Best Plants for Your Work Space
I’m a giant enthusiast for better air quality, global carbon sequestering, and effortlessly improving the quality of the lives we live.
If you’re wondering what the best plants are for your space just know that ANY plant that can get enough light and perform photosynthesis would improve your air quality.
A general rule of thumb I hold to is: The more biomass the better, so Ideally, having multiple, taller plants with big leaves, the more noticeable difference your air quality will be in your space.
This list was inspired by the NASA and Wolverton study on Houseplants:
1. Corn Plant (Dracaena fragrans)
When it comes to functionality for air quality in a space, I’m particular to the ‘Janet Craig’ cultivar due to the size of its leaves. It can handle some of the lowest of light conditions but it also produce beautiful flowers with a sweet aroma that can fill your space, if you provided it just the right amount of indirect light. It’s particularly great at knocking out that weird copy machine exhaust smell.
2. Cast Iron Plant/Bar room Plant (Aspidistra elatior)
THIS PLANT IS A BEAST. The best thing about this plant is it can handle the lowest of light conditions in this list.
I have successfully grown this plant in the craziest of low light conditions with very little watering.
At this point, I’m convinced you have to be living in a cave to light-starve this plant!
If you think you’re terrible with plants because you tend to forget to water them, this plant is for you! Go get one today!
My particular favorite is ‘Milky way’ due to its starry appearance; which is helpful to notice in dark conditions.
3. Black Coral Sansevieria (Sansevieria trifasciata ‘Black coral’)
This plant is equally a beast along with its predecessor in this list. Let me just say that though I did pick the cultivar ‘Black Coral’, There are many other cool cultivars that are equally unique. This particular cultivar can handle lower light conditions a lot better than the variegated cultivars.
So, this Indoor plant is actually a big succulent, meaning it’s pretty much bomb proof- if you’re the kind of person that likes to go on Vacation for weeks on end, this plant won’t mind.
That being said, this plant is important to have in your workspace especially for people that work late. Why? You may wonder. Well, this plant employs a specific type of photosynthesis called CAM-photosynthesis Which basically means it will give you fresh air at night once the sun is gone and all the other plants are retiring for the night.
This plant is a great companion to any other plant for getting consistently clean air, day-and-night.
4. Sensation Peace Lily (Spathiphyllum wallisii ‘sensation’)
BIG PLANT. I could literally just summarize it as that, but this Peace Lily cultivar is fascinating; Not only does it have GIANT LEAVES, But its cool flower is EQUALLY AS GIANT. This cannot be understated.
Believe it or not its ability to grab up a bunch of carbon and spit out a bunch of air with it’s big ol’ leaves isn’t the only interesting thing about it. NASAs 1989 clean air study shows that a largely foliated Peace Lily can remove volatile air pollutants like:
Ammonia, Benzene, formaldehyde, Trichloroethylene, Toluene, and xylenes
It’s important to note that this plant will tell you when it wants water. I mean it REALLY will Its tissue is so herbaceous that when it gets dehydrated, it’ll fold itself down. -you’ll know when you’ve upset it.
I think Peace Lilies like these are great for anyone wanting to start their collection and is just learning to take care of plants. It’s a really easy plant to trouble shoot.
5. Neon Pothos (Epipremnum aureum ‘Neon’)
This plant goes by many names: in parts of Southern Asia it’s known as “Money Plant” out here in the west we give it an edgier name: “Devil’s Ivy”, due to it’s constance!
I’m particularly a fan of the ‘Neon’ cultivar due to it’s breathtaking glow, it just pops against dark walls!
