Top Indoor Plants For Cleaning The Air

Here are some indoor plants that will not only help to purify the air in your indoor environment, but they are also well suited to cleansing indoor air of harmful chemical elements such as Formaldehyde, Benzene, and Carbon Monoxide ...

Common Toxic Elements Found In Indoor Environments

When considering green living space you must consider purifying your indoor air to the best of your ability and this can be accomplished by the use of indoor plants.  Some indoor plants are best suited to cleansing indoor air of harmful chemical elements such as Formaldehyde, Benzene, and Carbon Monoxide.

Formaldehyde can be found in just about every indoor environment imaginable.  Some of the major sources of formaldehyde are insulation materials and the pressed wood products used in the manufacture of office furniture.  It is used in consumer products as common as facial tissues, paper towels, grocery bags, and waxed paper.  Many household cleaning products contain formaldehyde, along with flooring adhesives, permanent press clothing, and carpet backings.  Natural gas, kerosene, and cigarette smoke give off Formaldehyde fumes. 

Fortunately, you can use natural indoor plants to clean Formaldehyde from the air. Adding these indoor plants to living or working space can help fight off the unhealthy effects of Formaldehyde like irritation of the eyes, nose, and throat, headaches and allergic contact dermatitis.

Benzene is a solvent that is present in gasoline, rubber, plastics, oils, and paints.  Benzene is an irritant to the eyes and skin, with long-term exposure causing weakness, nausea, blurred vision, headaches, tremors, liver and kidney damage, irregular heartbeat, respiratory disease, unconsciousness and paralysis, anemia, and bone marrow disease.  Benzene is a nasty chemical, but you can help clean it out of your environment with indoor plants.

Carbon Monoxide is a colorless gas with no odor that develops when fossil fuels are improperly burned in the home.  We are most familiar with stories of Carbon Monoxide poisoning by inadequate or blocked oil furnaces running in winter.  Carbon Monoxide replaces the oxygen in your bloodstream, literally leading to suffocation.  While mild cases of Carbon Monoxide poisoning lead to flu-like symptoms in sufferers, death is often a result of severe CO poisoning.  While Carbon Monoxide detectors are widely available for households burning fossil fuels, it is also a good idea to have indoor plants with a natural proficiency for removing CO from the air.

After learning about the awful effects of these toxic elements so commonly found in our homes and work places it is good to know that there is a green solution to help avoid the ingestion of these toxins.  As is so often the case, the earth itself can protect us from these dangerous elements that man has unleashed in unsafe amounts upon the environment.    

Best Indoor Plants For Cleaner Indoor Air

In the case of reducing Formaldehyde, Benzene, and Carbon Monoxide from the air, the best choices for indoor plants are:

Bamboo Palm A multi-trunked and clumping indoor plant with long slender leaves. Bamboo palms are ideally suited to sunny and semi shaded conditions. Bamboo palms grow to an average height 1.65m (up to 2.40m)
Chinese Evergreen	more info soon ...
English Ivy	more info soon ...
Gerbera Daisy	more info soon ...
Janet Craig	more info soon ...
Marginata	more info soon ...
Mass cane/Corn Plant	more info soon ...
Mother-In-Law’s Tongue	more info soon ...
Pot Mum	more info soon ...
Peace Lilly	more info soon ...
Warneckii	more info soon ...

Any combination of these indoor plants will help reduce the toxic effects of Formaldehyde, Benzene, and Carbon Monoxide.  Most of us enjoy plants in our home and work environment, so why not choose the best ones for keeping your indoor air clean of the three most common and toxic poisons?  It is suggested to use these indoor plants at the rate of one six inch plant for every one hundred feet of indoor space, in order to maintain a healthful environment.

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Indoor Plant Care - Useful Tips

There are many types of indoor plants recommended for use in your home to better increase its environment and employ a Green Living lifestyle.  Here are some tips for indoor plant care.

Bamboo Palm

You should water your Bamboo Palm by pouring room temperature water into the top of the plant.  It should rest in the sort of pot that allows it to drain, as letting your Bamboo Palm rest in water will damage its roots.

Your plant should be fed in growing season.  Upon feeding, be certain you have sufficiently watered as well, draining excess water from the drip pan.  Part of indoor plant care for your Bamboo Palm is to prune away brown or yellowed leaves by snipping them off at their base.

Repot the Bamboo Palm when necessary, but only when it has completely filled its current pot.  You can wash the plant’s leaves with a slightly soapy solution to keep away pests, particularly mites.  If you water and care for your Bamboo Palm, it will make a beautiful addition to your home that will help purify the indoor air.

Chinese Evergreen

Another plant that can add beauty and be helpful to the environment of your home is the Chinese Evergreen.  Here are some indoor plant care tips for this species.

If possible, pot your Chinese Evergreen in a combination of bark, sand, and peat moss.  If the plant is well watered, it will grow in just about any soil.  Be very careful not to over-water this plant.  It is better that the soil be kept slightly dry than always moist.

A Chinese evergreen should have moderate to low light and be careful when you fertilise your plant.  Indoor plant care suggests that you should use only about ¼ the amount of fertiliser you would with outdoor plants in order to avoid burning the plant.

Remove discoloured leaves.  The plant should be kept in humid surroundings.  If your home is not humid, you can simulate humidity by misting its leaves with warm water.

English Ivy

Another good, healthful plant to keep around the home is English Ivy

Non-variegated English Ivy does best in bright, filtered sunlight, while its variegated forms profit from some direct sun.  These plants do well in most homes but they need a consistent temperature.  Do not place your English Ivy where temperatures will vary like near open windows or air conditioning units.

The top layer of soil in your pot should be allowed to go dry before watering your English Ivy.  In fact you should be able to stick your finger a few inches into the pot before encountering moisture.  Water your English Ivy even less frequently in winter.

English Ivy can suffer from red spider mites.  As a routine in your indoor plant care you should spray the English Ivy with warm water on a weekly basis.

There are many more plants that can benefit the environment of your home, such as the Gerbera Daisy, Janet Craig, Marginata, Pot Mum, and Peace Lilly.  You can easily research more about them and indoor plant care as a whole on the Internet, at the library, or at your favourite bookstore.

Indoor Plants - Browse Online

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