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Core careWhat temperature do houseplants need?
Guidance verified against university horticulture extension sources and the RHS on 15 September 2026. Sources linked below.
Most common houseplants are comfortable at 65 to 75°F (18 to 24°C), the same range most people keep a living room, per University of Maryland Extension. Below about 50°F (10°C), tropical and subtropical species start to suffer chilling injury. In practice, the thermostat is rarely the actual problem: a cold draft, a window pane or a heating vent does more damage than the room's average temperature ever will.
What temperature range do houseplants need?
65 to 75°F (18 to 24°C) suits the great majority of common houseplants, according to University of Maryland Extension, and it is not a coincidence that this matches ordinary indoor comfort: most houseplants sold for the home are tropical or subtropical foliage species bred to tolerate typical room conditions. A plant does not need a dedicated climate to thrive; if a room is comfortable for a person in a t-shirt, it is very likely comfortable for the plant standing in it too. The exceptions worth knowing before you buy are covered in the table below: a few succulents tolerate a wider swing, and a few tropical species want the warm end of the range held more strictly.
Does the ideal temperature vary by plant?
Yes, though less than light or water needs do. The table below pulls the verified range from each plant's own guide on this site, so you can check a specific plant rather than rely on the general rule alone.
| Plant | Comfortable range | Notable limit |
|---|---|---|
| Aloe vera | 55 to 85°F (13 to 29°C) | Cannot tolerate frost |
| Monstera deliciosa | 60 to 85°F (15 to 29°C) | Avoid cold draughts, below 55°F (13°C) |
| Pothos | 60 to 85°F (15 to 29°C) | Avoid below about 55°F (13°C) |
| African violet | 65 to 80°F (18 to 27°C) | Below 60°F or above 85°F suppresses flowering |
| Philodendron | 65 to 80°F (18 to 27°C) | Briefly tolerates about 55°F (13°C) |
| Snake plant | 65 to 80°F (18 to 27°C) | Avoid below 50°F (10°C) |
| Ponytail palm | 65 to 80°F (18 to 27°C) | Hardy to about 50°F, protect from frost |
| Peace lily | 68 to 85°F (20 to 29°C) day | About 10°F cooler at night; avoid below 60°F |
| Calathea | 65 to 75°F (18 to 24°C) | No cold drafts below about 60°F (15.5°C) |
| Peperomia | 65 to 75°F (18 to 24°C) | Foliage damage below 55°F (13°C) |
| ZZ plant | 65 to 75°F (18 to 24°C) | Keep above 60°F (16°C) |
| Spider plant | 65 to 75°F (18 to 24°C) day | Tolerates down to about 45°F (7°C) briefly |
| Fiddle leaf fig | 60 to 80°F (15 to 27°C) | Reacts to any sudden change, not just cold |
| Boston fern | 60 to 70°F (16 to 21°C) | Keep away from cold drafts and heating vents |
| Parlor palm | Normal room temperature | Keep away from cold drafts and heating/AC vents |
| Areca palm | Warm, average room temperature | Cold-sensitive; keep away from drafts and cold windows |
Do houseplants need it cooler at night?
Not as a rule. An ordinary night-time room temperature drop of a few degrees causes no issue for most foliage houseplants, and there is no need to engineer one. A handful of flowering species are the exception: African violets specifically do better with a night temperature about 10 degrees cooler than the day, per Virginia Tech Extension, and several orchid genera use a similar autumn night-time drop to trigger flowering. Treat a deliberate night-time drop as a flowering-plant technique, not a general houseplant requirement.
What temperature is too cold for houseplants?
Below about 50°F (10°C), most common tropical and subtropical houseplants start to suffer chilling injury, according to University of Florida IFAS Extension, which places the onset window at 46 to 54°F (8 to 12°C) depending on species. This is a different mechanism from freezing: chilling injury is caused by disruption of the cell membranes at a temperature still well above freezing, while a true frost (32°F/0°C and below) ruptures cells outright as the water inside them turns to ice, per the RHS. A brief chilling exposure often lets a plant recover; a prolonged one causes damage that does not reverse.
Why are cold drafts worse than a cool room?
A draft creates a sharp, localised temperature drop on one side of the plant, rather than the gradual, even change a cooling room produces, per Utah State University Extension. Air seeping in around an ill-fitting door, a mail slot or a poorly sealed window can be many degrees colder than the room reads on a thermostat a few feet away, and the plant tissue closest to that draft takes the damage while the rest of the plant is fine. Window glass causes the same effect by direct contact: on a cold night, glass drops to close to the outdoor temperature, well below the room's air, so a leaf actually touching the pane can suffer frostbite even in an otherwise warm room. About an inch of clearance between a leaf and the glass is normally enough, or pull the plant back further on nights when a hard freeze is forecast.
What temperature is too hot for houseplants, and why are heating vents a problem?
There is no single university-extension number for "too hot" the way there is for chilling injury, since heat tolerance varies more by species and by how long the heat lasts than cold tolerance does. As a general guide, sustained temperatures above about 85 to 90°F stress most common houseplants, with duration mattering as much as the peak. A heating vent, radiator or space heater causes two separate problems at once: the hot, dry air blowing directly on a plant can scorch leaf tissue the same way a draft chills it, per North Carolina State Extension, and central heating drops a room's relative humidity well below the 40 to 60 percent most houseplants prefer, compounding the stress. The fix for both is the same: keep plants a genuine distance from any vent, radiator or space heater rather than merely out of the direct airflow, and see the humidity guide if winter heating is also drying the air.
What do temperature-stressed leaves look like?
Cold and heat stress leave different signatures, which helps rule out other causes such as underwatering.
| Symptom | Usual cause |
|---|---|
| Dark, soggy, blackened patches, sudden drooping or full collapse | Cold damage or frost, per the RHS; the wilting guide covers cold shock alongside water-related drooping |
| Crisp, pale or brown scorched patches, often facing a heat source or a sunny window | Heat or direct-sun scorch, per the RHS |
| Dry, browning leaf edges without a scorched patch | Often a heating-vent humidity drop rather than heat itself; see the brown, crispy leaves guide |
| Yellowing and dry edges concentrated on one side of the plant | A draft hitting that side more than the rest of the plant, per the RHS |
FAQ
- What temperature is too cold for houseplants?
- Below about 50°F (10°C), most common tropical and subtropical houseplants start to suffer chilling injury, a disruption of the cell membranes rather than actual freezing. Some species show damage as high as 54°F, so treat 50°F as a working floor, not an exact line.
- Do houseplants need a cooler temperature at night?
- Most foliage houseplants tolerate an ordinary night-time room temperature drop of a few degrees without any issue, and it is not something you need to engineer. A handful of flowering species, African violets among them, specifically do better with a night temperature about 10 degrees cooler than the day.
- Why do plants get damaged near a cold window in winter?
- Window glass drops to close to the outdoor temperature on a cold night, well below the room's own air temperature, so a leaf touching the glass can suffer frostbite even though the rest of the room reads a safe number. Keeping about an inch of clearance between a leaf and the glass is normally enough.