Snake plants provide plenty of benefits when grown indoors. They are incredibly easy to propagate and maintain and can help beautify your indoor spaces. But, growing the mother-in-law’s tongue isn’t just for beauty but for quite several other useful benefits.
The benefits of snake plants include air purification and pollutant removal. The plant releases a lot of oxygen at night and filters out some pollutants such as benzene and toluene, leaving indoor spaces like bedrooms much safer.
I’ve dived deeper into the benefits of this plant and why you should grow it indoors below.
Benefits of snake plants in bedrooms and indoors
Most people prefer growing sansevieria in their bedrooms as air purification plants or as a remedy for stress, or just to take advantage of the plant’s other qualities.
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Here are the benefits of snake plants in your bedroom and other indoor spaces:
1. Snake plants add oxygen indoors
Snake plants, however, continue to produce oxygen during the night, which helps to promote a better sleep experience. Snake plants use Crassulacean Acid Metabolism (CAM) to convert carbon dioxide to breathable oxygen at night. They release 32 grams of oxygen for every 150 grams of plant tissue grown. The total amount of oxygen however is dependent on prevailing conditions such as pressure and temperature.
Snake plants are ideal for indoor spaces because of their ability to produce considerable volumes of oxygen for extended durations. Most houseplants can help improve oxygen levels in your home but mostly during the day.
2. Sansevieria filters out air pollutants
Snake plants have the added benefit of helping filter out pollutants from the air. Indoor environments are more likely to have air pollutants such as benzene, carbon dioxide, formaldehyde, xylene, trichloroethylene, toluene, etc.
3. Snake plants improve the aesthetics of your home
The mother-in-law’s tongue is a beautiful species ideal for indoor decor and beautification. It adds a natural touch separate from all the furniture and electronics typical to most homes.
Although there are numerous varieties of sansevieria, key characteristics include the unique sword-shaped leaves with some variations having yellow markings along the surface of their foliage.
These plants can complement different house designs with ease. You can grow them in large, medium, or small containers depending on your intended effect.
Plant snake plants in your living room, bedroom, patio, etc for a unique finish to your living space.
4. Snake plants boost indoor acoustics
Indoor plants can help improve acoustics and reduce noise levels within your home. Succulents are especially ideal for reducing noise pollution levels because their thick leaves are good at deflecting and absorbing sound waves across the room.
With proper positioning, a snake plant can help you to reduce unwanted sounds including static from running electronics within your space. Growing a few snake plants strategically within your bedroom not only makes it more appealing but also helps to improve your sleep quality owing to the reduced noise.
There are numerous benefits to noise reduction within your home. Studies indicate that such environments help to improve mood, concentration, and the mental health of individuals.
5. Feng shui
The Chinese philosophy of feng shui emphasizes the need to create a balance between our living environments and the natural world. You can achieve feng shui by arranging objects in a particular order to allow for the flow of energy within your space.
Feng shui associates snake plants with good luck, partly because of their air purification qualities. The philosophy also indicates where to best place your snake plants in line with feng shui. Position your snake plants along with entryways, kitchen, bedroom, dining room, and bathroom to promote a positive energy flow within your living space.
You can also position the plant within your working space to promote concentration and focus. Feng shui is an ideal philosophy that is useful for home improvement and decoration.
6. Minimum care requirements
Snake plants have few problems since they are hardy species that can tolerate a variety of harsh environmental conditions such as minimal watering, low light exposure, etc. Such features make snake plants an ideal choice when considering natural home improvement options.
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You can plant snake plants in your bedroom, home study, and living room without having to worry about the constant and sometimes tedious maintenance schedule synonymous with other indoor plant varieties.
Snake plants prefer bright, indirect sunlight, watering for about every 2-8 weeks (depending on the season) and temperatures of about 50℉. The plants also have minimal fertilizer requirements with additional applications needed only twice a year.
7. Mental health benefits
Propagating snake plants can help to improve your mental needs and reduce instances of anxiety and depression. Stress can have a destabilizing effect on an individual’s productivity, health, and lifestyle choices.
Studies indicate that having plants within your home, office or other indoor space can have positive effects when dealing with stress, mental fatigue, and other related issues.
The biophilia hypothesis implies that human beings have an in-built need to seek connections with nature and additional forms of life. The Japanese notion of Shinrin yoku borrows heavily from the idea that plant life and nature are instrumental in boosting one’s well-being.
Snake plants are an ideal choice when looking for an indoor growing plant for your home. The species not only elevates one’s mood but also improves the oxygen quality within the air allowing for improved brain activity.
8. Helps to fight allergies
Snake plants can be useful when fighting against allergies. A majority of allergy cases stem from poor aeration. Having plants that improve oxygen concentration while increasing the moisture content within the air can help to reduce instances of severe allergic reactions such as asthma.
Plant a snake plant in your bedroom for a more productive sleep experience, better air quality, and reduced risk of sore throat, stuffy nose, and other respiratory allergies. Besides the plants are easy to care for and readily adaptable to different indoor environments.
Do snake plants help you sleep?
Snake plants can help you sleep better. Having snake plants within your bedroom can help improve your sleeping experience and allow for a deeper more relaxing sleep.
Blood oxygen levels drop during the REM sleeping period as the body’s demand also reduces. An increase in air oxygen quality helps to ensure that oxygen saturation remains high within the body allowing for a deeper and more productive sleep.
Snake plants are recommended for people with sleeping disorders partly because they can produce oxygen at night. People with hypoventilation can benefit by having higher oxygen levels in their blood during night hours when respiratory conditions are most likely to occur. Besides, snake plants are also ideal for air purification; resulting in cleaner air as you sleep.
Where to place snake plants in your home
Snake plants are versatile species that can accommodate a wide range of conditions. The plants are ideal for indoor and outdoor propagation depending on the growing zone and surrounding environmental conditions. But where is the best place to put your potted snake plant?
You can place snake plants in multiple locations within your home. Position snake plants as decorative plants in your living space, patio, kitchen, or bedroom. You can also opt to place multiple snake plants within your home to improve air quality and the aesthetics of your space.
Although snake plants are hardy, they are vulnerable to temperature and light shock where the plant might display signs of ill health such as brown spots on the leaves when quickly adjusted from one location to the next.
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Instead give your plant time to adjust to new conditions, such as light by allowing for an adjustment period when moving the plant to a brighter area. Move your snake plants inside during the cooler months to safeguard against temperature shock.
Avoid overwatering sansevieria altogether.
References:
[1] Feng Shui
[2] Crassulacean acid metabolism biology – Garcia – 2014 New Phytologist – Wiley Online Library
[3] The Biophilia Hypothesis and Life in the 21st Century: Increasing Mental Health or Increasing Pathology? | SpringerLink
