>

Not sure what “smells of dampness” means.

Do you mean “smells of mold”? Or “smells like a healthy greenhouse”? Or something else?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\
**Post date:** [April 6, 2023, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/green-thumbs-indoor-plant-dampness-problem/982108/6 "2023-04-06T19:51:19Z")

</div>

I was reading a book about the Pacific conflict in WWII, and it mentioned that sailors could sometimes detect the nearness of land by smelling damp earth and rotting vegetation on tropical islands as far as 20 miles away.

More evidence that the dreaded P.O.\* is due to excess watering and rot?

\*Plant Odor