Use these (indoor) plants to rid your air of VOCs

[Strat]

NASA conducted a study in the 70's to find out why astronauts were getting sick in Skylab. It turned out that harmful chemicals known as volatile organic compounds (VOCs), emitting from the station itself, were causing folks to get sick.

Also, they can't exactly roll down the windows for fresh air.

Scientists later discovered certain plants would filter the air naturally. These plants are easy to find. I bought two plants at a local garden center yesterday for $10 and they clean my air of benzene, formaldahyde, and trichloroethylene.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_air-filtering_plants

http://www.sti.nasa.gov/tto/Spinoff2007/ps_3.html

[blake]

NASA conducted a study in the 70's to find out why astronauts were getting sick in Skylab. It turned out that harmful chemicals known as volatile organic compounds (VOCs), emitting from the station itself, were causing folks to get sick.

Also, they can't exactly roll down the windows for fresh air.

Scientists later discovered certain plants would filter the air naturally. These plants are easy to find. I bought two plants at a local garden center yesterday for $10 and they clean my air of benzene, formaldahyde, and trichloroethylene.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_air-filtering_plants

http://www.sti.nasa.gov/tto/Spinoff2007/ps_3.html

Hello Strat,

Great information. I do keep plants in my house for this very reason. I find the spider plants, ivy plants, and the snake plants to be pretty easy to grow, and they are always producing babies that help keep the cost of replacment plants down. I try to keep three to five plants in every room, especially in my bedroom and my office where I spend most of my indoor time.

I am not much of a house plant person, but the effort is definitely worth it. My wife attends plant swaps in the spring and early summer, and sometimes she comes home with these house plants that real enthusiastic house plant growers have in abundance!

Sincerely,

Mr. Davis

[xbusymom]

I found a book "How to grow fresh air". Dr. B.C. Wolverton has cataloged 50 plants that purify your living environment.

http://www.amazon.com/How-Grow-Fresh-Air-Plants/dp/0140262431/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1327245737&sr=8-1

the trick is not to kill them by dehydration or drowning (like me- I dont have a green thumb to save my life)... any suggestions to help with that?

[surreal]

I bought my first plant 2 months ago. It's a pink moth orchid. I didn't know it's one of the plants that NASA would use in space! I plan to purchase a few more in my apartment. I don't own any pets, so I don't have to worry about pets getting poisoned.

[Strat]

I found a book "How to grow fresh air". Dr. B.C. Wolverton has cataloged 50 plants that purify your living environment.

http://www.amazon.com/How-Grow-Fresh-Air-Plants/dp/0140262431/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1327245737&sr=8-1

Yes! This is the same Dr in my second link.

"In the late 1960s, B.C. “Bill” Wolverton was an environmental scientist working with the U.S. military to clean up the environmental messes left by biological warfare centers. At a test center in Florida, he was heading a facility that discovered that swamp plants were actually eliminating Agent Orange, which had entered the local waters through government testing near Eglin Air Force Base. After this success, he wanted to continue this line of research and moved to what was at the time called the Mississippi Test Facility, but is now known as NASA’s Stennis Space Center. "


the trick is not to kill them by dehydration or drowning (like me- I dont have a green thumb to save my life)... any suggestions to help with that?

I actually do have a green thumb. I don't know what it is, everything I plant grows. I don't mean to sound arrogant or brag, I'm not even sure what the hell I'm doing half the time.

If I were to be so bold and give advice, I'd first point out that plants are different with their water requirements. Some plants need more water than others. Spider plants (mentioned by blake) are really tough. I'll water mine once a week. It looks like the soil is overly dry, but the plant is just so damn happy.

The plant itself will give you a clue as to how it is doing. The leaves will be droopy and sometimes shrivel when over watered, under watered, or if the sun is too hot (probably only really applies to tropical places, this is a problem for me in FL).

Maybe try this: touch the soil with your fingers. Is it saturated and spongy? How does the plant look? Are the leaves droopy? If so don't water it for a couple days. If the plant starts to look 'happier' then touch the soil again and try to keep it at that level.

If your plants are in buckets then you should drill holes in the bottom of it for drainage.

[blake]

I found a book "How to grow fresh air". Dr. B.C. Wolverton has cataloged 50 plants that purify your living environment.

http://www.amazon.com/How-Grow-Fresh-Air-Plants/dp/0140262431/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1327245737&sr=8-1

the trick is not to kill them by dehydration or drowning (like me- I dont have a green thumb to save my life)... any suggestions to help with that?

Hello xbusymom,

I can relate to the dehydration or drowning issue. Knowing the problem I had regarding this issue, a fellow gardener, in exchange for some home canned salsa, intoduced me to self watering planters. They look just like regular handing baskets for plants except that in the botton is a small spout. You have to look for it or you will miss it. I simply fill up the spout and the plant self waters itself. As long as there is water in the spout, I don't water it. If the spout is empty or low in water I simply fill it up. I kill a lot less plants this way! Whenever I find these self watering containers, I buy them up as they don't seem to be readily available, at least with the stores that I haunt locally.

Sincerely,

Mr. Davis

[Arrowwind]

Nice info... detailing what each specific plant does. ... thanks

[Czarek]

http://www.ted.com/talks/kamal_meattle_on_how_to_grow_your_own_fresh_air.html

[onawah]

That's very good to know. I have lots of indoor plants and they really help me get through the winter when the windows are closed.
I will have to get some of these particular plants.
Thanks.
update: I have been told that plants with pointed needles, like the asparagus fern, helps to create more healing positive ions in the air. Any kind of deciduous tree would do the same, and some of these can be persuaded to grow indoors.
It's the way energy moves around the points of the needles that creates the negative ions, apparently.