Home Air Filtration with Houseplants
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Improve Your Air Quality: Indoor House Plants to Clean and Filter the Air in your Home or Office
You don't even need a green thumb to get the benefits from these easy to grow plants! Most of these plants are shade loving varieties that will flourish in your home or office and filter the contaminants/pollutants out of the air. Closed in spaces without proper ventilation can be unhealthy, especially when new plastics, rugs, or VOCs (volatile organic compounds, like paint or new plastic) enter the mix. When windows aren't an option, plants can help clean the air quicker, resulting in a more healthy indoor environment. Read on for some recommended plants to grow indoors to filter and clean the air!
English Ivy
Fast growing, fast air cleaning plant
English Ivy is a very fast growing plant outside, and still grows quickly inside as well. Often this plant proliferates fast, and looks for places to attach its rootlets climbing vertically (though will spread horizontally as well). Very tolerant of low light conditions, this plant is often considered invasive in the wild of the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The rate at which this plant grows will accelerate the improvement of air quality quicker than most other plants.
Gerbera Daisy
Fragrant, beautiful and easy to grow
Not only does the Gerbera Daisy filter plenty of air, but it is extremely fragrant. These beautiful large flowers are vivid, and make the perfect centerpiece for an island or table.
Aloe Vera
A broad leaf plant for the air and for medicinal purposes
Long known for its medicinal qualities, Aloe Vera will keep indoors near windows but requiring little light. It will also produce offshoots of new Aloe Vera rather quickly if allowed enough sun.
Bamboo Palm
A large palm perfect for bedrooms and living rooms
These beautiful variety of palms are natively found in tropical regions of Central and South American rainforests, but keep well as indoor houseplants. Their cane like stalks and broad leaves filter the air quickly, and make for an excellent, attractive plant.
Chrysanthemums
Easy to find autumn flower to filter toxins
Chrysanthemums are a bright, relatively easy to grow variety of flower often seen in the fall months in varying colors of purples, reds, oranges and yellows.
Snake Plant
AKA mother-in-law's tongue
Also known as the mother-in-law's tongue, this plant grows upward in an aloe vera like style. It's tolerant of low levels of light and infrequent watering, and in fact, during the winter months, would prefer underwatering to avoid rot.
Do You Own Houseplants?
Indoor plants - how many do you have?
Indoor plants have a lot of benefits. Are you using them to their full potential? Not only do they look nice in your home, but they also filter the air. These are perfect especially for homes with little ventilation (though all homes could use plants).
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Weeping Fig
A large, fast growing plant tolerable of shady conditions
A fig tree native to Australia and Asia, with glossy drooping leaves, the Weeping Fig makes for an interesting visual, and a great way to clean the air of indoor toxins.
Peace Lily
Cleans out the contaminants like benzene and other pollutants
There are many varities of what is sometimes known as the "peace lily. It Spathiphyllum cleans indoor air of many environmental contaminants, including benzene, formaldehyde, and other pollutants. It cleans best at one plant per 10 m². It actually lives best in shade and needs little light to live, while watering can be done around every week and a half.
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Do You Have a Houseplant to Recommend?
Tell us what plants are in your home, and which ones thrive!
Thanks for dropping by! If you have a certain type of plant that you think thrives indoors or really filters the air in your home, share it here in the guestbook!
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ohcaroline
Jul 10, 2010 @ 8:20 am | delete
- Excellent information. Indoor plants are great decor also.
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JenOfChicago
Mar 27, 2009 @ 12:00 pm | delete
- Good collection of info on plants!
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daria369
Mar 22, 2009 @ 3:27 pm | delete
- Good info, thank you!! :)
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Sources Used for this Page
- Houseplants Helping Clean Indoor Air
- An article by Deborah L. Brown
Extension Horticulturist - Picture by Nova
- English Ivy picture
- Gerbera Daisy Picture
- Picture by Gerd W. Zinke
- Wikipedia
- The species and genus pages on Wikipedia were used partially to construct this lens.
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