Many people care for houseplants because they love nature, want to spruce up their home, or simply want something pretty to look at. But houseplants can be so much more than a decoration. Houseplants offer several health benefits and, when cared for properly, can improve your overall well-being.
If you’re a prospective indoor gardening debating whether to bring houseplants into your home, here are some of the many benefits that caring for plants can bring you.
The Mental Health Benefits of Caring for Houseplants
Indoor gardening as a hobby can provide several mental health benefits because having a hobby encourages creativity, happiness, and self-expression. Through hobbies, we develop a routine that helps us reduce and manage stress. Hobbies also give us something to look forward to after a long work day. And for those who live in dark and cold environments, caring for houseplants in winter can also be a good way to connect with nature.
Even if you don’t classify yourself as an indoor gardener, your plants still provide you with many mental health benefits. As modern adults feel increasingly anxious and stressed, this is leading many to search for stress-reducing cures and fixes. While plants cannot completely treat mental illness, surrounding yourself with indoor plants can positively improve your mental well-being.
One study found that interaction with indoor plants may reduce psychological and physiological stress, while another study found that those who spent a few minutes in a room with houseplants felt happier and more comfortable than those in a plant-free room. This is especially important during the winter when the average person spends the vast majority of their time indoors.
Houseplants offer some surprising benefits as well. Research suggests that indoor plants can boost productivity and enhance concentration. For anyone who’s experienced the refreshment and energy boost of a midday walk, this might not come as a surprise.
It’s also been reported that, because of their stress-reducing and calming abilities, houseplants can help patients heal faster simply by being in a room with a view of them.
Houseplants to Improve Air Quality, According to NASA
While houseplants certainly give our moods a boost, they can also improve our quality of life by helping to purify our air. A study by NASA found that certain air-purifying plants, such as benzene, formaldehyde, and trichloroethylene, can remove toxins from the air. In a time when wildfires and harmful emissions are becoming more frequent, getting rid of toxins in the air becomes ever more important.
So which plants can help purify your air? The NASA study lists more than a dozen plants that can help improve the air quality in your home, but here are five of the most easy-going and easy-to-care-for houseplants to consider:
- English Ivy: This low-maintenance plant prefers bright, indirect light, but it can also grow in the shade. English Ivy should be watered weekly, but be careful not to overwater; it thrives in moist, not soggy, soil.
- Peace Lily: Although peace lillies can grow well with an adequate amount of indirect sunlight, they thrive best in direct sunlight. Water your Peace Lily about once a week or when you notice it starts to sag.
- Spider Plant: This popular houseplant grows best with indirect sunlight and typically needs watering about once a week. Allow the soil to dry out completely between waterings.
- Snake Plant: Snake plants prefer shade or indirect sunlight and only need watering every two weeks to once a month, depending on the season.
- Boston Fern: This evergreen plant needs a few hours of indirect sunlight a day. Boston ferns should be watered once or a few times a week, depending on the environment, to keep the soil consistently moist but not waterlogged.
Important for pet owners: Many of these popular air-purifying plants can be toxic to pets, including dogs and cats, so be sure to discuss your plans with a Veterinarian before bringing these plants into your home.
The Easiest Indoor Plants to Start With
If all of these benefits were enough to convince you to start your indoor gardening journey, then the most important thing you’ll need to begin is a houseplant. But which one to choose? If you’re a beginner, then it might be best to start with some of the most low-maintenance plants to exist. Not only are these plants easy to care for, but they’ll give you the confidence to eventually move on to some more exotic and harder-to-keep-alive houseplants.
Pothos make a great choice for beginners because they are resilient, easy-going, and require watering just every 1-2 weeks. They thrive in a moderate room temperature environment, similar to humans, which makes them easy to add into your living room, bedroom, or kitchen.
The ZZ Plant is a low-maintenance perennial tropical plant that grows well in low-light conditions. They can also grow under fluorescent lights, making these plants an easy addition to your home office. Best of all, you don’t need to worry about watering your ZZ plant too frequently; ZZ plants require watering only every 2-3 weeks.
Aloe vera plants are easy to grow indoors, even for the most forgetful plant owner. Aloe vera plants can survive for weeks or months without watering, although you should be mindful of watering your plant every few weeks, depending on the season.
There’s a saying that life begins the day you start a garden, so why not bring that life indoors with houseplants? Whether you’re looking to improve your mental well-being, boost air quality, or simply add a touch of nature to your space, caring for plants can enrich your life in many ways.
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