Best house plants to improve air quality for north facing room

Homeownertobe

As the title really.

I'm looking for the best plants to improve air quality indoors really. So far I've got a snake plant and two aloe vera plants and while they're nice, they're a bit samey.

Thank you!

kinger101

A few plants are not going to make a significant difference on the air quality within a room. At least, there is no scientific evidence to suggest they will. Just have plants you like, and are less "samey" than what you currently have, and that you enjoy looking at/the scent of. Brush away the pseudoscience.

Davesnave

There might seem to be very obvious answer to this question:

http://plantoddities.com/cgi-bin/p/awtp-custom.cgi?d=plant-oddities&page=2952

and there again.....

In all seriousness, I agree with the previous poster; either open a window, or if the air outside is also dirty, move to somewhere healthier, when you can.

[Deleted User]

plants indoors do actually help air quality. I have limited room for indoor plants but I keep spider plants and peace lilies, both of which are easy care. I also use auro paints and clean with steam not chemicals
http://www.mnn.com/health/healthy-spaces/photos/15-houseplants-for-improving-indoor-air-quality/a-breath-of-fresh-air

Davesnave

kittie wrote: »

plants indoors do actually help air quality.

I suppose they must, but it is the degree to which they do this which seems to be glossed-over by the writer of the article you linked to.

The data revealed that ozone depletion rates were higher in the chambers that contained plants than in the control chambers without plants, but there were no differences in effectiveness among the three plants.

For scientists, they are remarkably light on the matter of quantification! Or more likely they weren't, because if they were real scientists, they'd know about the importance of measurement.

Perhaps the real reason why the % depletion rates were not quoted was because being vague suited the writers of the article.

DaftyDuck

Well, I am a real scientist, so there! I reckon, at an educated guess, you'd need to kick most of the furniture out to be able to bung enough plants in a room to perceptively improve "air quality".... a wonderfully scientific term indeed.

Mind you, any small green plant may make the tiniest difference, just you'd need a sealed chamber and a few hundred thousand pounds to detect it.

Where plants, any plants, make a difference is to humidity. That will do more to reduce dust particles and make life just more pleasant, if that counts as "air quality"

Mind you, "they" say a Swiss Cheese plant is best for improving air quality, and "they" are always right.


I wonder, can you ask for membership of "them", are "they" elected, and who decides on what "they" opine on?


Dave - insomnia (poor you), or dawn chorus (magnificent).... ???

Davesnave

DaftyDuck wrote: »

Dave - insomnia (poor you), or dawn chorus (magnificent).... ???

Friendly cats that think I'm 'up' when it's just a call from nature.
Lots of loud purring, so I feed & water them.

Next, I look on here, and five minutes later I'm ready to nod off again! :rotfl:

(But I do see the dawn & hear what follows most days. )