If you are a beginner, you might be fascinated with the world of houseplants, start it as a hobby, but soon become obsessed with it. Even experienced people face this. But, how many indoor plants are right? Let’s find out.
Being an excellent air purifier, experts recommend having at least two medium to big-sized plants for every 100 square feet for air purification. In a 4×5 meter room, you can have 6-10 plants. You can have 2-5 plants in a 3×3 meter room. And in an 8×8 meter room, you can have 16-35 plants.
In this article, we will discuss how many plants are right for your house and how many are too many! So, keep reading.
Table Of Contents
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Is it good to have many plants in your house?
No wonder it is good to have plants in your house.
But how many are too many is subjective.
Let’s first understand why having many plants in the house is good for you.
1. Plants purify the air
One major reason people want to have many plants in their houses is that plants purify the air.
NASA started the first studies in the 1980s, and much research was conducted after that, proving that plants purify the air.
Many plants in the house or room can purify more air.
2. Plants reduce stress
In a world where people are stressed due to various reasons, plants help reduce that stress.
A study was conducted in 2015 where 12 people were asked to finish a computer task while another 12 were asked to repot a plant.
The 12 who repotted the plant showed lower blood pressure, lower heart rates, and felt more relaxed than the other 12.
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3. Plants are therapeutic
Having plants can work like therapy for people who are stressed, depressed, anxious, and experiencing other mental conditions.
Even the medical clinics in Manchester, England, prescribe houseplants to people with anxiety and depression.
4. Plants can boost your productivity
Studies have shown that plants can boost productivity which is why you will find indoor plants in office spaces.
Studies have proved that people with plants on their work desks have been more productive and more focused on work.
5. Plants help you recover fast
If you are recovering from any disease or injury, plants might help you recover faster.
Studies have shown that people who could look at greenery recovered faster after surgery than those who didn’t have any greenery around.
All these reasons tell you that having many plants in the house has many benefits.
How many plants does NASA recommend?
A NASA scientist named Bill Wolverton conducted a study and recommended that you could have at least 2 well-sized plants for every 100 square feet.
NASA recommends keeping plants in your house because they have found in their research that these plants purify the air around you.
Having many plants will lead to more purified air.
And many people consider getting many plants due to this reason too.
How many indoor plants should I have?
Many studies and research have been conducted to understand how many plants you should have in the house.
One plant might not have enough effect on your indoor space that many plants can have.
The following table will help you understand how many plants you can keep depending on the room size.
| Room size | Number of plants |
|---|---|
| 3×3 room | 1 plant = 45% cleaner air 2 plants = 75% cleaner air 5 plants = Optimum air purification and wellbeing |
| 4×5 room | 1 plant = 25% cleaner air 5 plants = 75% cleaner air 10 plants = Optimum air purification and wellbeing |
| 8×8 room | 16 plants = 60% cleaner air 32 plants = Optimum air purification and wellbeing |
One thing to note is that the size of the plant matters.
The bigger your plant is, the better it will purify the air.
A medium plant will be worth half of a big plant, while a small one will be one-third of a medium plant.
If you want to have plants for air purification, consider getting plants with larger foliage and root ball.
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How many plants does it take to produce oxygen for one person?
There are a lot of variables to this answer.
While some say an average person might need 300-500 plants to produce enough oxygen, some say as many as 700 plants might be needed.
It all depends on the space we are talking about, the type of plants, their leaves, and much more.
So, we don’t have an exact and accurate answer to this question.
How many plants does the average person have?
This is another question that doesn’t have an exact answer, but I know how far our curiosity can go!
But, we do have some stats that can help.
A whopping 66% of American households have at least one houseplant.
And 27% of households are into active indoor gardening.
More and more people are becoming interested in keeping plants in their houses.
70% of millennials identify themselves as plant parents!
How many plants should be there in the bedroom?
When we talk about air purification, we can’t help but want it in our bedroom the most.
The number of plants in the bedroom depends on its size and how many people are sleeping in it.
So, if you want to purify the air in your bedroom with plants, keep 2 plants for every 100 square feet.
If you want to keep houseplants for other purposes, such as decoration, you can keep as many as you like.
The top 10 air-purifying plants for your bedroom are:
- Pothos
- Rubber tree plant
- Dracaena
- Lucky Bamboo
- Snake plant
- Heartleaf philodendron
- ZZ plant
- Parlor Palm
- Aglaonema
- Monstera
How many plants are too many?
Houseplant obsession is becoming more and more common these days.
While it is great to have houseplants around your house because of all the benefits, you should know where to draw the line.
You’ll find out when you have too many plants if you don’t.
Here are a few points that will help you understand if you have too many plants.
Lack of space
If you think you don’t have enough space in your room, balcony, around the window, or wherever you have your plants, it’s a clear sign that you have too many of them.
If you enjoy the number of plants you have and don’t want to give them away, you can make some changes and find more ways to space them out.
For example, you can install some shelves where you can keep some of the plants.
If you need more space, you can give some of your plants away to near and dear ones or sell them.
Lack of time
You might not have enough time to care for all the plants you own.
This is one of the most common problems that millennials face.
They start buying a lot of plants but soon realize they don’t have enough time to take care of them!
Therefore, if some plants are dying or not doing well and you feel you are not getting the time to look after them, you probably have too many plants.
You are overwhelmed
An indoor space filled with plants looks amazing, and I can’t deny that.
But, when caring for those plants overwhelm you, and you start getting stressed, it is time to reconsider your plant collection.
Many people start indoor gardening as a hobby but don’t realize when they start getting overwhelmed instead of feeling relaxed.
There is no harm in feeling overwhelmed.
You need to understand and give away or sell some plants and come to a number that doesn’t overwhelm you.
It is no longer cost-effective.
Plants don’t cost much, and caring for them is not costly either.
But, when you start getting more plants, the costs also increase.
Caring for them can cost more than you might have planned for if you have high-maintenance plants.
Again, the idea is to identify and deal with the problem.
Once you know you have too many plants burning a hole in your pocket, say goodbye to them by selling or giving them away.
Final thoughts
How many plants you should have in your house should depend on your capacity: how much time, money, and energy you can invest into them. Don’t go overboard and get too many plants at once, which leads to burnout.
If you want to get plants for air purification and health benefits, refer to the table and the other information I have mentioned in the article. Get as many plants as you can care for based on the space in your house.
If you are in a position where you think you have too many plants in the house, give some away to your family and friends. You can also sell them or give them to a local nursery where they can take care of the plants.
Reference: Livescience, Wikipedia, Planting Healthier Indoor Air, Nasa.gov
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