Green plants for bedrooms and other dark rooms

Green plants for bedrooms and other dark rooms are not difficult to characterize or choose. Indoor plants need little more than air and love - and light. That's just ridiculous in bedrooms and other dark rooms by the standards of a plant Traces exist, only the most robust shade plants in our world have a chance here, and that's what it's all about so:

Which green plants for which room?

There are many spaces in our homes and apartments that green plants perceive as dark, usually with other typical characteristics that influence plant selection:

The best green plants for the bedroom

The bedroom is usually kept fairly cool, especially in winter. There isn't much light either, but good air is definitely desired, so here can and should be a few of the Powerful air-purifying plants find their place among green plants that have a moderately warm environment get by

These are some plants from the list of “unbeatable air purifiers” presented below, which include ferns, ivy and ivy, spider plant, gum tree, mace and sheath leaf, for example. Depending on the temperature in your bedroom, you can cultivate other plants from the list there, but they all get by with very little light.

If the bedroom is kept really cool, it could also provide good wintering quarters for a wide variety of potted plants from the balcony and terrace, depending on the species. with an LED grow light above it.

The best green plants for the living room

In our living rooms, at least in winter, it is not exactly bright for a green plant, or in Germany it is dark in winter anyway – summer, outside, sun: around 100,000 lux, winter, outside, overcast: around 3,500 lux, and the average Living room lighting only manages 50 lux... with these ratios in mind, no one is surprised that many green plants are desperately seeking light send out horny shoots.

In the bedroom we use up the air simply by being physically present, although we are in the living room comparatively usually physically present for a somewhat shorter time, but they pollute them quite vigorously Air. If you still smoke, then here, here the fireplace and the candles are burning and in Advent the incense smokers, this is where the family gathers with the guests. There may be an extractor above the fireplace, but there isn't an extractor hood like in the kitchen, and the windows tend not to be thrown open when everyone is sitting comfortably together.

The temperatures in the living room are friendly, all green plants from the list of favorites below can ensure better air here.

Green plants for the kitchen and bathroom

(Actually used) kitchens and bathrooms are sometimes windowless and therefore maximally dark for plants, but warm and humid.

Here all green plants that grow near the ground among other plants feel comfortable in the jungle or in subtropical forests, there are a few such on the list of air purifying plants Plant. There are also several herbs that like to be surrounded by high humidity, and various sages and verbena also have a scent.

Incidentally, there are good reasons why there are more green plants in bedrooms and other dark rooms than flowering indoor plants, the green plants are really important for our living environment:

The green plant and the flowering houseplant

The term "green plant" in our usage does not simply (rather pointlessly) designate any green plant Plant, but a houseplant, a plant that is planted by humans all year round in the living room for ornamental purposes, among other things is cultivated.

In addition to the green plants, flowering plants are also kept in the room, with which even the history of the houseplant in our latitudes began: Already in In the Middle Ages, the first potted plants were placed in the house, flowering native plants from the garden in front of the front door, irises and lilies, lilies of the valley, violets and roses. But these weren't real houseplants, they were only put indoors when they were in bloom to cover up the stench that was omnipresent in the Middle Ages.

The first real houseplants appeared from the late 17th century. Century brought into the living rooms, in the 18. In the 19th century, the plant in the house became fashionable, especially in courtly surroundings, and plant breeding developed. From the dawn of the bourgeois era towards the end of the 18th century, fashion at court was Copied in private households at the end of the 19th century, flower tables were indispensable ornaments in the salons in the Biedermeier period, and nature beautified the living rooms.

With the installation of larger windows in living spaces (as a result of new glass-making processes), more and more indoor plants came into the rooms at the end of the 19th century. At the beginning of the 20th century there was already a considerable range. Begonias and cineraria, clivia, cyclamen and anthuriums were emerging in the soon to come Flower windows (with extra space for plants between double glazing) to blooming paintings arranged.

In addition to the culture of a "blooming plant show", the houseplant also moved into the depths of the room. In the course of historicism, the house plants of antiquity were rediscovered; Egyptians, Greeks and Romans had already cultivated laurel trees and other greenery in earthen vessels. As part of the first official contacts to Asia, envoys from Japan brought the first bonsai and from China reports and examples of or. for the 2,500-year history of Chinese potted plant culture. So now also ornamental foliage plants like bow hemp, ivy, ferns, spider plants, rubber trees, Ornamental asparagus and indoor firs to the indoor plants that were green plants for indoor culture born.

The value of the green plant for the living space

Exactly with this cultivation of green plants one came from the purely ornamental function of the indoor plant to the original function that the plant had in the house in the Middle Ages: improving the air in the living room, in the 19./20. Century with more knowledge about photosynthesis of plants and the value of air renewal in living spaces not more than short-term flowering to cover up stench, but as a green plant to constantly influence the air quality in the Space.

With this, the evergreen green plants, which carry out photosynthesis all year round and thus ensure good air and a good indoor climate all year round, moved into every room. Today we know even better how efficiently green plants filter the living air as part of their photosynthesis:

They bind pollutants such as benzene, formaldehyde, trichloroethene, xylene, toluene and ammonia from the air, a short one Overview of these substances could increase the motivation to purchase green plants for the bedroom significantly increase:

benzene

Benzene, an aromatic hydrocarbon, is a component of many petroleum products and is emitted through road traffic emissions (is in gasoline included), through tobacco smoke and open fireplaces in the home, increased levels can increase the risk of various cancers increase.

formaldehyde

Formaldehyde is still one of the most important organic raw materials in the chemical industry, it is acutely toxic and has been regulated by the EC since January 1st. Legally classified as “probably carcinogenic to humans” in April 2015. In the past, formaldehyde got into the room air through outgassing from materials containing formaldehyde (e.g. wood-based materials, floor coverings, furniture, textiles), today it is Remediation of pollutant-polluted buildings (older prefabricated wooden houses) is an issue, but limit values ​​are repeatedly exceeded (Ökotest 2008 in children's beds) established.

In addition, formaldehyde is emitted in all possible incomplete combustion processes, in internal combustion engines of motor vehicles, in the Manufacture of plastic articles, when smoking and in the living room due to incorrect loading/incorrect operation of domestic small combustion systems.

trichloroethene

Trichloroethene is classified as carcinogenic and germ cell mutagenic and must be labeled as "toxic". Until recently it was one of the most common cleaning, degreasing and extracting agents in the metal and glass industry, in dry cleaning and textile processing. Today we have limit values, albeit with exceptions, and in the bitumen and asphalt industry trichloroethene is still important as a solvent for bitumen.

xylene

Xylene, an aromatic hydrocarbon similar to benzene, which is harmful to health if absorbed through the skin and respiratory tract. Xylene emissions are mainly due to motor vehicle traffic.

toluene

Toluene is similar to benzene in many properties and is contained in petrol, among other things. Toluene also often replaces benzene as a solvent, but it's not much healthier: it causes nerve damage, kidney damage and maybe also liver damage, is toxic to reproduction and teratogenic and more, see de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toluol.

ammonia

Ammonia is a cell toxin that acts primarily on nerve and muscle cells and with prolonged exposure has chronic effects (bronchial asthma, coughing, shortness of breath, in aqueous solution chemical burns to the skin and Stomach). It is the raw material of our nitrogen fertilizers and all other industrially produced nitrogenous ones Compounds (refrigerants, UF resins as an adhesive for wood materials such as Resopal, textile finishing agents and much more more).

Green plants are therefore important for people's living space, which is why it has long been investigated in more detail which plant does what:

The green plant favorites to purify the air

Each plant provides oxygen, increases humidity, and filters indoor air a little, but NASA has scientifically researched which plants are the best at purifying the air. Actually, this "NASA Clean Air Study" published in 1989 was only intended to determine how the air in space stations can best be cleaned.

As is so often the case, this somewhat unusual space research also brought benefits to civil society: NASA has the plants found out that produce a particularly large amount of oxygen and have a particularly good air purification effect, here is the NASA list (incl. a few flowering plants for dark rooms):

• Barberton gerbera, Gerbera jamesonii
• Mountain palm, Chamaedorea seifrizii
• Weeping fig, Ficus benjamina
• Bow Hemp, Sansevieria trifasciata Laurentii
• Boston sword fern, Nephrolepis exaltata bostoniensis
• Dendrobium orchids, Dendrobium spp.
• Dieffenbachia, Dieffenbachia spp.
• Double-leafed tree friend, Philodendron bipinnatifidum
• Fragrant Dragon Tree, Dracaena fragrans Massangeana
• Ivy, Hedera helix
• Efeutute, Epipremnum aureum
• Flamingo flower, Anthurium andraeanum
• Large-leaved chrysanthemum, Chrysanthemum morifolium
• Curved dragon tree, Dracaena marginata = Reflexa
• Golden fruit palm, Dypsis lutescens
• Spider plant, Chlorophytum comosum
• Rubber tree, Ficus elastica
• Heart-leaf Philodendron, Philodendron cordatum
• No German name known, Homalomena wallisii
• Cobtail, Aglaonema modestum
• Lily sword, Liriope spicata
• Phalaenopsis orchids, Phalaenopsis spp.
• Phoenix palm, Phoenix roebelenii
• Sheath leaf 'Mauna Loa', Spathiphyllum 'Mauna Loa'
• Sword fern 'Kimberly Queen', Nephrolepis obliterata 'Kimberly Queen'
• Spade Leaf Philodendron, Philodendron domesticum
• Stick palm, Rhapis excelsa

All of these plants get along with little light and thrive in an experimental space station, so certainly also in the living room. They "can" do different things - ammonia, trichloroethene, benzene, xylene, toluene and formaldehyde can only do that Sheath leaf Spathiphyllum of the cultivar 'Mauna Loa' and the chrysanthemum Chrysanthemum morifolium in one go from the filter air.

But the other plants mentioned usually also “create” several pollutants; and since NASA recommends a plant at 9 square meters as a minimum, yes you can mix. The NASA list is certainly not exhaustive, among our approximately 40,000 varieties of ornamental plants there are still many plants that get by with very little light. Certainly these plants also filter some pollutants from the air, but this has only been examined in detail with the plants in the above list.

Conclusion

There are plenty of greenery for bedrooms and other dark rooms that can cope with limited light, for well-heated and rather cool rooms. Among them there is a whole range of plants (green plants + flowering indoor plants) whose good air-purifying effect has been scientifically proven.

Learn more about caring for plants