Safety is perhaps the biggest concern while preparing a baby nursery for your little one. All the objects that you usually ignore suddenly become potentially lethal and plants are no exception. You need to be extra careful while choosing an air purifying plant to keep in your baby’s nursery.
It’s not advisable to choose any plant randomly without making sure whether it’s completely harmless or not. In fact, it’s important to find something that not only makes for a perfect item for your nursery decor but also purifies the air.
Before showing you the best air purifying plants, let’s discuss why clean air is critical for your baby’s nursery and how to decorate the nursery with plants.
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Why Clean Air is Important for Your baby?
Many people don’t realize the dangers of poor and harmful air. Children eat, drink, and breathe more in proportion with respect to their size than adults because their bodies are still developing. Resultantly, their bodies are far more exposed to damaging and toxic air as well with each breath at any given time.
Inhaling bad quality air continuously with indoor pollutants such as allergens, carbon monoxide, smoke, and VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds), during the early stages of development can lead to a range of health problems in your baby.
This is where using air purifying plants in your baby’s nursery becomes crucial. It’ll allow you to ensure a healthier environment with improved air quality in the nursery where your baby will spend the most time.
How to Choose the Best Air Purifying Plants for Baby Nursery?
Decorating your baby’s nursery isn’t a difficult task. However, there are some important factors that you need to bear in mind while choosing the best plants for air purification purposes.
Non Toxic Plants
Choosing non-toxic plants for your baby’s nursery is a no-brainer. Your baby will grow and turn into a toddler in no time. Grabbing all the things around and putting them straight into the mouth will be his/her favorite hobby. Non-toxic plants will help you greatly while your baby is on the move.
Less is More
Keeping things minimal provides your baby’s nursery with a welcoming and serene environment. You don’t want to overdo it when it comes to planting selection. A few hanging or tabletop, or a large statement plant will be more than enough to decorate your baby’s room.
Round or Soft Edges
It’s important to avoid plants that come with spiky foliage. Consider opting for plants with round and soft edges to keep you and your baby safe.
Easy to Care
Parenting is a full-time job. You don’t want to spend most of your time watering and taking care of the plants. Better yet, the main purpose of using indoor air purifying plants is to ensure the health and well-being of your child. Therefore, choose the plants that are easy to maintain and add more beauty to the nursery.
The Top 5 Air Purifying Plants for Baby Nursery
1. Ponytail Palm
Ponytail palm is a stunning plant that offers long green leaves and instantly adds a tropical touch to your baby’s nursery. With a swollen brown stem and leaves draping down over the trunk, this gorgeous plant is one of the best ones to keep indoors for air purification.
Ponytail palm is one of those plants that grow slowly. It belongs to a succulent family rather than a palm and requires minimal maintenance. You can place it in front of the window because it loves direct sunlight.
It’s completely safe for your baby and according to ASPCA, it’s also completely non-toxic to pets. In Italy, this plant is known as “mangiafumo” which literally means smoke eater because its leaves absorb toxic gases to convert them into oxygen.
2. Prayer Plant
At night the green leaves of this plant fold up and look like human hands in a praying gesture and that’s the reason it’s called the Prayer Plant. On the other hand, the leaves create an attractive pattern during the day making it a perfect plant for any nursery.
The Prayer Plant loves moisture and natural sunlight and you also need to provide it with a monthly dose of fertilizer throughout the year except for winter months. It’s important to keep the soil moist all the time in order to keep it from going dormant.
It’s claimed that not only does it improve mental clarity, breathing, and sleep but it also removes several airborne toxins. It has also been found to possess antioxidant, antimicrobial, and anti-inflammatory properties.
3. Calathea
Calathea is a highly decorative plant that will look great in your baby’s nursery irrespective of your style and theme. It comes with colorful foliage and closes its leaves during the night which is why it’s also known as a “living plant”.
It practically requires zero maintenance because all you need to do is to place it in a bright spot that doesn’t receive direct sunlight.
The air purifying features of Calathea are also impressive. It can filter out a range of harmful and poisonous compounds to provide your little one with a healthier and better indoor climate.
4. Spider Plant
Spider Plant is a very easy-to-maintain indoor plant that can be a great addition to your baby’s room. It’s a small houseplant and you can buy a few for them to purify air properly. It comes with grassy leaves and makes for an excellent choice for a hanging basket. However, it can also thrive on tabletops and desks if you water it twice or thrice a week.
Spider Plant is a NASA-approved indoor air purifier. It can remove up to 95 percent of harmful chemicals (that can even cause cancer) such as toluene, xylene, and formaldehyde, within 24 hours. It’s also safe for your pets because it’s completely non-toxic for both humans and animals.
5. Dracaena
Dracaena might appear to you like a palm tree, but it belongs to the asparagus family. It’s one of the most popular indoor plants because it’s very easy to grow. Basically, it’s a very large group of plants and comes in all colors, sizes, and shapes.
You’ll need to keep the soil moist but keep in mind that too much water will work as a kiss of death for Dracaena. This plant can even grow in medium or low light but they thrive in a bright spot with indirect sunlight.
With its wispy leaves, it can filter out xylene, trichloroethylene, formaldehyde, and benzene from the air. However, it’s toxic to animals and won’t be a good choice if you have pets.