by Leslie Cox; Thursday, September 18, 2014

Front porch - view from my chairSeptember 15 – 19 has been declared Indoor Plant Week! A whole week set aside to celebrate the good things indoor plants lend to our living and working spaces.

Terribly fitting since I have just started to bring my houseplants indoors after their summer holiday on the front porch…or “The Office” as John calls it. One of our favourite places to sit and enjoy a morning coffee or an afternoon tea.

Many people bemoan the fact they cannot grow houseplants. The plants always die. This could be for a variety of reasons:

  • too much water / not enough water
  • not enough light
  • too warm /too cold
  • pest attack
  • disease smitten

You get the picture.

Front porch - south sideBut, personally, I think the real reason may well lay in just picking the wrong plant for your living conditions. Pretty much the same reason for some of the failures in the outdoor garden, if you think about it.

Whether you are gardening indoors or out…you have to have some knowledge about the species of plants you are buying. And you have to be honest with yourself. Can you look after that living acquisition properly or not?

Again…personally, I think everyone is capable of looking after a few houseplants. There are quite a few species which require minimal care…like maybe five minutes each per week. Who cannot find twenty to thirty minutes out of their whole week to spend with four to six plants?

If you can afford the time…the benefits are huge. Study after study has proclaimed positive facts about indoor plants, such as:

  • they uplift our sense of well-being
  • they reduce noise levels
  • they improve humidity
  • they remove carbon dioxide from the air
  • they introduce oxygen to the air
  • they remove harmful chemicals such as benzene (commonly found in paint, detergent, plastics, glue); formaldehyde (found in toilet paper, cleaning supplies, personal care products, car exhaust, carpets, furniture, foam insulation); trichloroethylene (found in solvents, furniture, carpets)…to name but a few.

Studies have also found the number of reported colds were reduced by thirty percent when working spaces are decorated with indoor plants.

Front porch - another viewpointAnd one other astounding fact I absolutely must pass on…one study has discovered Hedera helix (English ivy) is capable of removing airborne fecal particles! Now there is a plant that should be in every workplace and school.

The teenage son of an allergy researcher conducted his own study on plants’ ability to remove harmful particles, placing a Hedera helix plant in enclosed boxes of pollutants…one containing a slice of mouldy bread, the other held canine feces.Testing the air quality in each box six hours later, he found the mould level went down 60 percent and feces particles were down 58 percent. Twelve hours later, the mould level was down 78.4 percent and canine fecal pollutants were reduced by 94 percent.

Now…here’s the rub. A few scientists are disclaiming the ability of Hedera helix to remove pollutants from the air. They claim it is more likely the soil in the pot that is the good guy in this case study.They also claim soil in an enclosed environment is not healthy because of the bacteria and other organisms that live in soil. Far better, they say, to use a HEPA filter for removing harmful particles from our homes and offices.

Well…I disagree. We know plants take air in through their stomata. It is how they access carbon dioxide for the photosynthesis process.To my way of thinking, plants are one of the most remarkable organisms in nature. However, I do not think their systems are quite so sophisticated that they can select one compound from the air and block another. They suck up everything…just like a HEPA filter.

And here’s another fact for you: plants are far more economical to run than an air filter. No electricity required.