If you’re turning to your plants to produce as much oxygen for your home as possible, you may be wondering what the best options are. Let’s look at plants that produce the most oxygen so you can choose the right green friends for your home.
Plants that produce a lot of oxygen include:
- Pothos Plants
- Snake Plants
- Gerbera Daisies
- Weeping Figs
- Aloe Veras
- Areca Palms
- Spider Plants
- Peace Lilies
- Orchids
- Chinese Evergreens
- Boston Ferns
- Chrysanthemums
- Tulsi
1 – Pothos Plants
A particularly pretty and easy to care for, Pothos plants are very attractive to look at. They produce a lot of oxygen, and they are well adapted to all soil types. They don’t mind being a little dry, which is ideal if you aren’t good about watering your plants on a regular basis.
They will also survive well even in low light, although they do prefer to be placed somewhere with bright, indirect light instead. They don’t particularly mind whether they are fertilized a lot or not, and they add a gorgeous splash of green to any corner.
In terms of air quality, they are thought to output plenty of oxygen, and they may even help to filter and trap pollutants from the air, including benzene and formaldehyde. Adding one of these to your home will help to brighten the place up and improve the air quality significantly.
2 – Snake Plants
This plant is very much loved and grown all over the place, partly because it is easy to grow. It is also attractive, with deep green leaves patterned with lighter stripes. If you want a variegated plant without paying a fortune, this is a great option. It is again reasonably easy to care for, but watering it too heavily can be problematic.
As long as Snake Plants have good drainage holes and reasonably well draining soil, they should thrive. It is best to use a terracotta pot, rather than a plastic pot.
The Snake Plant is renowned for its oxygen-producing capacities, and these have made it a popular office plant as well as a home plant. Combined with being low maintenance and only needing water on occasion, it’s a great plant to have if you aren’t particularly good at plant care or maintenance.
Snake Plants come in both yellow and green varieties, and they can grow to around three feet tall – making it a very impressive specimen if you get it going in the right conditions.
3 – Gerbera Daisies
Few of the plants that produce a lot of oxygen are also keen to flower. Most will flower if you can provide them with perfect conditions, but this isn’t easy. Gerbera Daisies, however, tick both boxes. They are very beautiful and will produce large, attractive flowers if well cared for.
They like to be kept in bright sunlight for most of the year and then moved to more indirect light for the winter. Watering them regularly will ensure that they stay healthy, so keep the soil moist most of the time.
You can grow many of these daisies side by side if you have a good spot for them, and they will keep purifying the air. They are thought to be able to filter out trichloroethylene and benzene, and some people like to keep them in the bedroom for a night of better sleep.
4 – Weeping Figs
A Weeping Fig is another great option. These plants are stunningly beautiful and can get very large, so make sure you have a good amount of space for them. One of the best things about the Weeping Fig is that it has evolved to grow in low light conditions, so it will grow even if you only have small amounts of sunlight available.
They can grow up to six feet if you give them the right environment, so allow them a big enough pot for this. They need watering well throughout the spring and summer but will tolerate being a bit drier during the winter.
Plant them in soil with good drainage and allow the soil to dry out between waterings. The Weeping Fig is known for filtering between trichloroethylene, benzene, and formaldehyde.
This kind of plant is very good in flats and places that do not have much light.
5 – Aloe Veras
One of the most popular houseplants, Aloe Vera is easy to care for, pretty, hardy, and has many medicinal uses. They are also simple to propagate and will readily grow new plants from the mother plant, so they are generally easy to get hold of and often fairly cheap.
Aloe Vera prefers bright light, so a windowsill is a good place to put them on. They will not grow well if you put them in a dark, shady spot.
In terms of watering, Aloe Veras prefer to be kept quite dry, and they are happiest when watered infrequently. Again, mixing some drainage material such as coconut coir or sand into the plant’s pot will keep it happy and prevent it from getting root rot.
Aloe Veras are thought to be particularly effective at filtering out formaldehyde and benzene, and they produce lots of clean oxygen. If you have sufficient sunny spots, you may want to grow quite a few in the different rooms of your home.
6 – Areca Palms
If you have plenty of space and you’d like a feature plant that creates plenty of oxygen for you, try an Areca Palm.
You will need height for this plant, as it can reach up to seven feet tall. It is quite a long-lived variety, lasting for around ten years in the right conditions, and it has beautiful, elegant foliage that springs outward in soft spikes.
This is a sure way to make your home look tropical, and the plant produces lots of oxygen during the day. Furthermore, it filters out certain pollutants, such as toluene, formaldehyde, and xylene, making your air cleaner and healthier to breathe.
Be aware that as well as being tall, this plant is quite wide, especially at the top. Its fronds spring outward, so you do need space for this to grow. It is a fast grower, so it’s best to purchase a small plant and let it mature, as large specimens tend to be quite pricey.
7 – Spider Plants
Another fabulously low maintenance option, a spider plant needs very little in the way of care. It is hardy and requires just a little water now and then to keep it growing. It does not even mind the lighting conditions much and will grow in indirect bright light or partial shade perfectly well.
Spider plants also produce pups at an incredible rate when they are happy, meaning you can have as many of these plants as you like. They grow quickly and cascade down surfaces in lovely waves of foliage.
In terms of what they offer for air quality, they are among the best for producing oxygen, and they again tackle benzene, carbon monoxide, and formaldehyde. Growing these on the shelves of your home is a great way to make the air feel better and more comfortable to breathe.
Spider plants are also thought to reduce stress and boost your mood.
8 – Peace Lilies
A Peace Lily must be one of the most popular houseplants in existence. It features shiny green foliage that forms satisfying curvy leaves, and it grows quite densely, making it a very pretty option for any room.
This plant also produces beautiful white flowers, from which it takes its name. They are pure white, with a long spathe in the center, and they are thought to help people feel calm and happy.
Once more, Peace Lilies are low maintenance and need little in terms of care. They will grow happily in medium to low light conditions, although they do require some humidifying if you live in a particularly dry climate. You can mist them with a sprayer every few days to help keep them damp.
The Peace Lily is perhaps one of the best plants to have at home because it inputs carbon dioxide at night when most plants are inputting oxygen. However, Peace Lilies are poisonous to cats and other animals, so be cautious about their placement if you have pets.
9 – Orchids
Orchids are known for their beauty, so you might be pleased to discover that they are also great for producing oxygen. An orchid is an extremely elegant, oriental flower, and it’s good for cleaning the air in your home too.
However, orchids can be quite tricky to care for. Their needs vary depending on the climate that they are kept in, but often, you will need to mist them every day to every few days to keep the flowers fresh.
They need good drainage, as they are vulnerable to root rot and fungal infections. If placed on a sunny windowsill and watered with care, orchids will provide your home with cleaner air, plenty of oxygen, and beautiful blooms.
Because these plants do not get very large (although they can grow quite tall when in flower), they are ideal for small spaces.
10 – Chinese Evergreens
An extremely common household plant, the Chinese Evergreen has superb oxygenating properties. It is very popular in China and is often grown in an effort to improve the quality of the air inside homes and offices.
This plant will thrive even in low light and keep its foliage all year round. It is known for removing pollutants like formaldehyde and benzene from the air and outputting oxygen to refresh the supply in the home.
It doesn’t need a huge amount of water, which makes it suitable for growing in offices as well as in homes, and it is a very attractive plant.
11 – Boston Ferns
A pretty and soft fern, the Boston Fern is a good option if your home is reasonably damp. It will grow well in dark, cool, somewhat moist conditions. If your home is dry or you use air conditioners or dehumidifiers, you may need to lightly mist the soil to help this plant’s foliage stay soft, lush, and green.
Boston Ferns are happiest when grown in a mix that is mostly made up of peat moss, and they are a wonderful way to bring a pop of greenery to your home. They are quite impressive plants, with crinkled fronds that are very attractive.
Like the other plants on this list, they are often grown to help remove pollutants from the air and output plenty of oxygen. They look good growing in living rooms and because they do not need large amounts of light, it is possible to grow them in almost any part of the room.
If direct light falls on the leaves of your Boston Fern, consider putting up a curtain as strong sunlight could burn them.
12 – Chrysanthemums
One of the other options for lighting your home up with color as well as improving the amount of oxygen, Chrysanthemums are very beautiful plants and will produce lots of flowers if kept in the right conditions.
They also filter pollutants out of the air and output oxygen, so they are an excellent choice for a stuffy room with minimal airflow. They do need bright light, and you will not be able to grow them in a gloomy corner.
If you wish to put Chrysanthemums in your bedroom or living room, make sure they are getting enough sunlight. A bright windowsill is often the best option.
You also need to water these plants quite often, and they are not as easy to care for as some of the others on this list. They do well when the weather is sunny and hot, but often struggle with cold temperatures, so you may find that your Chrysanthemums die back in the winter.
If possible, keep the plant away from cold drafts, and don’t expect too much from it when the weather turns cold. However, don’t put it beside or above heaters, as it will get too hot, and this is as dangerous as being too cold.
13 – Tulsi
If you are a fan of Basil, you might find that growing Tulsi is a great option for you. This is sometimes called Holy Basil, and it comes from Southeast Asia and India. It has multiple uses, including for treating colds, asthma, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and sore throats. It is also good for reducing inflammation.
It can produce oxygen for as much as twenty hours per day, which is unusually long for any plant. It will grow well in a container, and it’s usually easy to grow, although it does need high temperatures.
You should try to keep it over seventy degrees F and give it up to six hours of direct sunlight a day. It is easier than some of the other options available for oxygenating your home, but it is not as simple as some – such as the Snake Plant.
It is thought to absorb carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, and carbon dioxide, so it’s a great way to make your home feel fresher and cleaner. Having several of these plants will significantly improve the air quality, but you may need quite a few to make a noticeable difference.
Conclusion
Using plants to improve the quality of the air in your home can be tricky because each plant only has a small impact. However, adding lots of plants, preferably of different kinds, can help to make the air better, and may make it feel fresher indoors.
Many people find the effects particularly helpful at night, especially in a stuffy bedroom. Placing a few plants in your bedroom could improve the quality of your sleep and help you to rest more comfortably.