Having plants around while working from home can benefit your health, mood, and productivity. If you are growing plants indoors or in a windowless room, you would look specifically for low maintenance plants.
Low maintenance plants are low light plants that are hard to kill and require little watering. These plants can generally survive or even thrive in indoor spaces, without getting hours of exposure to sunlight or bright light. Ideally, you would want plants known to be “air purifying”, as they can clean up your indoor air to some extent.
Plants that Purify Indoor Air
The “air purifying” qualities of plants tend to be overstated by companies that are marketing and selling plants labeled as such. The reality is that plants are less effective in purifying the air, when compared to mechanical air purifiers or opening doors for proper ventilation.
While they are less effective than engineered solutions, the good news is that plants do indeed purify indoor air. Studies show that different plants can clean your indoor air to different extents.
Air purifying plants are plants that contribute to cleaner air quality by removing certain pollutants from the air, known as volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Different plant varieties remove different types of toxic pollutants from the air we breathe.
This is important since our indoor spaces – containing our furniture, beds, aerosol sprays, rugs, and carpets – are sources of pollutants released into the air.
These pollutants can cause headaches, eye irritation, colds, sore throats, respiratory issues, and fatigue. Indoor plants help to reduce the unhealthy effects of sedentary home/office work.
NASA’s clean air study in 1989 found that plants are natural, economical, and environmentally friendly air purifiers. An assessment of 50 houseplants found that the 10 best houseplant air cleaners include dracaenas and peace lilies.
Low Light Conditions that Plants Need
Plants need light. Just like us, light is essential for the growth of plants, even for varieties that can survive in low light. If natural light is unavailable, an artificial indoor light environment can be created using glow light bulbs or fluorescent lights.
Low light does not mean that light is unimportant or optional. Ideally, your plants should receive 12-16 hours of light a day. Plants require darkness too for growth, so keeping the lights on for the entire day would be a bad idea.
You can easily tell if your plants need more light through physical signs, such as the yellowing and dropping of leaves and weakened stems.
Thankfully, because indoor plants do not dry out quickly under the direct heat of the sun, many varieties do not require frequent watering.
Combining both factors of “air purifying” and “low light” will ensure your plants can survive without too much hassle on your part, while still contributing to a healthier indoor workspace where you live and work.
The Best Air Purifying Low Light Plants
Plants are not all effective at removing air pollutants in the same way. Plants differ in terms of the type of chemicals they are able to eliminate from the air.
Hence, you can’t just pick any plant for your bedroom or home office, and hope that they do their jobs.
Having many varieties of air purifying plants would help, since each type of plant contributes by removing different pollutants from the air. Bigger plants with bigger leaves usually work better.
Here is a table of 7 plants that are tested and proven to be effective air purifiers, based on NASA’s 1989 clean air study. They are suitable for indoor spaces, as they can survive in low light conditions.
| Air Purifying, Low Light Plants | Light Conditions Needed | Pollutants Removed from the Air (VOCs) |
| Spider plant (Chlorophytum comosum) | Prefers bright, indirect light Survives in indirect and low light | Formaldehyde, xylene, toluene |
| Dracaenas | Prefers bright, indirect light Survives in low light but may result in pale leaves and slow growth | Formaldehyde, benzene, trichloroethylene, xylene, toluene |
| Golden pothos (Epipremnum aureum) | Prefers bright, indirect light Survives in low and medium light | Formaldehyde, benzene, trichloroethylene |
| English ivy (Hedera helix) | Survives in bright, indirect, or low light | Formaldehyde, benzene, trichloroethylene, xylene, toluene |
| Chinese evergreen (Aglaonema) | Survives in low, medium, or indirect light | Formaldehyde, benzene |
| Peace lilies (Spathiphyllum) | Prefers bright, indirect light for flowering and growth Survives in low light | Formaldehyde, benzene, trichloroethylene, xylene, toluene, ammonia |
| Philodendron | Prefers bright, indirect light Survives in low light | Formaldehyde |
Quick reference: A list of 7 air purifying, low light plants that remove different pollutants from the air.To maintain each of these 7 plants, do remember to leave the lights on when you are not home. For optimal growth, they would still require 12-16 hours of artificial light. Where you keep these plants should ideally be rooms that you use daily, such as your office or living room, as these rooms will be lit throughout the day.
1. Spider plant (Chlorophytum comosum)
The spider plant is known to be one of the easiest to grow indoor plants. They are extremely hardy, adaptable, and survive in a variety of light conditions ranging from bright to low light. They are effective air purifiers based on NASA’s clean air study, removing pollutants such as formaldehyde, xylene, and toluene from the air.
Spider plants look especially good in hanging baskets near a window or when placed on your floating shelves.
Light Conditions Needed:
- Prefers bright, indirect light
- Survives well in indirect and low light
Pollutants Removed from the Air (VOCs): Formaldehyde, xylene, toluene
2. Dracaenas
Dracaenas are a group of houseplants that are effective air purifiers, as they remove a large group of pollutants from the air: formaldehyde, xylene, toluene, benzene, trichloroethylene. They do not require too much water and are very low maintenance.
Under low light, they are able to survive well, but growth will tend to be slower. If you have a window which allows the plant to receive indirect sunlight, it is ideal to place your dracaena plant there.
Light Conditions Needed:
- Prefers bright, indirect light
- Survives in low light but may result in pale leaves and slow growth
Pollutants Removed from the Air (VOCs): Formaldehyde, benzene, trichloroethylene, xylene, toluene
3. Golden pothos (Epipremnum aureum)
The Golden Pothos is one of the most popular office plants due to its delightful heart-shaped leaves and ability to decorate desks and shelves. It is very hardy and tolerates low light conditions well.
This is an ideal air purifying plant for indoor spaces, and it removes the pollutants formaldehyde, benzene, trichloroethylene from the air based on NASA’s clean air study.
Light Conditions Needed:
- Prefers bright, indirect light
- Survives in low and medium light
Pollutants Removed from the Air (VOCs): Formaldehyde, benzene, trichloroethylene
4. English ivy (Hedera helix)
English ivies are versatile indoor plants that can be placed in hanging baskets, atop shelves, or around your windowsill. As climbing plants, they are evergreen perennials commonly used for decorative purposes. English ivies are effective air purifiers as they remove many chemicals from the air, namely formaldehyde, benzene, trichloroethylene, xylene, toluene. They can survive in a variety of light conditions, ranging from bright to low light.
Light Conditions Needed:
- Survives in bright, indirect, or low light
Pollutants Removed from the Air (VOCs): Formaldehyde, benzene, trichloroethylene, xylene, toluene
5. Chinese evergreen (Aglaonema)
The Chinese evergreen (Aglaonema) is an air purifying plant that cleans out the volatile organic compounds formaldehyde and benzene from the air. It is largely used in Asia as ornamental plants and has patterned leaves.
Find those with dark leaves, as they tend to adapt more easily to environments with lower light.
Light Conditions Needed:
- Survives in low, medium, or indirect light
Pollutants Removed from the Air (VOCs): Formaldehyde, benzene
6. Peace lilies (Spathiphyllum)
The peace lily is a plant that is extremely popular in indoor environments, due to its aesthetic appeal, air purifying qualities, and tolerance of low light. Based on NASA’s 1989 study, the peace lily can neutralise a large group of air pollutants such as formaldehyde, benzene, trichloroethylene, xylene, toluene, ammonia.
This plant symbolises many things such as peace, tranquility, and solitude. Thus on some level, the look and appeal of the peace lily suits spaces like your bedroom or bedroom office, as it helps you relax and calm down.
Light Conditions Needed:
- Prefers bright, indirect light for flowering and growth
- Survives in low light
Pollutants Removed from the Air (VOCs): Formaldehyde, benzene, trichloroethylene, xylene, toluene, ammonia
7. Philodendron
Like pothos, philodendrons are hardy plants that survive well in low light conditions. They may not be commonly thought of as air purifiers, but they do remove the pollutant formaldehyde from your indoor air.
Light Conditions Needed:
- Prefers bright, indirect light
- Survives in low light
Pollutants Removed from the Air (VOCs): Formaldehyde
Conclusion
Plants are beneficial in homes and workspaces: they clean the air while requiring little maintenance.
Use a combination of different air purifying plants to achieve better effects of clean indoor air. However, do remember to use proper ventilation methods like opening doors/windows and turning on the AC as well.
Ultimately, the benefits of adding these air purifying, low light plants to your work/living spaces are numerous.
Lastly, if you are just looking for low light plants, the snake plant and ZZ plant are two other hard to kill, easy to water plants. They are popular additions to home offices.