How To Purify The Air Around You Naturally Only With The Help Of Plants

The headline of the article might make you think that we are going to suggest some expensive ways to purify air inside your house, and give you links to those expensive artificial air purifiers.

However, we are here to make you aware of the natural purifiers found in the environment that cost peanuts, compared to fancy machines. There might not be a perfect solution for air pollution, but we should do whatever we can, to at least make the air around us...breath-able, for our own sake.

These are plants that have air-purifying qualities and you do not need a balcony to keep them around. They can be settled in your living room, bedroom or even the one-room apartment you might be renting.

Peace Lily

The specialty of this plant is that it can bloom indoors and is a recognized air-purifying house plant. The flowers spread fragrance in the air and the plant supposedly removes ammonia, formaldehyde, benzene and trichloroethylene from the air around. It is preferable to keep the plant in shade but make sure to keep the soil moist. Do not over water.

FTD

The plant is toxic, so if you have pets or kids in your home, make sure to keep it out of their reach.

Bamboo Plant

You might have seen this plant being used as a decorative piece in the dining halls or drawing rooms of some people, but it is not just a show piece. Apart from purifying your surroundings, this plant keeps the area moist as it has good transpiration capacity.

Wearefound

They are known to remove carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, benzene, xylene and chloroform from the air. And if taken good care of, these small plants can grow up to 4 feet and above!

Dracaena

This plant has 40 different varieties which have different colors, sizes and shapes. The leaves of Dracaena are usually long and wide and have white or red lines. The soil needs to be kept damp; avoid over watering the plant.

shpock

This plant is known to remove benzene, formaldehyde, xylene and trichloroethylene from the air. This too should be kept out of the reach of pets.

Ficus/Weeping Fig

The weeping fig can grow between 2-10 feet tall and does not require a lot of care.

Green and vibrant

It prefers bright, indirect sunlight and removes, benzene, formaldehyde and trichloroethylene from the air. You can keep the plant indoors or outdoors depending on the weather conditions.

Garden Mum

On the list of plants that purify air, Garden Mum ranks the highest. It has the best capacity of air purification. The flower of this plant only blooms for about six weeks and that¡¯s only when it purifies air. When the flowers are not blooming, the plant can be kept out in the sun for sometime. The plant needs moist soil, so you need to make sure to water it every other day, if not daily.

The Spruce

It is known to remove, benzene, ammonia, xylene and formaldehyde from the air. It¡¯s best to keep it out of reach of cats and dogs as it is toxic.

Spider Plant

This houseplant that has over 200 species, and is one of the easiest to grow indoors. It requires indirect sunlight to grow and only needs water 2-3 times a week.

Crocus

This non toxic air purifying plant is known to remove xylene and formaldehyde from the air.

Golden Pothos

Golden Pothos is known to remove many air pollutants like xylene, formaldehyde, benzene, carbon monoxide and toluene, from the surroundings effectively. It does not require much tending to and can grow in different conditions. Just take care to water this plant when the soil gets dry and if you do not want it to take too much space around, keep trimming its tendrils from time to time.

Proflowers

This too should be kept away from pets.

Boston Fern

Even though this plant is easy to grow it can be a little tricky, as it needs constant watering. It grows well in cool places that have high humidity and indirect sunlight.

TN Nursery

Boston Fern is known to remove formaldehyde and xylene from the air.

Snake Plant

This plant too grows quite easily and has a long life. Snake plant requires drier conditions and can make do if you water it only occasionally.

Crocus

It is known to purify the air of xylene, benzene and formaldehyde.

Aloe Vera

Yes, that is correct, among all other things that aloe vera can do, it can also act as an air-purifying plant. Not only will you have a plant that removes formaldehyde from the air but also one that has healing, anti inflammatory and antibacterial properties.

TOI

You can use the liquid from the leaves as a moisturizer and even a conditioner.

It should be noted, that plants are not necessarily effective in removing the PM 2.5 particles from the surrounding. Even when they do, they are not powerful enough to counter such heavy doses of the pollutant. Having said that, having air-purifying plants definitely helps clear the air around.

Nature itself provides us with multiple choices to keep our surroundings fresh and air clean, without much fuss. All you need to do is get a house plant that suits your place and then feel the air around you getting cleaner. As pointed out before we probably cannot take care of the air pollution all around, but we can at least make sure that the air we breathe in our homes is not as bad.

Not only will these plants clean the air in your house but also make it look pretty and greener. A fresh surrounding keeps one healthy and active. Instead of gifting high-end show pieces that someone might not even use, gift them house plants that actually have utility.

Illustration By Ranak Mann