Hello everyone! My name is Richard, and this is my first post. Though I am not very knowledgeable about them, I am a plant-lover. I appreciate the joys and benefits that nature has provided. I have an unusual question. I practice certain breathing exercises for health purposes. One of my goals being to take in as much oxygen as possible. I prefer breathing outside, in fresh air. However, there are times when I must stay indoors. This made me wonder if I could fill my bedroom with a large number of plants, increasing the oxygen level in my room significantly, so as to provide a worthwhile "breathing room." Any thoughts as to the value of a project like this?
I saw a NASA study a few years ago regarding certain plants efficiency at cleaning air, that might bea good place to start
Having a bedroom filled with plants sounds wonderful to me. It will raise the oxygen level in the room a little. Plants release various chemicals (fragrance and other chemical messages), so some people have reactions or allergies to certain plants. Most houseplants have been chosen for their lack of allergenic problems, so that should not be an issue, but should be considered.
I saw this plant wall on the side of a university on the Discovery Channel: http://www.uoguelph.ca/atguelph/04-11-10/featuresair.shtml Seems like a neat experiment. Erica
People have been talking about that study quite a bit. It lists Philodendron, spider plant and the golden pothos as being the best at removing formaldehyde. Two great bonuses are that these particular plants are VERY easy to propagate and cheap if not free. Given the right conditions you can fill a room in not time.
Great idea! But you do need to be aware that the increased humidity associated with many plants inside the house will increase the house dust mite population. House dust mites contribute to allergic type manifestations associated with the dust produced by the debris of their droppings, and of dead mites. You might want to look at taking steps to reduce HDM population at the same time - there are many web resources which give good information on how to do this.
Hi, Also on a health note, one might consider that very high humidity might cause the growth of mold/fungus in the room. Extreme cases of this often result from the humidity involved in marijuana grow-ops. I don’t think that we are talking about nearly the humidity of that, so I wouldn’t let this threat influence your decision. It’s just that ventilation (especially in warm weather) should be adequate. Michael
