With their upright sword-shaped leaves and architectural shapes, snake plants, also sometimes called mother-in-law’s tongue or Saint George’s sword. Beyond just being hardy and low maintenance, snake plants have some surprising benefits that make them even more worth adding to your indoor plant collection.
Air Purifying Abilities
One of the biggest advantages of growing snake plants is their natural ability to purify air. Snake plants remove toxins such as xylene, formaldehyde, and toluene from the air through their leaves. They also emit oxygen at night, making them helpful plants for the bedroom. Some key takeaways about the air purifying benefits of snake plants:
- NASA labels snake plants as a top air purifying houseplant, removing airborne toxins.
- They filter chemicals, synthetic compounds, and pollutants from indoor air.
- Snake plants emit oxygen, not CO2, at night which is good for human sleeping in the room.
With snake plants, you can have peace of mind that your indoor air is cleaner. Their air filtering capabilities remove nasty pollutants, odors, and chemicals so you can breathe a little easier.
Snake Plants Help to Relieve Stress and Anxiety
In addition to cleansing the air, snake plants are also thought to relieve anxiety and stress through the calming effects of viewing their shapes and green foliage.
The snake plant’s strong vertical lines and architectural shapes are satisfying design elements that are soothing to the eyes and mind.
Their symbolic meaning of health, protection and luck subconsciously lessens stress.
Caring for houseplants gives a sense of purpose which can improve anxiety.
Their ability to filter air also removes chemicals linked to increased stress like benzene and formaldehyde.
The mental health benefits of keeping snake plants as part of your houseplant collection can be subtle, but the impact is real.
Snake Plants Help to Improve Your Focus
Furthering their positive impact on mental health, snake plants are also said to boost focus and concentration when keeping them in office and study spaces.
Cleaner air means clearer thinking and fewer distractions from odors or toxins.
Their vertical lines and orderly appearance help visualize structure which aids focus.
Green foliage calms the mind, fights fatigue, and increases attentiveness.
So if you want to reap concentration perks, let snake plants lend their superpowers. Having a snake plant on your desk or bookshelf makes for an eye-catching living symbol to help dial in your focus.
Snake Plants Provide You a Healthier Sleep
Snake plants release oxygen at night, unlike most plants that only produce oxygen during daylight from photosynthesis. This nocturnal oxygen boost helps regulate air quality while you sleep.
The overnight oxygen improves nighttime breathing and airflow.
Removing air pollutants also promotes better sleep.
Their ability to help reduce stress and anxiety also aids more restful sleep.
Snake plants filter out formaldehyde which disrupts REM sleep cycles.
Place them in bedrooms so you can benefit from their after-hours oxygen boost.
Snake Plants Are Easy to Grow
Above all the indirect wellness attributes snake plants offer, they also happen to be extremely hardy houseplants. They earn the titles of low maintenance plants thanks to these survival superpowers:
- Snake plants tolerate almost any indoor conditions, from dark corners to fluorescents.
- They can grow in just about any container and soil mix.
- Snake plants need only sporadic watering, thriving even with neglect.
- They are not prone to pests nor plant diseases.
Conclusion
Beyond just being visually alluring, snake plants have so much more to offer indoor spaces than meets the eye. Welcoming these supremely resilient plants into your home gives you the benefits of better air quality, increased oxygen at night, anxiety and stress relief, mental clarity, more restful sleep. For very little decorative investment, snake plants reward you with direct and indirect wellness perks that make indoor environments genuinely healthier. Let hardy, helping snake plants work their magic in your home!