Houseplants and your health
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James Campbell
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We feel better when we spend time outdoors. Many studies show that being in nature increases our sense of wellbeing. Do we reap those same benefits when we bring nature indoors? It turns out we do, according to studies done at universities around the world.
Houseplants can help you recover faster
Concentration and creativity are improved by the presence of houseplants according to studies. Photo: Marianne CampbellSurgical patients assigned to rooms with houseplants had improved health outcomes. Patients exposed to plants had more positive physiological responses and shorter hospital stays. They took fewer post-operative analgesics and experienced less pain, anxiety, and fatigue.
Houseplants can help you concentrate
Being around houseplants help people concentrate better in the home and workplace. Work performed around ornamental plants was more accurate and of higher quality. Other studies have shown houseplants increase creativity.
Caring for houseplants can reduce your stress levels. Photo: Marianne Campbell
Caring for houseplants can reduce your stress levelsActive interaction with indoor plants can reduce stress. Caring for plants suppresses sympathetic nervous system activity and diastolic blood pressure. In another study, participants worked on a computer in a room with and without plants. The people doing tasks near plants recorded lower blood pressure readings even when their attention was not drawn to the plants.
Houseplants increase humidityPlants release moisture from tiny pores in their leaves through transpiration. This increases the humidity of the air around them and can be extremely beneficial in our dry climate.
Humidity is a factor to consider for some houseplants like the fiddlehead ficus. Photo: Marianne Campbell
Houseplants do NOT appreciably improve air qualityHouseplants create a healthy environment. However, they can’t purify home air the same way plants purify a small, closed space capsule in the NASA study. Research shows we would need around ten plants per square foot to be comparable. Plants remove a minute amount of airborne toxins. It’s nothing when compared to a mechanical air purifier or opening a window.
Here in Marin, we can grow just about any house plant there is. It all depends on the right plant in the right place—the same as in our gardens. Pay special attention to requirements for light, temperature, and humidity. Be knowledgeable about caring for a particular plant. Plants that tolerate low light are good near north and east-facing windows. Those that prefer bright light can be near south and west-facing windows but may not be able to tolerate direct sunlight.
