Detox Your Home With Houseplants

Purifying Plants To Detox Your Home

People have been using house plants as aesthetically pleasing decor items for many years. The idea of bringing the outside in has been an interior decorating practice for centuries. In addition to providing a pleasing aesthetic, NASA conducted a study in 1989 that proved that some house plants could purify the air inside your home. So trade in that expensive home air purifying system for a trip to your local nursery!

Gerbera Daisy

Gerbera L. is a genus of plants in the Asteraceae family and was named for German botanist and medical doctor Traugott Gerber. The gerbera daisy is native to tropical regions of South America, Africa, and Asia. These lively blossoms can remove traces of formaldehyde, benzene, and trichloroethylene, making an incredible impact in just 24 hours of exposure.

Potted gerbera daisies require bright, filtered light. Consider placing them near a window that doesn't get full sun exposure. Water the daisies infrequently, allowing the soil to get completely dry and then soak thoroughly.

Gerbera daisies go dormant during the winter months and require less watering. Deadhead your blooms at the end of the growth cycle and repot as the plant gets crowded.

English Ivy

Hedera helix, which includes English ivy and European ivy, is a flowering plant in the family Araliaceae, native to most of Europe western Asia. It's a low-maintenance plant that will thrive anywhere, including indoors in a potted setting. According to the NASA Clean Air Study, this climber is one of the most useful plants for removing toxins from the air. During the study, English ivy effectively eliminated the majority of toxins during the 24 observation period.

English Ivy is typically found in forests and low-light areas, making them ideal for interior rooms. While ivy prefers regular watering and moisture as such, you can use an automatic watering bulb to keep it happy. This powerful purifier is an appealing option for those who struggle to keep plants alive.

Potted Mums

Mums, AKA chrysanthemums, sometimes called chrysanths, are flowering plants of the genus Chrysanthemum in the family Asteraceae. They are native to East Asia and northeastern Europe. A vibrant, low-maintenance plant that adds life to any indoor setting. These toxic busting flowers removed 41.5% of toxins, according to the NASA controlled environmental study.

This detoxifier comes in a variety of colors providing a beautiful pop of color to any room. They'll require indirect light, so keep your mums out of sunny windows.

Mums are thirsty plants, so frequent watering is crucial, though it's vital to keep the leaves dry to prevent rotting. Lift the leaves and use a narrow-stemmed watering can for the best results.

Philodendron

Philodendron is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Araceae. With over 489 varieties, this species of the genus is the second-largest member of the family Araceae.

These purifiers aren't as effective at removing toxins as some of the other plants on this list, but they remove trace amounts of toxins and are an easy house plant to maintain. Philodendrons prefer plenty of sunshine, so place in a sunny window. This low maintenance plant doesn't require daily watering; they thrive when watered infrequently, and when fertilized annually with basic indoor plant food.