PLANTS CAN BRING A BREATH OF FRESH AIR

bring that fresh feeling into your own home

Saturday December 29,2007

By Alan Titchmarsh

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When you’re cooped up indoors for weeks on end in winter, especially over the long Christmas period, you can’t help noticing the build up of cooking smells, the chemical odours of cleaning products, assorted perfumes from guests and smokey notes from candles, cigars or open fires.

You start to pine for a little fresh air after a while. Going out for a walk is a good short-term stopgap but in the longer term you can use houseplants to improve the indoor environment.

Some years back NASA ran some tests using a limited range of readily available houseplants with a view to improving air quality on space stations of the future and their findings are quite helpful at home. They found that just one plant per 100 square feet of floor space can have a significant benefit and that even quite common plants could do a lot of good.

Ordinary ivy (Hedera helix varieties) removes a good many toxins from the air and also inhibits mould spores, which adversely affect hay fever and asthma sufferers.

Common-or-garden spider plants, Boston fern and weeping fig on the other hand all take up formaldehyde, which is found in a lot of household cleansers.

But NASA’s best rated plants for removing a wide range of chemicals from the air were the peace lily (Spathiphyllum wallisii) and areca palm (Chrysalidocarpus lutescens).

It’s worth remembering that any indoor plants take up carbon dioxide and release oxygen during daylight hours and shade-lovers such as orchids and ferns will “work” best in weak winter light. And real live plants are so much cheerier than artificial air fresheners. So splash out.

You’ll find suitable species on sale at supermarkets and many large DIY outlets, even if your local garden centre or florist is shut until the New Year. Live air conditioners are good value – after all, a plant lasts longer than any product.