Are you a smoker who has been persistently trying to kick the butt? Did you know some indoor plants can help filter cigarette smoke? Many studies indicate that cigarette smoke lingers in ambient air for nearly five hours after a cigarette stub has been extinguished. Despite deep cleaning the homes, ash can linger in a living space for six months. Cigarette smoke can travel through ventilation units as well, and a smoker unknowingly exposes an entire building unit to passive smoke. To help clean up your act, refresh the air indoors, and deodorise an apartment or office setting, with these houseplants. Shaan Lalwani—a horticulturist from Mumbai’s Vriksha Nursery, suggests a list of indoor plants with some amazing health benefits a smoker should prop right next to an ashtray.
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Caesalpina Echinata Or Brazilian Wood
The Pau Brasil is the national tree of Brazil, a country that parties hard. Its novelty has really caught on, in an age of internet shopping, because it comes delivered as a tiny log that needs to be propped in a saucer filled with water that starts sprouting green feathery leaves and vivid white blooms. “The fragrant bark has a subtle woody scent and quickly eliminates musty odours from smoking chambers,” Lalwani says. “You cloud also prop it by a window sill of a smoker’s lounge in an office setting,” he continues.
Menispermaceae Or Stephania Erecta
Here’s another easy-to-order indoor plant that resembles a yam when first delivered. Grow the plant in good quality potting compost in a ceramic bowl planter, with the bulb slightly exposed. The combination of the swollen potato stem and iconic spherical leaves truly makes this specimen a spectacular collector’s plant. Even though the genus is a fundamental medicine in Chinese medicine, it is considered poison as it causes intense nausea and vomiting when ingested, so grow it in a pet-free household and at a safe distance from children.
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Asteraceae or Chrysanthemums
Known as Shevanti in Hindi, the tropical bloom is a staple in Vedic gardens and comes in bursts of colours in yellow, purple, red, pink, and oranges. “The tropical shrub really needs a lot of sun and deep terracotta pots, so they are best placed in alfresco spaces like balconies, terraces, and verandahs,” Lalwani says.
Zamioculcas Or ZZ Plant
You will find the ZZ Plant or Zanzibar Gem standing stall in most corner offices. They have very undemanding, not fussy, hard-to-kill waxy, emerald leaves that have an almost plastic texture and can easily be confused with artificial plants. “Since this plant grows a few feet tall, they are best placed in high-traffic smoking zones like an office lobby or an apartment’s foyer,” Lalwani recommends.
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Spatiphyllum Or Peace Lily
Adding to the list of indoor plants to grow at home are the Peace Lilies. Gardeners usually associate Peace Lilies with spas, wellness centres, and spiritual places. Feng Shui is considered lucky. “So, it is slightly blasphemous to hedonistically place it next to an ashtray,” the Lalwani laughs. For the lazy gardener, the peace lily can be grown hydroponically in a fish bowl. NASA has listed peace lilies among the best air-purifying plants, as they remove toxins like benzene, formaldehyde, carbon monoxide, and cigarette smoke from the air.
Lalwani hopes that being a plant parent to one of these indoor plants strengthens your resolve to quit smoking.
Architectural Digest India does not endorse smoking.
NOTE – This article was originally published in architecturaldigest and can be viewed here
