houseplants, indoor pollution, toxic houseplants

Houseplants Facts to Know

It?s amazing how many potential pollutants can be found in a home. For most of a winter day, our homes are closed tight with no windows or doors open to let out pollutants and let fresh air circulate. Toxins such as benzene, formaldehyde, and trichloroethylene can be released from furniture upholstery, carpets, cleaning products, paint, plastics and rubber. Carbon monoxide from the incomplete burning of wood and nitrogen oxides from cigarette smoke, vehicle exhaust and smog can also be present in indoor air.

Areca palm

Then there are airborne biological pollutants. These include bacteria, viruses, animal dander and dried cat saliva, house dust and pollen. House mites, the source of one of the most powerful biological allergens grow in damp warm environments. Mold and mildew grow in moist places like central heating systems and are just one more source of indoor pollution.

Many common houseplants help fight pollution indoors. They are able to scrub significant amounts of harmful gases out of the air through the everyday processes of photosynthesis. The first list of air-filtering plants was compiled by NASA as part of a clean air study published in 1989 which researched ways to clean the air in space stations. As well as absorbing carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen, as all plants do, these plants also eliminated significant amounts of benzene, formaldehyde and trichloroethylene. Other studies added to the list of chemical pollutants and the best plants to remove them.

Pothos

NASA researchers suggest that the most efficient air cleaning occurs with at least one plant per 100 square feet. Even the microorganisms in potting soil remove some toxins. Yikes, who knew all that was going on right under our noses.

BromeliadSome of the easiest houseplants to grow are some of the best to have in the home. Just about all the potted palms are good. Also rubber plant, dracaena ?Janet Craig?, philodendron, boston fern, ficus, peace lily, Chinese evergreen, spider plant, snake plant, pothos, English ivy and phalaenopsis orchids are high on the list of plants that fight indoor pollution.

Bromeliad species

If you have a cat of dog that you share your home with most of the above plants aren?t safe for them according to the ASPCA website. While all plants clean the air only ferns, spider plants, areca and parlor palms and phalaenopsis orchids from the above list are safe.

Other houseplants toxic for dogs and cats according to the ASPCA are asparagus fern, lilies, cyclamen, jade plant, aloe vera, azalea, begonia, ivy, mums, coleus, sago palm, kalanchoe and rubber plant. Keep your pets safe by keeping toxic plants out of reach.

There are many houseplants that are safe for cats and dogs and every plant photosynthesizes and cleans the air to some extent. Some of the common ones include African violet, aluminum plant, bromeliads, peperomia, areca palm, polka dot plant, cast iron plant, Christmas cactus, chenille plant, creeping Charlie, false aralia, Tahitian bridal veil, wandering jew, goldfish plant, piggy-back plant and the succulents, donkey?s tail and hens and chickens.

With a little planning you can clean the air in your home while keeping the pets safe.

houseplants, low light houseplants

Houseplant Confidential – Part I

Tucked on window sills and tabletops my houseplants clean the air and provide indoor beauty while the landscape outdoors is mostly resting. They are easy to keep healthy if I follow a few tips.

Spathiphyllum aka Peace Lily

A typical houseplant lives in the understory of a tropical rain forest where it gets filtered light. They’re used to warm rain and perfect drainage. We put them in pots inside our homes where they have much different conditions to contend with. Most houseplants will tolerate darker conditions if you adjust your watering to accommodate the slower growth rate.

Water just enough to keep the soil from going totally dry allowing oxygen to move back into the root zone. Let the soil in a 4-6 inch pot dry half an inch down between waterings then water with room temperature water. Don’t let the pot sit in a saucer of water or the roots will rot. If your plant is in a larger pot let the soil dry a couple inches between waterings. A moisture meter is very helpful for larger plants.

Move plants into the best light you have. Even a table lamp will provide light for a plant growing underneath. Remove dust with a moist cloth or place the entire plant under lukewarm water in the sink. Dust blocks light from getting to leaves.

Dracaena

Fertilize less often skipping December and January and starting up again with half strength fertilizer in mid-February. Houseplants are essentially dormant in winter needing fertilizer only when active growth resumes.

Don’t re-pot a plant in winter when they are slow to grow new roots. Replant when the growing season resumes in March or April. Choose a pot only two inches bigger than the old pot each time you transplant. Most plants grow happily for years in the same pot and soil with proper fertilizing and watering during the growing season.

Avoid placing plants in cold drafts near high-traffic areas such as a foyer or hallway. Ficus trees are notorious for dropping leaves when exposed to temperature changes.

Sansevieria

If you have medium to low light conditions in your house some of the best upright plants are philodendron, peace lIly, Chinese evergreen, cast-iron plant, schefflera, arboricola, ferns and palms. Hanging plants that grow well in low light are heart-shaped philodendron, pothos and grape ivy. Most of these houseplants grow naturally in low light areas of the jungle. Don?t overwater and they?ll be happy.

If you do find insects on your plants, a spray of mild insecticidal soap for houseplants usually does the trick if you do a follow up spraying a week later. Horticultural oil works well, too, by smothering insects and their eggs. If you have tiny black fungus gnats flying over the soil, you are watering too frequently. They feed on the algae growing on moist soil. Scrape off the surface, spray with insecticidal soap and let the soil dry out.

Next week: toxic and non-toxic houseplants for cats and dogs and those that clean the air.

fungi, Fungus Fair- Santa Cruz, mushrooms

Fungi- The Good, the Bad & the Beautiful

A recent article in The Press Banner warned of the severe consequences of mistakenly eating poisonous mushrooms found in our area. With our early rainfall this season fungi are emerging at a record pace and if you are not an expert at identifying a particular variety of edible mushroom better leave them off the dining table. While there are many wild mushrooms growing in this area that are edible there are just as many that are poisonous. Mistakenly ingesting one can cause death or liver damage so severe that a transplant would be needed for you to survive.

Amanita muscaria

There are over a thousand beautiful fungi to discover in our area. They live in such lovely places. Each year I volunteer as a basketeer for the Fungus Fair that is organized by the Fungus Federation of Santa Cruz. It?s held at the Louden Nelson Community Center in Santa Cruz on Friday afternoon, January 13th and continues on Saturday and Sunday, January 14th and 15th from 10:00am – 5:00pm.

Mushroom experts will be available throughout the fair to identify mushrooms you?ve found. Bring yours in a paper bag which keeps them fresher than plastic. You?ve got a week to collect remembering that those in our State Parks are off limits.

Honey mushrooms

The habitat display is what I help put together by creating baskets of some of the hundreds of mushroom species commonly found in the Santa Cruz and neighboring counties. It is one of the main attractions of the Fungus Fair. Volunteers collect different types of tree, leaf and duff material for the tables and main centerpiece that will display fungi by order and family. It?s an easy way to get started learning which ones are poisonous, good eating and just plain beautiful or unusual.

During the fair renowned speakers will talk about mushroom toxicity, identification, myth busting and even mushroom medicine along with cooking demonstrations and tastings of exceptionally good fungal fare. The Kid?s Room which is open on Saturday and Sunday has mushroom arts and crafts, face painting and making dyed fabrics. You can even look at fungi spores through a microscope.

Most foragers enjoy the hunt for fungi as well as eating them in a good meal. Me, I seem to take more photographs than specimens. Getting down at their level as they emerge from the earth, looking to see if their undersides have gills or pores or other identifying features, makes one appreciate our entire ecosystem and how we fit in. In most any meadow or mixed forest you are sure to discover varieties you?ve never seen before.

Coral fungi found in Fall Creek St Park

I recently came across an impressive coral fungi emerging from the forest duff. They are quite distinctive looking and many are edible. My Hip Pocket Guide to Western Mushrooms by David Aurora, however, states that even this unique looking family of fungi can be hard to identify. Some are edible while many are mildly poisonous.

Don?t miss the opportunity to see hundreds of fungi up close and personal as well as take in all the talks, displays, food and marketplace next weekend at the Fungus Fair.

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