Adding houseplants to your home is the perfect way to give it a splash of life and color. They thrive in low levels of light while requiring less water and care than their outside brethren, making them a perfect choice for those who never developed a green thumb. Plus, they significantly increase the indoor air quality and have several benefits for your wellbeing.
If you’re new to the indoor plant scene and are curious as to what kinds to put in your home, consider this your ultimate guide to air purifying plants.
Areca Palm
One of the most common indoor house plants, this plant removes benzene, formaldehyde, and trichloroethylene from the air. Needing indirect light, you can set this plant in any room with a window.
Simply water when the soil begins feeling dry and make sure to keep it in temperatures between 65 to 75 degrees. There’s no need to repot this plant if you do not want it growing any larger.
Lady Palm
Take care of this one exactly like its cousin the Areca, and you’ll have one more air purifying agent in your home.
Bamboo Palm
Requiring only low levels of light and temperatures anywhere between 65 to 80 degrees, the Bamboo Plant is perfect for any home. It will do best in higher levels of humidity, but water this plant once a week and it will work hard to clean the air in your place.
Dracaena “Janet Craig.”
If you’re looking for an easygoing plant that won’t care if you forget about it for a while, then pick up the Janet Craig. They can survive on remarkably little sunlight and water, and any temperature above 55 degrees.
Even when neglected, Miss Craig will continue to clean up the air in your home. In fact, NASA lists it as an excellent plant for removing toxins.
English Ivy
Incredibly easy to grow, anyone just getting into air purifying plants can see an English Ivy thrive. Indirect to low levels of sunlight work just fine for this one, and you might be surprised to hear that most die from over-watering as opposed to under-watering which makes them even easier to take care of.
They can handle temperatures as low as 45 degrees and as high as 80. Just make sure to keep them away from pets. If eaten, they are poisonous.
Boston Fern
Wonderfully leafy and green, the Boston Fern will spruce up your home while tackling airborne toxins. They are very drought resistant, and only require a little indirect sunlight during the day. However, they need to be kept away from sources of heat such as vents and fireplaces.
Keeping them in cool temperatures around 60 to 70 degrees will help their leaves maintain that luscious green color.
Peace Lily
The Peace Lily loves low levels of light and removing toxins like carbon monoxide from your home. If the leaves begin to droop, it is being overwatered. You won’t have to worry about constant upkeep with this lily. Treat it right and it will even grow white flowery leaves for you.
Dragon Tree
If you’re looking for something with a little bark on it, the Dragon Tree is an excellent choice for your home. They grow best in medium light but will grow just fine in lower levels. The less light it receives, the less you will need to water it, with low levels of light requiring you to water it once every three weeks.
While you can grow this plant to fill the corner of a room, it can also stay small enough to sit on any table top.
Parlor Palm
The Parlor Palm plant will grow in the low light corners of your home while only needing to be watered about once every other week. They can grow in temperatures between 55 to 85 degrees and are on NASA’s top 10 list of air purifying plants.
Lacy Tree Philodendron
A common choice among air purifying plants, this Lacy Tree Philodendron is one of the few of its kind that enjoys lightly moist soil. It will keep your air clean and fresh as long as it grows in bright indirect light. As for temperature, just keep it above 55 degrees.
Snake Plant
The long “snake” like leaves of this plant give it the name, but what makes this plant stand out is that it can grow in the darkest parts of your home as well as the brightest windowsill. More light means more watering, but in low light winters the Snake Plant only needs to be watered a surprising once per month.
They are very easy to grow and help save on space as the leaves sprout upwards instead of out.
Prayer Plant
This plant gets its name from the way the leaves fold up at night as if they were praying. If you have a little experience maintaining house plants, then you will be able to keep up on watering this one. It does not like to dry out first.
The Prayer Plant requires medium to high light but will burn in direct sunlight. It will also need an acidic fertilizer, which you can pick up at most hardware stores with an outdoor section.
Looking for More?
Those are only the tip of the iceberg, however. Almost every plant aids in cleaning the air, but here is a list of even more indoor friendly plants with the best air cleaning benefits.
- Dumb Cane
- Christmas Cactus
- Oakleaf Ivy
- Dendrobium Orchid
- Spider Plant
- Chinese Evergreen
- Anthurium
- Croton
- Poinsettia
- Peacock Plant
- Aloe Vera
- Cyclamen
- Urn Plant
- Moth Orchid
- Kalanchoe
- Dracaena Corn Plant
- Golden Pothos
- Kimberly Queen Fern
- Pot Mum
- Gerbera Daisy
- Dracaena “Warneckei.”
- Elephant Ear Philodendron
- Heart-Leaf Philodendron
- Red Emerald Philodendron
The plants mentioned above are excellent air purifying plants for your home. Even if you are just starting to grow plants in your home, you will find that most are incredibly easy to maintain with low levels of light and sparse watering.
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