apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Additional links to the same topic I posted earlier:
http://www.zone10.com/tech/NASA/Fyh.htm
http://www.essortment.com/all/houseplants_rwhz.htm
http://www.care2.com/greenliving/top-ten-houseplants-for-cleaner-air.html

In this thread:
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/chicago/good-questions/chi-good-questions-paranormal-activity-as-a-lease-breaker-051748

if you have pets, though, be careful - from the one's i checked, the majority of the plants listed on this chart are toxic to pets
(which i guess makes sense if they are removing these dangerous chemicals from the air...)!

check them here first: http://www.sniksnak.com/plants-toxic.html

Bamboo palm is a good one b/c it is safe for pets... although your pets might like it too much and munch on it like mine do. Panda dogs...

I concur. It would be nice if more than two of these (spider plant and bamboo palm- maybe gebera daisy) were cat safe, instead of deadly and poisonous.

I'm sure all plants are beneficial. I've got a hoya, a grape ivy, a ficus alii and a china doll plant. What air cleaning properties do they have?

Trichloroethylene is found primarily as a contaminant in water. If you're breathing it - in your home -you are living in a factory and have issues that no plants will solve. If your soil is so contaminated that benzene and trichloroethylene are *truly* a danger to your health, you are most likely living in a superfund site. Or in an over crowded unhealthy city. Move to the 'burbs. More room for gardening. ;->

Miriam, et al, check out the Wolverton book at Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/How-Grow-Fresh-Air-Plants/dp/0140262431/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1212053976&sr=8-2

He's the one who did the study at NASA in my top link and is also the originator of the information shown on the chart that is posted for this thread.

The book is titled "How to Grow Fresh Air: 50 Houseplants that Purify Your Home or Office"

Author: B.C. Wolverton. It's a name you can't forget.

It's ideal for the novice indoor gardener. And a nice treat for more experienced indoor gardeners who did not know about the chemical filtration aspects of each of the plants.

Most of the plants are the varieties that you see everyday, in grocery store plant sections and at all the box stores that have garden centers. They aren't some obscure plant that no one has ever heard of.

They can be easy to grow, and some are very forgiving. Some plants even thrive on neglect. Ha! Like the Jade Plant.

Some are kind enough to send a clear and distinct signal when it's REALLY time to water, like the Peace lily shown here in the first photo:
http://weblogs.newsday.com/features/home/gardendetective_blog/houseplants/

Most of the articles online will mention the same plants over and over:
http://www.bhg.com/gardening/houseplants/care/improve-the-air-in-your-home/

Some will use the scientific name, others the common name, and it gets confusing. You can use Google search to find out what is what, as well as using their IMAGE search to see picture of all kinds of the plants.

Notice here in this article, that their choice of Top 10 Easy Care Plants are mostly also on the list of top air cleaners:
http://www.myra-simon.com/myra/gardening/hplants.html

And that page I found via an IMAGE search. It had a nice big Jade Plant. But that plant also can more compact, or more leggy. It can be very small to start with, or be a hedge.

My plants came from mostly the broken pieces of the hedges at the grocery store. Like when a car goes over the curb and bashes into the plants? I'd just take the pieces home and stick 'em in dirt.

My Peace Lily came from a neighbor who was going to throw it out. It's leaves had completely gone limp and fallen (not fall off, just went limp). It just needed water. that's all.

As for cats and plants...

Yes, cats sometimes like to chew on various plants. The favorite is the Easter Cactus that did not bloom this year, because it got eaten down again.

But, here's the trick. Get healthy plants for your cats to chew on. Yes. Really. Many grocery stores carry the wheat grass, much less expensive than the same thing at the pet stores. So the indoor-only cats have access to fresh greenery to chew on all the time.

During winter, when the grasses are going nuts in unkempt areas, I bring them in fresh grass from outdoors.

I have bought catnip plants that I grow outside to be big on my balcony and then let the cats have a field day indoors with the plant.

I got them a basil plant from Trader Joe's. It didn't last long.

I believe that it's not just something that might provide trace nutrients, but is also a way for the cats to FLOSS their teeth. And why not? Miswak or Siwak has been used for a long time by people to clean their teeth.

So, be sure to include your cats when you go plant shopping. They will be MUCH happier if they have their OWN plants. I just place the square containers of wheat grass in round pots, and set them on the floor.

Just hearing the rustle of the produce bag brings them running now. And I get new ones every week or so.

Great post. I kind of have felt that indoor plants are just one more thing to take care of, but we've recently moved to Connecticut where most of our neighbours smoke and it drifts into our apartment (lovely- I'm prego and we have another little one already).

I think some plants will definitely be worth the investment. Now I know which one to buy and no excuses. Thank you!

I wish my condo had enough light inside for plants. The only kind I can keep alive inside are the plastic ones. I make up for it outside though.