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Benefits and Applications of Houseplants in Enclosed Spaces

Maxwell Brule

Red Rocks Community College

English Composition 2

Jenine Tetamore

November 20, 2022

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Everyone in their mid teens and on should become interested in houseplants because of

their psychological benefits, physiological benefits, and overall improvement of the

environments that they inhabit. The specific study of plants and their effect on the environments

they inhabit is a field of study which has existed for decades, horticulture, the study and practice

of garden management and cultivation, and agriculture themselves have origins from around

10,000 years ago and can be attributed for our ancestors initial switch from hunter and gatherer

to cultivating crops and the first hint of advancement as a species ( Peter, 2015). To this day, we

as a species are studying and living with plants in various ways to learn more about them and

how they affect us.

The 2020 Covid-19 pandemic was undoubtedly detrimental towards mental health as a

collective. While this is true, it did offer a silver lining for the study of psychology and, for the

purposes of this paper, horticulture in relation to that. One study conducted online surveys of 323

students and their mental health over the course of lockdown in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. The study

found that while mental health was generally taking tremendous hits, the access to, or even view

of greenery the better. Additionally, The study concluded that those with gardens, house plants,

or accessories of that nature led to increased interaction with the greenery and thus better mental

health (Dzhambov et al., 2021). Another study in 2015 studied 24 males in their twenties and

found that when compared to a computer task, a transplanting activity greatly reduced

psychological and physiological stress, “... subjects were found to have positive feelings when

interacting with indoor plants. In contrast, the computer task increased diastolic blood pressure

and sympathetic nervous system activity” (Lee et al., 2015). The increased nervous system

activity and blood pressure is what ultimately lead to the conclusion that the computer activity

increased physiological stress. For the psychological evaluation, a semantic differential method
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was applied to acquire how each activity made the test subjects feel upon completion. Overall,

both the 2020 Covid-19 study and the 2015 computer vs transplanting task study found

psychological benefits achieved through the use of houseplants and greenery, which is why

anyone struggling with mental health should consider plant ownership to aid in improving their

mental state.

Alternatively, indoor plants also retain larger scale benefits for those within the

environments shared with them. When applied to a professional setting, having indoor plants in

closed environments greatly increases productivity and cognitive performance of those who have

access to them. Berger et al (2022) studied 520 different volunteers and their preferences on

twelve different plant species, followed by what they assessed the perceived benefit of each. The

study ultimately found that subject preference of a plant would affect their perceived benefit to

indoor air quality, humidity, and well being that the subject would experience. Conclusively, the

change in perceived benefits may be more similarly related to the placebo effect, however, the

effects on productivity and cognitive performance would still improve, especially if the subject is

near or around a plant species which they were more fond of (Berger et al., 2022). While on the

topic of the impacts from plants in closed spaces, examining Bill C. Wolverton and his work

published under NASA in 1988 shows just how long this subject has been prominent in the

horticultural field. Wolvertons work was crucial for countless studies aiming for the same

purpose as his, to study the air purification properties of indoor plants. Overall, Wolverton found

that plant leaves themselves can remove pollutants such as carbon monoxide and formaldehyde,

while higher trace levels of pollutants are removed through the soil and plant roots as well

(Wolverton 2013). Wolverton has played a large part of inspiration for this paper as his is one of

the most prominent pieces for horticulture. All in all, houseplants do as much for human
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psychology and physiology as they do for the productivity and quality of indoor air. In

conclusion, houseplants are one of the most important investments an individual can make. They

can drastically improve your psychological and physiological state, increase productivity and

cognitive performance, all while improving the air quality of the space they’re in. Upon this

research, it becomes clear why so many households and businesses already value their

houseplants.
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References

Berger, J., Essah, E., Blanusa, T., & Beaman, C. P. (2022). The appearance of indoor plants and

their effect on people's perceptions of indoor air quality and subjective well-being.

Building and Environment, 219, 109151. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2022.109151

Dzhambov, A. M., Lercher, P., Browning, M. H. E. M., Stoyanov, D., Petrova, N., Novakov, S.,

& Dimitrova, D. D. (2021). Does greenery experienced indoors and outdoors provide an

escape and support mental health during the COVID-19 quarantine? Environmental

Research, 196, 110420. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2020.110420

Lee, M. S., Lee, J., Park, B. J., & Miyazaki, Y. (2015). Interaction with indoor plants may reduce

psychological and physiological stress by suppressing autonomic nervous system activity

in young adults: a randomized crossover study. Journal of physiological anthropology,

34(1), 21. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40101-015-0060-8

Peter, K. V., Bonny, B., & Pradeepkumar, T. (2009). Chapter 1- Horticulture Science and

ProfessionVersion (2nd Revised Edition). In Basics of Horticulture (pp. 1–10). New India

Pub. Agency. Retrieved November 18, 2022, from

https://www.nipabooks.com/chapters/9789383305735_1.pdf.

Wolverton, B. C. (2013, August 16). Foliage plants for improving indoor air quality - NASA

technical reports server (NTRS). NTRS - NASA Technical Reports Server. Retrieved

September 28, 2022, from https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/19930073015