Be careful to check your plants closely for bugs before bringing them into your home. If you tap on the leaves and a little cloud of white appears, that plant is infested with whiteflies and you should not buy it. This infestation is rather common, but you definitely don't want the insects in your home.



Not all houseplants like the same climates. Most like moist climates that can be found in bathrooms or laundry rooms. People normally want plants in more commonly used places in the home, however. Luckily, you can find houseplants for any climate or situation. You need to be careful though, not to put plants in locations that do not suit them. Without proper research and care, your houseplants will not have a very good chance of survival.

Some plants are extremely effective at removing pollutants from the air. If you want to filter the air at your home without buying an air filter, these plants are great, natural alternatives. Examples of the plants that are best at cleaning are spider plants, peace lilies, chrysanthemums, aloes, and pothos. You need to make sure that they will survive in the environment that you want to put them in. The appearance of the plants is important as well. You won't want a plant that does not fit the rest of your home decorations.

The spider plant has arching green or variegated leaves that produces small white flowers in the spring and summer. They have been grown as houseplants for hundreds of years, and look very nice in hanging baskets.

The pothos plant, otherwise known as devil's ivy or golden pothos, is a climbing plant. It needs a well lit spot to thrive, but it cannot handle direct sunlight. It does not need watered in the winter, but should be watered more often in spring, summer, and autumn.

With the peace lily, you must be very careful to keep cold drafts away. Also, you must not allow the plant to be in direct sunlight. It also needs warm temperatures (nothing below 55 degrees F). It needs plenty of humidity, so adding a water-filled pebble tray will give it the extra moisture that is needed.

Aloe plants come in many different forms. Besides cleansing the air, the aloe vera plant also serves the purpose of providing the medicine aloe to treat burns. Aloe variegated does not provide the drug, but it is another option for air cleansing. Another type of aloes includes the aloe aristata or lace aloe. Aloes, along with other succulents, prefer warm daytime temperatures and rather cool nightime temperatures. You should place aloes near a south facing window. In the summer you may have to provide some shade for the plants. In the winter, the aloes only need watered about once a month. For the rest of the year, they should be watered whenever the soil dries out.

There are many varieties of chrysanthemums as well. They are a flowering plant that is normally less than one foot high. The flowers are quite large for the size of the plant, however. The flowers should remain for six to eight weeks. Cool rooms are the best conditions for chrysanthemums. Temperatures under 60 degrees F are ideal. They need bright light, but should not be subjected to direct midday sunlight. The soil should be kept moist, even if this means watering more than once per week.

As you can see, with some basic house plant carethere are plenty of options available for air-cleansing houseplants.