15 houseplants for improving indoor air quality

frederice humphreys Mar 02 2013 at 2:41 PM

esp. the fig tree plant is very sensitive to changing amount of light, like coming back into the house after being outside all summer, it will drop many leaves. the nice thing about putting plants outside in summer is that they are in a more natural surroundings, rain can fall on the leaves and clean off dust, the plant gets light from all areas etc. it is a rude awakening for the plant to come back in the house. many people might wait too long and now the plant tries to cope with the heat being

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on too. maybe bring it in for the night and out again during the day for a week. when the pot is in the house all winter, turn the pot every week one fourth, so it gets to grow straight, otherwise it will " lean" toward the light. in the spring/summer you also have to introduce a plant to more light slowly, even a desert type plant needs to go slowly in the sun, not overnight!! some plants can NEVER sit in the sun. if you are a plant killer and need an easy plant, the pothos fam. is probably the easiest to keep, even in a dark space, even if you forget to water or overwater. aloes are easy too, but need LOTS of light, a southern window is best. spiderplants are beautiful and healthy for your home too and easy to keep and they'll get long strands with new babies on it you can eventually plant too. don't forget to keep turning all pots that are in your windows,maybe not in your cubicle because light comes from above.my dracaena got too tall, i just cut the stem, the naked stub got a new baby growing and the top sat in jar of water a few months and has lots of roots now, ready to be repotted soon. at one time i had a total of 38 windows in my house (attic to basement ) and had almost 150 house plants!! so you know i am over the top...goodluck!

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Kenny Feb 02 2013 at 7:28 AM

Not long had my weeping fig, and I guess I should have checked it out
b4 buying it...dropping leaves it surely does..it's such a sensitive
soul !!...scared to even look at it the wrong way...will see how it
holds up come spring and summer..

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Mari Shaff Jun 27 2012 at 11:39 AM

Place small rocks or marbles in the drip pan and under your weeping fig tree and the leaves will not drop as bad. Some have even reported their leaves did not drop at all......A true mircale and time saver!

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Margaret Mar 13 2013 at 11:15 AM

Thanks for the tip.....do you mean on the surface of the plant, around the trunk and out to the edge of the pot?

Thanks!

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judy Aug 20 2010 at 1:04 PM

I used to have ficus in my house, but finally was discouraged by the fact that I couldn't keep it from dropping its leaves. Always a mess.

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Tarrant Sep 29 2012 at 7:43 AM

A ficus will be pretty finicky and drop leaves whenever moved. I've had good luck with preventing leaf dropping by only moving it outside in the summer, back inside in winter--then not moving again AT all-not even a tiny bit. Once the leaf drop is done from the move back inside--it doesn't make a mess.

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Guest Sep 28 2012 at 4:50 PM

water it regularly

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Alice Jul 10 2010 at 9:42 PM

Although this plant is good forhelping us to filter out polution, it does'nt sound good in Feng Shui wise. Who likes anything "weeping" in the house?

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Guest Sep 28 2012 at 4:57 PM

Then call it Ficus Benjamina--its scientific name (Benjamin's Fig). Weeping has only to do with the "habit" of the plant, and you are too superstitious!

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