Do houseplants really clean the air in your home? Does misting a houseplant really increase the humidity? Let’s look into some of the “common wisdom” in the world of houseplant care and see if it really makes much sense at all.
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Any other houseplant myths I should cover?
haha it smells like up-pot in here
Is it true that boiling water with onion peals, letting it cool and spraying it on leafs, will prevent a lot of pests and fungus?
How much time do lights have to be on in the winter and are standard LED home lights good enough?
Great vid. subbed 🙂 . You mentioned that harmful organic compounds in the air can't be filtered by houseplants because we usually don't have enough plantlife indoors to do this. What do you think about humity? I live in a basement en suite. Everything in my room is very slightly damp (almost un-noticably.. but i notice it). If i have a bunch of house plants… and keep the watering to a minimum.. will they drink the air? I've read about certain tropical plants. and i'd rather have these than have a de-humidifier…. and considering that plants like to drink water and on a "capillary-action" kind of principle.. perhaps this would work better than the harmful compounds idea. What do u think?
When I came back from a vacation my plant had some weird discoloration on the stems. One I watered my plant a couple of times kept it in the sun. And it was getting its green vibrant colour back
While you were ending the last plant myth you spoke of one right in front of you directly center of camera but you said the name so fast I didn’t catch it. Can you tell me what that green plant with the small leaves are called? Please and thank you.
Maybe you've covered this somewhere but it would be interesting to test if, for example, several houseplants in a bedroom increase the oxygen concentration in that room.
Just live in Florida and grow ferns outside. Humidity problem solved. Not worth increasing humidity inside your house and getting dangerous mold.
you look like you could be a third property brother. lol
What’s that plant in the back?
Even though the misting doesn’t do much for humidity, it does help to mist plants so that the leaves can get water directly. It’s best the mist them in the evening though, because water on the plants can magnify the sunlight and burn the leaves.
Don't mist, then mist your plant lol
wait i don’t understand what’s bad about misting..mist is a form of water which plants need…even if it doesn’t “increase humidity” if you’re misting the soil of a dry plant you are gently watering it right?
Oh boy. My dad had the opposite myth. That plants are bad because they use up all the oxygen at night, that why people suffocate in their sleep. Strangest thing I've ever heard
Misting only works if your houseplants are in terrariums. In terrariums though it's awesome
This is such a great site, you explain things so clearly with logic and experience. I must admit, sometimes my mind drifts off and I just enjoy the sound of your voice and the cadence of your delivery. Not to be weird, I do actually hear what you are saying and I learn something with each video! My parents were educators and broadcasters so I appreciate someone so well spoken as you. Thanks – I'll keep on listening!
What about: getting a humidifier and running your AC at the same time is a ridiculous thing to do.
I would be interested in knowing the names of the plants that you showcase in your videos. I know you named some of them, but maybe naming them all in the description would be nice added info.
I've been trying to figure out the name of the plant that you lifted up at 4:53. I have a variegated variety of that plant and got it as a gift, but no matter where I look on the internet, I can never figure out the name.
How about showing your setup that you have in the background? the shelves with the lights. I would like to do something like that for my plants in the coming winter here in Sweden since it gets very dark and very short day light. Thank you.
I like misting some plants to help clean any dust off of the leaves otherwise I don’t mist my plants.
I’ve found that reusing my water for my orchids really helps them vs fresh clean water every time I water them. My own little observation anyway.
Note to self buy more house plants and make my apartment like one of my bioactive cages got it
Its a big thing to say they arent air purifier’s. They have the tiny green balls that vibrate and make oxygen and stuff? Last i checked co2 is what we exhale. We take in oxygen the plants do it but in a much much slower scale. And mind you the nasa scientist who did the study started studying on plants absorbing and the like. They do filter… but if you want to feel the great fresh air… open a window. The plants exchange co2 and oxygen when it needs energy and it will make its starches stay in the root system, the bigger the system the better and more water and co2 it will play with. Heck even in planted aquariums there are studies that show plants slowly feeding and doing the co2 exchange. But saying they do nothing but just stimulate the mind is pretty sad when fifth grade science class teaches us what the heck plants can do when the sun is up. Just saying… photosynthesis is still a thing, or did we forget that altogether now? Did we cancel culture photosynthesis???!
Waring and his colleagues reanalyzed all 195 studies that have examined whether houseplants can filter the air. They found that some types of plants can remove higher amounts of VOCs than others. But once you factor in the effects of working in a large room, none of the plants are able to do much. Smaller rooms, however…. like a bathroom or a bedroom….. plants can be more effective there.
I appreciate the tip about soul volume and repotting- hadn’t heard that one yet, and it makes perfect sense, of course!