Formaldehyde can be found in synthetic fabrics, benzene in plastics, tobacco smoke, detergents, paint and glue, and ammonia is found in many cleaning products.Other harmful chemicals such as trichloroethylene found in varnish, paint, varnish and glue and xylene found in leather and rubber products can be absorbed by certain plants too. Why are these chemicals a concern? Refresh your potting mix. Use shredded bark chips or a professional peat-free compost bark mix to support roots, and if you have one, a clear pot so roots can photosynthesise but if you really want to display Phalaenopsis in your favourite opaque pot then just regularly remove your plant from its outer pot and leave it out on a bright windowsill so roots get access to light. Orchids have special requirements; their sensitive roots can be burned by high strength fertilisers so always use an orchid specific feed. Orchids obtain their nutrients from the air via aerial roots and what washes through the soil. In the wild these epiphytes grow on trees so do not like standing in water for long periods. Make sure you flush your diluted feed through the growing substrate a few times and let it drain out. Plantsmith ‘ Fortifying Houseplant Tonic’ is a professional houseplant food containing 13 essential nutrients including kelp which stimulates cell growth. Shake the bottle and mix 5 ml (approx. 4 pumps) into a litre of tepid rainwater and apply at the base of the silver squill once a month. Schlumbergera have radiant, exotic bright flowers, ranging from red, pink to white, which are reminiscent of fuchsias and are a welcomed sight around the festive season. Flowering

Our Houseplant Care Gift Set in a ready to gift box contains a 500ml bottle of Fortifying Houseplant Feed & Tonic and a 500ml bottle of Perfecting Houseplant Care Mist. Everything a budding indoor gardener needs to keep their houseplants thriving.Aerial roots are the orchid’s blood vessels, coated in cells called Velamen which act like a sponge. Healthy air roots are silvery-white and rounded, unhappy roots are beige and shrivelled. Ailing roots could be due to low humidity so snip away the shrivelled roots, mist with Plantsmith’s Invigorating Orchid Care Mist and place your plant on a tray of watered gravel or small stones, this will raise humidity. Inspect the roots of your orchid. Image: Debi Holland Feed every couple of weeks when your orchid is actively producing flowers and leaves. Flush water through the growing medium and let it drain then water again using Plantsmith Nurturing Orchid Feed and Tonic. Our professional orchid feed formulation contains 12 essential plant-boosting nutrients – everything your orchid needs to thrive. Although our own houseswill struggle to replicate the sealed laboratory environment created by NASA there is no doubt that there is a positive benefit to having houseplants in our lives; they can help us get a good night’s sleep, improve our wellbeing and perhaps help our respiratory health. Strong summer sun may leave soil parched and can scorch leaves creating brown dead-looking patches along the leaf margins; this is where excess moisture has been evaporated out of the leaf before the plant has had a chance to replenish it. Make sure your plant gets around 14 hours of darkness a night, in a cool room and bring it out into indirect bright light in the day. Keep it well misted to increase humidity. Repeat this cycle for a few weeks and buds will break. Buds develop for about six weeks before flowering. The stems of the The Christmas cactus are rounded and smooth (top) whereas the Thanksgiving cactus has spiky points like crabs claws as the tips (bottom). Image: Debi Holland Light

Aloe vera is another plant that releases oxygen at night making it a good choice for the bedroom. It is also a good air purifier, removingformaldehyde and benzene. Just be aware that although this drought tolerant succulent has great health benefits to humans, this plant is toxic to cats and dogs. Image: Debi Holland Spider Plant, Chlorophytum comosum Your Contributions do not otherwise violate, or link to material that violates, any provision of these Terms of Use, or any applicable law or regulation.Any dispute arising from the relationships between the Parties to this contract shall be determined by one arbitrator who will be chosen in accordance with the Arbitration and Internal Rules of the European Court of Arbitration being part of the European Centre of Arbitration having its seat in Strasbourg, and which are in force at the time the application for arbitration is filed, and of which adoption of this clause constitutes acceptance. The seat of arbitration shall beLondon,United Kingdom. The language of the proceedings shall beEnglish. Applicable rules of substantive law shall be the law oftheUnited Kingdom. With all three feeds in the range shake the bottle and mix 5 ml (approx. 4 pumps) from the 500ml bottle or dilute one pipette from a 100ml bottle into a litre of tepid rainwater and apply. The Peace Lily ranked high in NASA’s air purifying study by being capable of absorbing all of the chemicals on test;formaldehyde, trichloroethylene,benzene, toluene, xylene and ammonia. Peace Lilies are particularly good at processing trichloroethylene, in fact they were proven to remove 23% in 24 hours and can keep household mould at bay. They absorb these chemicals through their leaves and expel them via their roots where they are broken down by soil microbes. Image: Debi Holland Snake plant, Sansevieriatrifasciata

In 1989 NASA carried out the NASA Clean Air Study which were controlled experiments in sealed environments proving plants such as snake plants, peace lilies and English ivy, have the ability to purify air although there is debate about the amount of pollutants they can remove from our homes. Subsequently research studies followed in 1993, 1996 and 2004 that have confirmed and elaborated on these findings. Unless otherwise stated, discounts and coupon codes are for your own individual use and may not be shared. Coupon codes cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer or promotion. Coupon codes and discounts may not be redeemable against all products, these usually larger items or third party products. We reserve the right to change details or withdraw a promotion or coupon code at any time. You can also periodically mist plant leaves with Plantsmith ‘ Perfecting Houseplant Care Mist’ to help hydrate and keep it dust-free. Flowering If we terminate or suspend your account for any reason, you are prohibited from registering and creating a new account under your name, a fake or borrowed name, or the name of any third party, even if you may be acting on behalf of the third party. In addition to terminating or suspending your account, we reserve the right to take appropriate legal action, including without limitation pursuing civil, criminal, and injunctive redress.

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If possible use collected rainwater as tap water contains chlorine but if tap water is the only option leave a container of tap water to sit for 24 hours and then harmful chemicals like chlorine should dissipate and be safe to use on your plant. Your Contributions do not contain any material that solicits personal information from anyone under the age of 18 or exploits people under the age of 18 in a sexual or violent manner. Spider plants are super easy to look after and although pretty self-sufficient they are actually working hard to rid rooms of nasty chemicals such as carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, toluene and xylene so place a spider plant in a kitchen or lounge that has a fire for extra peace of mind Image: Debi Holland Dragon Tree, Dracaena marginata Once damaged scorched leaves cannot regenerate but although cosmetically unappealing the rest of your plant should recover if moved to more favourable lighting conditions. Wait until plenty of new healthy leaves have grown before you snip off the damaged ones as these old leaves are still capable of photosynthesising. Temperature