You will know when it happens. Staying in a room with something in the air that makes you go “achoo!” in a matter of minutes. It can make your nose run, your eyes can go red and tears would come out, and you will probably be mad about it. Yes, we are talking about allergies (what else were you thinking?)
Sometimes, in low air quality environments, spending some money on a nice and shiny HVAC filter, or even a HEPA one, it could be so cost-prohibitive to some people. These are highly specialized materials and components that are not cheap to make so, that is probably why they are so expensive.
But what if I can tell you that you can take the natural route and use some plants that help with allergies? There are several examples of plants that can do it for you, so let’s check them out!
Can the peace lily help with allergies?
The peace lily is one little beautiful white flowering plant that normally spawns in the United States. It is as abundant and common as aloe vera is but can the peace lily help with allergies?
The Spathiphyllum cochlearispathum or just Peace lily as many people call it (because scientific names in Latin are really hard) is one plant that helps with allergies by cleaning the air around you. It is very tropical, but it can be grown easily indoors, with some special care that does not get that difficult.
The thing it is really special about this plant, with a white flower looking like a spoon, is that is one of those that purifies the air around by creating more oxygen and removing some toxins from the air. It is like a miniature air filter with a very modern and sleek look and an even fresher scent.
What are some of those toxins? You may ask. Well, some investigations have revealed that the peace lily can remove toxins like formaldehyde, trichloroethylene, and even benzene and ammonia. If you wonder who said that and why it was NASA (have you ever heard of them?) in their quest for cleaner air in the space stations. And that is a source you can trust a lot!
Maintaining the peace lily is not that difficult, but needs some attention to the details. This plant does not require a lot of care, but what it needs is the appropriate amount of water to keep growing and looking the way it looks. You can see when it is necessary by looking at the leaves, they would start to go down.
Can the snake plant help with allergies?
In the search for the plants that help with allergies, we move to the workplace and look for one of the most common plants we will see in that space. We are talking of course of the snake plant. Can the snake plant help with allergies?
You would not be surprised to learn that this low maintenance plant is one of the selected for the NASA study, and was able to be recognized as a plant that can help remove some of the toxic elements in the air. We are talking about something in the league of benzene, formaldehyde, TCE, xylene, and toluene.
Its succulent plant’ leaves allow it to filter some of the toxins that you may encounter in the air, and while some of them would sound like chemical compounds you would not maybe know, they may be integrated into the paint of the walls, the plastic of some objects and as a component of various items inside of your home, triggering allergies in some people.
These plants are amazing in an environment as the office space. Apart from their looks, the snake plants make the already dry and perhaps heavy air inside the workplace and make it even healthier for everyone inside an office. And that’s why is common to see them there.
Can orchids help with allergies?
When we talk about plants that help with allergies, you would not think that the plants that can clean and purify the air look this good. After all, we already mentioned some good-looking plants that are so useful for this purpose, like the snake plant and the peace lily.
But what about the national flower of some country in the north of South America, Venezuela. Yes, we are talking about orchids. There should be a reason why this country selected the orchid as the main flower over all other, apart from just the looks that match the natural ones on the country itself. Can orchids help with allergies?
Well, yes. Orchids are good at catching some of those harmful toxins we mentioned before with the other examples. And that is not only limited to a particular kind of orchid. There are at least several kinds of orchids that are good at cleaning the air in an area. Especially the moth orchids and the dendrobium orchids.
These are wonderful plants to grow and, when they flower, they can give you the most needed and welcome color to the space you are putting them and, as a bonus, they clean the air.
Conclusion
When it comes to plants that help with allergies, you have way more options than those mentioned above. Normally, plants like that are succulent like the aloe vera, and cactus can also help to remove some of the allergens in the air, and improving the quality of the air in general.
The United States space agency, NASA, made some experiments to determine which plants can help to improve the quality of the air in space. And, if you need to learn from some very qualified smart people, they are some of the best. They required help from some other experts from the botanic area, the ALCA or Associated Landscape Contractors of America.
If you have some allergies, especially to pollen, you should do your research before buying a plant that may release some and give you way more problems. The plants in the said study do not release any pollen that may trigger an allergic reaction, which is great for the intended purpose they were looking for: Breathing some pure air in space!
