House Plants Filter Indoor Air

I am a huge fan of growing house plants! I used to have a black thumb that killed anything I came in contact with but somehow I turned that poor thing green and now grow over 25 plants inside my house. It is amazing how fast plants can clean indoor air, ridding the house or office of old smells like smoke or chemicals in as quick as 48 hours - making a safer environment to breath in. If you keep your plants healthy by giving them good soil, don't over water, and get plants from local growers who didn't blast them with chem fertilizers and pesticides then you should have almost no probs growing some greenies in your space. (Even if your thumb isn't so green!)

Here's the official Wikipedia list of house plants that filter your indoor air:

"The first list of air filtering plants was compiled by NASA as part of the NASA Clean Air Study, which researched ways to clean air in space stations. As well as absorbing carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen, as all plants do, these plants also eliminate significant amounts of benzene, formaldehyde and/or trichloroethylene.
English Ivy (Hedera helix)
Spider plant (Chlorophytum comosum)
Golden pothos or Devil's ivy (Scindapsus aures or Epipremnum aureum)
Peace lily (Spathiphyllum 'Mauna Loa')
Chinese evergreen (Aglaonema modestum)
Bamboo palm or reed palm (Chamaedorea sefritzii)
Snake plant or mother-in-law's tongue (Sansevieria trifasciata 'Laurentii')
Heartleaf philodendron (Philodendron oxycardium, syn. Philodendron cordatum)
Selloum philodendron (Philodendron bipinnatifidum, syn. Philodendron selloum)
Elephant ear philodendron (Philodendron domesticum)
Red-edged dracaena (Dracaena marginata)
Cornstalk dracaena (Dracaena fragans 'Massangeana')
Janet Craig dracaena (Dracaena deremensis 'Janet Craig')
Warneck dracaena (Dracaena deremensis 'Warneckii')
Weeping Fig (Ficus benjamina)
Gerbera Daisy or Barberton daisy (Gerbera jamesonii)
Pot Mum or Florist's Chrysanthemum (Chrysantheium morifolium)
Rubber Plant (Ficus elastica)
Top performers for removing formaldehyde.
Boston fern (Nephrolepis exaltata "Bostoniensis")
Florist's mum(Chrysanthemum morifolium)
Gerbera daisy (Gerbera jamesonii)
Dwarf date palm (Phoenix roebelenii)
Janet Craig (Dracaena deremensis "Janet Craig")
Bamboo palm (Chamaedorea sefritzii)
Kimberly queen fern (Nephrolepis obliterata)
Rubber plant (Ficus elastica)
English ivy (Hedera helix)
Weeping fig (Ficus benjamina)
Peace lily (Spathiphyllum sp.)
Top performers for removing xylene and toluene.
Areca palm (Chrysalidocarpus lutescens)
Dwarf date palm (Phoenix roebelenii)
Moth orchid (Phalenopsis sp.)
Dumb cane (Camilla) (Dieffenbachia camilla)
Dragon Tree (Dracaena marginata)
Dendrobium orchid (Dendrobium sp.)
Dumb cane (Exotica) (Dieffenbachia "Exotica Compacta')
King of hearts (Homalomena wallisii)
Kimberly queen fern (Nephrolepis obliterata)
Warneckei (Dracaena deremensis "Warneckei")
The recommendation of NASA is to use 15 to 18 good-sized houseplants in six- to eight-inch (203 mm) diameter containers in a 1,800-square-foot (170 m2) house."

Happy Growing and Happy Breathing!
xoxo

Keeping House Plants Alive

I used to be one of those people who killed any plant I ever tried to grow, indoors and outdoors - I even killed mint which is almost unheard of! Over the years I have learned some simple guidelines to follow, mainly by watching nature and reading a few sustainable gardening books too. Now my plants are kickin' it!
Here's some tips that will help you keep your house plants alive!
1. Try and start with organic or ecologically grown plants. The ones purchased at the big box stores are like buying a heroine addict who's gonna get fast worn out and go into shock when the blast of unnatural fertilizers run out. It's near impossible to save these pesticide laden plants once death is near... but if you already have some re-pot them right away with some compost dirt & a non plastic container.

2. Build an Empire. Literally build a little eco world in your pot, with pine cones, leaves, cut grass, decaying sticks, rocks and dead flowers. You should get some little bugs living in there who come with the stuff listed above that will constantly be feeding on the decaying matter & turning into compost to slowly fertilize the plant. Adding worms is good too - but I once had a weird mass suicide of worms where they all jumped out the pots at the same time and dried up over night! Poor worms!

3. Good dirt! Mixing some yummy dirt is essential. Using some dark black mushroom compost, chicken poop and sandy soil to hold water is pretty ideal across the board, especially for most common house plants.

4. Don't water with chlorinated tap water. Potted plants do not have the filtering range of outdoor plants and all chemicals will eventually build up in the pot making it toxic to the plant. Use some sort of filtered water (which we all need to have for our health too!)

5. Use a healthy pot. Sometimes plastic is just not breathable for a plant, and likewise some decorative containers have paints or glazes that are hazardous to the plant. If you are growing indoor herbs to use in cooking, it is essential to not use a crappy possibly toxic pot! Go with Terra Cotta or some other natural element that gets good circulation.

Happy growing this winter season!