3 depolluting plants to have at home

Summer is a wonderful season! It's hot, it's sunny and the weather obviously lends itself to long walks. Unfortunately the atmosphere is much more charged there and the air much more toxic.

How to clean up your interior in an ecological and natural way? Plants of course!

Thanks to the TED conference of the Indian researcher Kamal Meattle who became allergic to the polluted air of New Delhi, I discovered the depolluting power of these plants essential to our homes!

• Epipremnum aureus or climbing Arum (from the Araceae family) is a plant native to French Polynesia. Its great quality is that it eliminates volatile particles of formaldehyde which is a flammable and toxic component found in paint (and therefore walls) but also in classic cleaning products, furniture, etc. In short, we literally bathe in it. This pretty plant whose young leaves are heart-shaped is very easy to care for. Just water it when the soil feels dry to the touch. Resistant to dry and polluted climates, it feels good between 17°C and 30°C but do not place it directly in the sun because it could lose leaves!

• Dypsis lutescens or Areca palm (Arecaceae family ) is the “palm” plant par excellence! It comes to us from Madagascar and it is a real nugget to purify and humidify the ambient air. Like our Climbing Arum, it is an easy plant to maintain if you stick to a few details. First of all, it is advisable to plant it in the spring in fertile, well-drained soil. Indeed, while in winter a weekly watering seems sufficient, during the summer season, it is better to increase hydration as long as your palm tree is not "bathing". Little hint: between two waterings, wait and check that the water has run off and that the soil is dry. Place your pretty plant in the sun and without direct light and if it is over 16°C at home, your plant will be doing wonderfully!

• Sansevieria trifasciata or Sansevieria (or mother-in-law's tongue) from the Liliaceae family is a subtropical plant. Professor Meattle explains in his lecture that he discovered the virtues of this plant thanks to a NASA report. Indeed, it is during the night that the Sansevieria would absorb CO2 to transform it into O2. Question maintenance, like the first, it is a question of observing its plant: first of all, it likes the sun but fears the shade and the direct light at the risk of drying out. Near a window, at a suitable angle. Its ideal temperature is between 18 and 21°C so it is perfect for a bedroom! Just like the Areca palm, it is necessary to ensure regular watering during sunny days and to check that its soil is dry for this. In winter, no surprise, we draw the watering can less and we check that the soil is really dry before going there.

Let's not forget that plants can be stressed by temperature changes. Water them with non-calcareous water (rainwater is ideal: ecological and economical!) that you leave at room temperature.

And There you go! A simple, aesthetic and natural way to purify your interior at a lower cost. All you have to do is roll out your YUJ mat, close your eyes and breathe… OMMMMMMM….

Allison