Pet-Safe Houseplants the Help Improve Indoor Air Quality

Houseplants have a way of tying a whole room together, and what’s more, they’re a wonderful, all-natural way to purify harmful toxins from your indoor air. However, many houseplant varieties that are so common in home magazines are toxic to pets, so it’s important to choose your houseplants carefully.

Here are 3 air-purifying houseplants that are non-toxic to cats and dogs.

Calathea

Calathea is a stunning variety of air-purifying houseplant characterized by its vibrant, variegated foliage. It comes in many varieties that vary in leaf shape, from round and smooth (like the Calathea medallion) to long, pointed, and crinkly (like the Calathea lancifolia, AKA. Rattlesnake Plant).

One interesting characteristic of Calathea is how it “goes to sleep” every night by closing up its leaves and then opens back up again when the light returns with the morning.

Calathea’s Best Environment:

• Calathea tends to do best in medium, indirect light and can also tolerate dappled sunlight. It will be harmed if placed under direct sunlight for long durations.
• It will thrive in conditions offering normal to somewhat high humidity.
• It will need to be watered on almost a weekly basis, once the top 2 inches of its soil have become dry.

Areca Palm

If you’re looking for an air-purifying houseplant with some height (and a houseplant that’s hard to kill), an Areca palm could be just the thing. They’re usually around 5 feet tall when sold at nurseries, and under the right conditions, they may grow up to about 8 feet tall.

The Areca palm is a variety of cane palm. One plant will actually have several stems that come up from the soil. This plant does tend to spread out horizontally over time, but this can be managed by trimming back to the new stems that show up around the perimeter.

Areca Palm’s Best Environment:

• Give your Areca palm bright, indirect sunlight. Indirect sunlight from a south- or west-facing window will probably do the trick. Direct sunlight will make the plant turn yellow.
• During summer and spring, the soil needs to stay slightly moist. During fall and winter, the soil can dry out between waterings.
• Areca palms prefer higher humidity.

Chlorophytum Comosum (Spider Plant)

This is a great plant for beginners because of how forgiving it is. It’s also a great plant for those living in colder areas of the country because it won’t suffer when your house drops in temperature (whereas a lot of other houseplants suffer below 65 degrees Fahrenheit).

Spider plants come in different varieties, including those with straight foliage and curled foliage, and are well-known for being easy to propagate.

Spider Plant’s Best Environment:

• Keep your spider plant in bright light, as long as it isn’t direct sunlight. Direct sunlight will scorch the leaves.
• Spider plants do just fine in average humidity.
• It’s best to let your spider plant dry out between waterings. This plant is very susceptible to “root rot” if the soil gets too soggy.