The benefits of an indoor tree or plant in your home

Why should you have indoor plants in the first place?  Most just love adding the colors of plants into their home decor.  It can be fun to teach kids how to care for a plant starting indoors or teaching yourself how to care for indoor plants.  The best benefit is a plant’s ability to filter and purify the air.

So why is it so important to purify the air inside your home?

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About Toxic House Syndrome

Did you know that your house could be killing you slowly?  Studies are finding a link between asthma, cancer, allergies, lung disease, poor health, etc. and pollution inside your home.  Envirovent can give you more detail on this syndrome and will advise you to not ignore allergy symptoms.  They could be coming from your house.

During this rainy season on the east coast could bring mold spores into your home.  Not only could there be mold in your home, toxins from the wood, paint, insulation, ventilation ducts, filters, etc. could be leaking into the air.  Actually, it’s highly likely this is happening.  Studies have found 15.3 million homes so far suffering from Toxic House Syndrome.

If the building materials are not enough to pollute your breathing air inside your home, all the cleaning chemicals you use on the daily basis is adding to the toxic levels.  The American Lung Association warns about Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) in common household cleaning products.  Among these are:

• Air fresheners
• Rug and upholstery cleaners
• Furniture and floor polishers
• Chlorine Bleach
• Oven Cleaners

Dracaena plants are one of the best NASA Approved Air purifying plants

Nasa did a study titled Interior Landscape Plants for Indoor Air Pollution Abatement.  They tested several plants and their ability to remove chemicals such as Trichloroethylene, Formaldehyde, and Benzene.  These are the chemicals found in the building materials of your home and common household cleaning products.

A few Dracaena plants were tested and these plants removed astronomical levels of these chemicals compared to other plants tested.  The ‘Janet Craig’ variety shined at the top of the charts compared to any other plant.  They all outperformed most indoor plants on the numbers reported in the study.

There are many things you can do to help purify your home air.  Buying one of these plants to help clear it out is a great start!  I bought my first Dracaena Marginata for $5 at a local nursery.  The bigger the plant, the more air it can filter and the longer it is in the home, the more toxic chemicals it will remove.

Easy to care for and hard to kill indoor plants

Dracaena is very easy to care for.  It is similar to caring for succulents.  Water it with spring water thoroughly and let it dry out between waterings.  It is sensitive to tap water so only purified water or spring water for best results.  Most plants do not like the high levels of chlorine and other chemicals in tap water.

It prefers a bright spot indoors away from direct sunlight.  It can handle quite a bit of shade. It can also survive great in smaller pots.  A little organic fertilizer a couple times a year or less will do just fine.  It’s not a heavy feeder and all varieties look amazing indoors.

If you like the darker leaves of the Marginata, check out these other dark low light indoor plants that offer a dramatic show when grouped together!

Dracaena makes a great gift

This post may contain affiliate links. Read our Affiliate Disclosure here.

Indoor plants make great gifts for everyone.  This plant is a gift that keeps on giving.  No matter the occasion, Mother’s Day, Christmas, birthdays, etc.  Go out and give a gift that helps purify the air.  Click on the images below to order my recommended Dracaena indoor plants.  These are beautiful exotic indoor plants and very popular in home decor for a housewarming gift.

Here is a very good deal for 3 Dracaena plants at Amazon – 3 Variety Dracaena Indoor Live Plants – Costa Farms