One of the easiest ways to improve air quality in your home is to introduce plants. This roundup of the best indoor plants for oxygen and air purification covers lots of fantastic options that will help keep your indoor space healthy.
How do plants improve air quality?
Decorating with houseplants to improve indoor air quality caught on due to research by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NASA.
Plants remove carbon monoxide and certain volatile organic compounds (VOCs), including benzene, formaldehyde and trichloroethylene, from the air, while also increasing oxygen levels. These toxins come from interior furnishings such as carpet, plastics, consumer products and building materials. They can cause respiratory discomfort and other health problems.
All plants help to filter the air by removing carbon dioxide and supplying oxygen. The plants tested in the NASA Clean Air Study were particularly effective in removing specific toxins and combatting indoor air pollution.
The best indoor plants for oxygen
Many common houseplants not only add beauty to your home, but also provide health benefits as they purify the air and remove harmful components. Some of these plants require little maintenance and can adapt well to low light.
This list of 25 brilliant air purifying indoor plants – including flowering plants and foliage plants – has something to suit all spaces and conditions in your home.
Heart-leaf Philodendron
Heart-leaf philodendrons, also known as sweetheart vines, are common houseplants for oxygen indoors. They have green heart-shaped leaves and prefers shade or indirect sunlight. It can be left to trail down from the pot or trained to grow up a trellis or support cage.
The heartleaf philodendron is a great plant for beginners, as it’s tolerant of many conditions and very easy to grow. Just allow the soil in philodendrons to completely dry out before each watering in winter.
Spider Plant
Spider plants, also known as ribbon plants or airplane plants, are a brilliant option if you want low maintenance plants that release oxygen at night. This popular houseplant don’t need much care, and will cope with most conditions.
As the name suggests, spider plants have long, skinny green leaves, with a white stripe down the centre of each leaf. The leaves grow from the centre of the plant and fall out around the edge of the pot, so they’re well-suited to growing as a hanging plant or tumbling over the edge of a shelf.
Spider plants like well-drained, moist soil, and will thrive best in areas that don’t get really hot. Indirect light works well for these oxygen producing plants.
When choosing a spider plant, stay away from plants with torn leaves or brown tips.
Mother-in-Law’s Tongue (Sansevieria trifasciata)
This unique plant is also called the snake plant due to its tall, upright leaves with distinct green patterns. Mother-in-law’s tongue is a low-maintenance indoor plant that excels at removing xylene, toluene, formaldehyde and benzene from the air.
The waxy leaves of snake plants are also good at grabbing dust from the air – another reason why they make great indoor plants for clean air.
Sansevieria plants can cope with pretty much any indoor environment, but they will thank you for bright, indirect light, a dry environment and a watering every few weeks.
Chinese Money Plant (Pilea Peperomioides)
The large leaves of the Chinese money plant are efficient oxygen producers, and like Sansevieria they will also trap dust.
As their name implies, Pilea plants are also associated with wealth and good fortune – another great reason to introduce this oxygenating plant into your home!
Lucky Bamboo
Another oxygen rich plant with lucky associations, Lucky Bamboo is ideal for modern, contemporary interiors.
Lucky Bamboo is easy to grow, and can be trained into interesting shapes or even grown in water.
Aloe Vera
While renowned for its soothing gel, the aloe vera plant also contributes to better air quality.
Aloe Vera releases oxygen during the night, making it an ideal bedroom companion. Additionally, it helps clear the air of harmful pollutants commonly found in cleaning products.
Grow this drought tolerant plant in bright light, and only water it when you notice dry soil.
Peace Lily
Peace lilies are renowned for their ability to improve air quality. These lovely plants have long glossy leaves with white blooms. As an added bonus, they make it very clear when they need water with their drooping leaves.
For best results, keep this plant away from bright sunlight; this will avoid leaf scorch and can even increase flower production. Clean the surface of the leaves regularly with a damp cloth to remove dust and maximise air purification.
Flamingo Lily (Anthurium)
Like peace lilies, flamingo lilies will grace your home with blooms while working hard to remove toxins from the air.
Grow this plant somewhere bright and humid, and water it regularly.
Areca Palm
Also known as bamboo palm and butterfly palm, the Areca palm (Dypsis lutescens) is a shoulder-high plant with feathery, arching fronds that not only add a tropical touch to your home, but also filter out harmful toxins.
The Areca palm is one of the most effective plants at purifying the air, removing harmful chemicals like formaldehyde and xylene.
Give your Areca Palm partial shade for best results. Water it regularly in warmer months but let the soil dry out more in winter.
Calathea
With their striking leaf patterns and colours, Calathea plants (or prayer plants) provide real wow factor in your home.
Calatheas can be grown in low light, and should definitely be positioned away from direct sunlight and draughts. Keep their soil damp, but not too wet. They like humid conditions, so you can mist the leaves or place a saucer of water nearby to keep them happy.
Boston Fern
This air purifying plant is popular with plant parents for good reason. The Boston Fern needs a bit of care, but will reward you with gorgeous tactile fronds while removing formaldehyde and other pollutants from the environment.
Boston Ferns like to grow in indirect light, and also enjoy a humid environment. Feed them regularly with houseplant food to keep them in top condition.
Kimberly Queen Fern
Another great option for an indoor fern, Kimberly Queen fern will deal with air toxins and boost indoor oxygen levels.
Queen ferns (also known as Australian Sworde Ferns) won’t thank you for a draughty location, but they’re one of the tougher ferns and can cope with a wider range of temperatures and humidity.
Rubber Plant (ficus elastica)
A good option if you like your houseplants green and glossy, rubber plants are great air purifiers. Choose from a small plant for your desk or bedroom shelf, or a larger specimen to stand on the floor.
Rubber plants like bright, indirect light and a bit of humidity.
Weeping Fig (Ficus benjamina)
If you’d like to make a statement with your air purifying plants, consider a Weeping Fig.
These plants are essentially small trees (which is why they’re also called ficus trees), so they can provide a fabulous focal point in a room. The weeping habit make these plants a graceful addition to your home that will also release oxygen into the air.
Gerbera Daisy
You might associate Gerbera Daisy plants with the garden, but they also make lovely indoor plants that release oxygen at night.
Gerbera daisies are also plants that clean the air, removing benzene, formaldehyde and trichloroethylene.
Chrysanthemums
Chrysanthemums are another common garden plant that offers air cleaning benefits when grown indoors. They’re good at removing pollutants and will provide beautiful flowers while they do so.
Bromeliad
Bromeliads are impressive-looking indoor plants for oxygen, with attractive leaves and often fabulously coloured flower bracts.
These plants are native to subtropical climates, so they enjoy bright light and high humidity levels.
Dragon Tree (Corn Plant)
With its slender upright leaves and miniature tree shape, Dracaena Marginata makes a bold statement. It’s adept at removing pollutants xylene and trichloroethylene from the air.
A dragon tree is ideal for a small space as it grows slowly. It’s a low maintenance plant that enjoys indirect light.
Chinese Evergreen (Aglaonema commutatum)
Chinese Evergreens are hardy plants that need very little maintenance indoors. They can grow in any light conditions, and are available in shades of green and red.
Aglaonemas are great indoor plants for oxygen and will also remove pollutants from the air in your home.
English Ivy
Good old ivy! Tough, low effort and suited to most indoor aspects, it will earn its space with its air purifying properties.
Ivy (or Hedera helix) can also look fantastic as a houseplant – especially if you take advantage of its trailing habit by growing it in a hanging planter or on a high shelf.
Golden Pothos (Epipremnum aureum)
Commonly known as devil’s ivy, this plant’s heart-shaped leaves and trailing vines make it a popular choice for indoor spaces. It excels at filtering indoor air pollutants like benzene, xylene, and toluene, enhancing the overall air quality in your home.
Golden Pothos is OK in low light and doesn’t need watering more than every week or two.
Lady Palm (Rhapis excelsa)
If you want to go big with your air purifying plants, consider a Lady Palm. They grow up to six feet tall, and produce an abundance of lovely fan-shaped leaves.
This supersized air cleanser will tolerate low light, but it needs plenty of water.
ZZ Plant
If you follow plant hashtags on Instagram, you’ve probably come across many ZZ plants. ZZ is short for zamioculcas zamiifolia, and this plant has lots to offer when it comes to interesting foliage.
ZZ plants will deal with toxins in your home’s air, including benxene, xylene and toluene. They’re low maintenance, which means they’re ideal if you’re short on time or just getting started with indoor plants.
Orchid
We all know that orchids make stunning indoor plants, but the fact that they are also great plants for oxygen indoors is often overlooked.
Orchids have a reputation for being tricky to look after, but they are actually quite easy to care for once you know the basics. Check out our article on orchid care tips to keep these stunners looking good.
Tulsi
Also called Holy Basil, Tulsi is known for its medicinal properties, but it’s also a powerhouse when it comes to oxygen production. Tulsi are plants that produce oxygen for up to 20 hours per day, and they can also absorb CO2 and toxins like sulphur dioxide.
Tips for growing plants that purify the air indoors
1. Learn the care needs for the plant
Most plants from nurseries and garden centres have care tags, so you can check if the plant’s needs for light and water will fit with your home and lifestyle.
2. Use the right amount of plants for your room size
NASA recommends using one plant per 100 square feet to improve your indoor air quality.
3. Keep your plant leaves clean
Remove dust from the surface of your plants regularly to maximise their oxygen production and air cleaning potential.
4. Increase your air cleaning plants for free
Many air cleaning plants root easily, allowing you to increase your houseplant population by creating more plants from the parent plants. For example, you can snip a baby spider plant off the mother plant and put it in another pot of soil, or take a cutting from a rubber plant or dracaena to gain a new plant at no cost.
Incorporating these best indoor houseplants for oxygen and air purification into your living space can have numerous benefits beyond enhancing aesthetics. Not only do they release oxygen through the process of photosynthesis, but they also absorb harmful chemicals and toxins present in indoor air, thus improving the overall quality of the air you breathe.
These air-purifying plants not only support your physical health, but can also contribute to stress management, improved mental health, and even better sleep quality. So, whether you’re looking to brighten up your home, boost your energy levels, or simply enjoy cleaner air, these air purifying indoor plants are a fantastic and accessible solution.
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