A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2004 Should i have pot plants in the bedroom?

There is an argument going on in my house.
We have 7 pot plants in our bedroom- most of them tropical ones. My wife says that they take away oxigen from air and produce C02, therefore it is not healthy to have plants in the bedroom. I think quite oposite. Please help, who is right.

With sufficient sunlight houseplants produce oxygen and absorb carbon dioxide. plants respire though, and respiration produces CO2, although this the highest at night. Producing oxygen requires sunlight from photsynthesis so at night or when there isn't enough light some plants will put out C02--I don't think it an alarmingly high level though. I am not an expert but I believe some plants do put out oxygen at night though succulents, and orchids I think. Keep checking back and Will Creed our houseplant expert will surely have a better answer for you.

Thanx a lot for a quick response.
plants are between 2 and 5 feet high. Bedroom is rather big- about 400 SQF, plenty of southern sunlight. plants are all green- no flowers.
I would love to add more, but my wife is afraid of digrading air quality in the room- is it really the case????

welcome to the garden helper marek
loz is correct about the plants. actually, plants can and do clean the air. a nasa study that was discussed listed 10 or so of the best air filtering plants per the study. also, green plants lower the blood pressure and relieve stress. also, with a room that big, the only thing your plants are going to do is make it healthier! if you go to forum search (at the top of most pages) you can find the topic about the benefits on the houseplants.

Thank you all for your help.

What kind of plants you two have, Marek????

Weezie

Last year I had 73 houseplants inside....in just one room.I bet I had the best air in TX.I'm better this year only 48 but it was 23.but I just keep increaseing.that room was 12x16 south and lots of window.

Most plants do tend to produce a slight reduction in oxygen after dark. However, that oxygen loss is more tha made up for during the daylight hours when oxygen is produced.

If you lived in a nearly airtight room filled with plants at night but removed during the day, then that might be a problem. But that is not a very likely scenario!

Tell your wife to enjoy the plants knowing that they are adding some oxygen to the air and removing at least some of the pollutants.

Here's that NASA study that Jiffymouse mentioned.

http://www.zone10.com/wsdocs/tech/NASA/fyh.htm

Newt

Gee....that was an interesting study....thanks for sharing.

I just had a little chuckle and wanted to share. You might want to be a little more clear in your headings, Marek. When you said you had 7 pot plants in your bedroom, I thought you were referring to actual "pot" plants, as in the illegal kind. I just had to see if it was for real.

hee hee

ha ha wildpup i had to read that twice too.