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Houseplants are pretty amazing. They’re beautiful, decorative, and will literally clean your house of toxins including formaldehyde and benzene. We already gave you a head’s up about how to stop killing your houseplants. But which plants are best to grow indoors if you want to scrub the air of harmful chemicals?
This fast-growing beauty is one of the easiest houseplants for novices to grow. The vine can grow 8-10 feet long, and its waxy green leaves are an attractive bold green color. Just make sure that your pets can’t reach it, since philodendron is poisonous to cats.
Rubber plants have very large, deep green leaves. They can be grown as small potted plants or encouraged to grow into trees over a few years. The best lighting for rubber plants is bright sunlight filtered through a sheer curtain.
This lovely, ruffle-edged fern thrives in indirect sunlight, so don’t place it in a sunny window. Try planting it in a hanging pot so that the leaves cascade decoratively on all sides.
The Boston fern is an absolute classic. The full, fluffy houseplant likes to live in cool, humid spots with plenty of indirect light. They may need extra water in the winter, when the air is particularly dry. Try misting your fern if the leaves start to turn yellow.
Do you want more color from your houseplants? The flamingo lily is a stunning tropical plant with large red flowers that look like valentines. Because it’s a tropical species, it prefers low light and high humidity.
Similar to philodendron, pothos is a vine-like plant that grows quickly. Its heart-shaped leaves are variegated green and white. It’s also great at filtering toxins. You can grow it in almost any light—and even in a vase of water. That’s how versatile they are.
Before the fiddle-leaf fig tree took over as the must-have houseplant, the ficus reigned supreme. Ficus trees will burn in bright light, and they hate cool temperatures. If your house gets below 65, the ficus is not for you.
If you want to make a statement with your houseplants, look no further than the majesty palm. You’ll feel like you are living in a jungle with this tall tropical plant.
This cheerful, bushy green plant is easy enough to grow. You’ll usually find it outdoors, but when grown as a houseplant, it will scrub your air of ammonia and other toxins.
You can find mums pretty much everywhere in fall. The pretty flowers are inexpensive, and if you plant them outdoors after the flowers fade, you might just get more blooms next year.
