I hope you found last month's list of my favorite EASY houseplants helpful. Here is the 2nd part of that list. Once again I have grown all of these on the list and I can assure you that they are easy to grow and take care of.     


Care: Even if you think you have a black thumb, you'll have a hard time killing this resilient plant.  

Eliminates: It has nice variegated foliage and the spider plant battles benzene, formaldehyde, carbon monoxide and xylene, a solvent used in the leather, rubber and printing industries. As an added bonus, this plant is also considered a safe houseplant if you have pets in the house.

Care: It likes to dry out between waterings and it is important to water from beside and not into the middle of the plant. I love its upright linear look and have seen it used as a nice design element in a formal decor setting.

Eliminates: Also known as mother-in-law's tongue, this plant is one of the best for filtering out formaldehyde, which is common in cleaning products, toilet paper, tissues and personal care products. This adds to the fact that it is a great plant for your bathroom - it'll thrive with low light and steamy humid conditions while helping filter out air pollutants.
 
Care: It is a really durable plant that can tolerate poor light, dry air and drought. Even with low light, it has very nice variegated almost silver foliage and will produce blooms.

Eliminates: This easy-to-care-for plant can help filter out a variety of air pollutants and begins to remove more toxins as time and exposure continues.
 
Care: Similar to the Pothos, this plant is a trailing vine and even a bit of a "climber" in that it will climb onto itself. It is easy to grow in that it will "tell" you what it needs. It prefers filtered light and it wilts when it needs to be watered. If several leaves start to yellow, it is getting too much light and if new leaves are really small then it needs more fertilizer.

Eliminates: It's also an excellent workhorse for removing all kinds of VOC's. Philodendrons are particularly good at battling formaldehyde from sources like particleboard.

Care: Also called reed palm. Has beautiful tropical foliage and is probably the largest plant on my list at 4 - 6 feet. Since it is an understory jungle plant, it prefers low light and will not do well in direct sun. With its height and showy foliage it makes a great feature plant in the corner of the room. Make sure it is not near a high traffic corner though as its long thin leaves can damage easily.

Eliminates: This plant is beneficial at filtering out benzene, formaldehyde and trichloroethylene.



There are several more plants that were part of the NASA study but I have chosen to use the ones I recommend as being the easiest to grow and the longest lasting. All plants benefit from some dusting of their leaves to aid in the air filtering benefit. If you would like to do more reading on how plants filter the air, take a look at the following articles.