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Best House Plants

Best House Plants

Feb 17th 2020

Make Your House Plants Work Harder for You

Obviously, our goal is help you keep the air in your home clean and healthy, by providing the best air filters available. But did you know certain plants can also help? Many plants can improve indoor air quality by naturally removing certain pollutants. While plants certainly can’t replace a regularly changed MERV rated air filter, an extra boost can’t hurt! The plants we’ll review here can be especially helpful with the following chemicals:

  • Xylene: Xylene is used as a solvent in the creation of printers, rubber, paint and leather. Extensive exposure to xylene can affect the central nervous system.
  • Trichloroethane: As known as “methyl chloroform,” this solvent can be found in adhesives, varnishes, paints and some consumer products.
  • Benzene: Benzene is a very common factor in manufacturing processes for paints, glues, furniture wax and detergents. Tobacco smoke also produces benzene, which has been linked with causing cancer.
  • Formaldehyde: If you have grocery bags, tissues, paper towels, or particle board furniture, you probably have formaldehyde in your air. Formaldehyde, a respiratory irritant, can be found in most things that have been treated to be fire retardant, water repellant, and wrinkle free.
  • While all plants naturally provide at least some benefit to air quality, research shows that tropical plants are particularly effective. These plants evolved to be efficient at photosynthesis, due to their naturally dense rainforest habitats. This efficient photosynthesis makes them great houseplants, especially in cooler climates. Photosynthesis involves the absorption of gas from the air, which is then drawn down to the roots, where microbes eliminate the harmful chemicals. So which tropical plants do these things particularly well?

    Palms: An incredibly hardy plant, Palms are great for people who tend to kill plants. The Bamboo Palm is especially effective and low maintenance! Palms are particularly great at targeting toxins produced by cigarette smoke so keep these plants, and make a great investment if you’re a smoker.

    Ferns: One of the oldest plants around, the large fronds of fern plants have helped get rid of pollutants from the air. Their hardiness and unique properties are also great for contaminated soils.

    Mother-In-Law's Tongue: This perennial is very easy to grow in a home or office. In the winter, it only needs to be watered every other month. Mother-in-Laws tongue is known to passively soak up nitrogen oxides formaldehyde.

    Gerber Daisy: Gerber Daisy plants are excellent at dealing with trichloroethylene, commonly found in dry cleaning, and benzene. Don’t forget they like lots of light!

    Peace Lilies: The peace lily isn’t just a pretty flower. It also removes all the toxins listed above, as well as acetone, ammonia and more. Unfortunately, you may want to avoid this beautiful plant if you have pets, as peace lilies are poisonous to cats and dogs if ingested.

    Orchids: Orchids tend to be a difficult plant to manage. But supposedly, the secret to managing orchids is to leave it alone. If you can keep from over sunning or watering your orchid, it is great at eliminating xylene - it also produces oxygen at night!

    Ficus: The common ficus is a primary component in many rainforest ecosystems, which can make them extremely helpful in processing pollutants in your house. Caring for a ficus tree can be difficult. It’s important to find a good place, and work out an ideal watering schedule, but once you get there these plants will stick around for a long time.