While plants are for sure amazing decorative pieces with their beautiful foliage, they also provide many health benefits. Many types of plants help improve indoor air quality.
Not just by absorbing CO2, but also by absorbing air pollutants that can cause serious health problems.
But, does this include dieffenbachia as well? Does dieffenbachia clean air?
This is a great question for all dieffenbachia fans and the answer is yes. It’s one of the best air purifier plants.
The plant is incredible at absorbing different types of air toxins as well as CO2. To know more about this incredibly beautiful and beneficial plant, keep on reading!
About the Dieffenbachia Plant
Dieffenbachia is one of those plants that are just perfect for houses and offices. It requires low maintenance besides providing many benefits other than looking cute on your desk.
Dumb cane or dieffenbachia is a plant of beautiful foliage that is native to the West Indies, Mexico, and the South of Argentina.
Its leaves are usually large and range in color from light green to dark green. They also usually have a yellow or creamy white color near the veins.
Each leaf is unique with its own color and pattern arrangements that add to the beauty of this plant.
While dieffenbachia is a flowering plant, it rarely produces flowers or blooms. Its lily-like flowers are unimpressive compared to its beautiful, large foliage.
Depending on the type of dieffenbachia you have, it can grow up to 6 feet tall.
This plant thrives in temperatures from 65-75ºF with exposure to bright, indirect sunlight. It also doesn’t require any special care when it comes to watering.
You just need to water it when the top inch of the soil is dry. For humidity, it’ll be fine in normal room humidity.
So, you can see now why many love to have this beautiful plant in their houses.
Does Dieffenbachia Clean Air?
Yes, dieffenbachia is one of many plants that clean and purify the air. This is something that you might have heard being said about plants in general.
However, it’s scientifically proven that dieffenbachia improves indoor air quality. A Malaysian study proved that dieffenbachia does really well at absorbing carbon dioxide from the air.
The experiment started with 436 ppm. By the end of the experiment, this amount was reduced to 332 ppm.
It’s also proven that dieffenbachia purifies indoor air from toxic compounds such as benzene, toluene, and xylene. These toxins have negative effects on your health like weakness, exhaustion, and even insomnia.
They can also cause some serious health problems such as kidney and liver damage. By just having this beautiful plant in your home you can reduce the amount of these toxins in the air while reducing CO2 levels too.
Even NASA did a study in 2013 that confirmed that dieffenbachia is an air purifier. It was proved that the plant absorbs large amounts of air pollutants such as cigarette smoke, radon, and solvents.
Not only does dieffenbachia absorb these pollutants, but it also destroys them and converts them into new plant tissues.
To use dieffenbachia in purifying the air in your house, it’s recommended to place the plant in the most visited areas in your house.
5 Types of Dieffenbachia Plants to Add to Your House
There are several types of dieffenbachia plants that are all equally beautiful and beneficial.
While we want to have them all in our houses, we created a list of the best 5 dieffenbachias to add to your plant collection:
1 – Dieffenbachia Seguine
Dieffenbachia seguine is one of the popular types of dieffenbachia that is known for its large, creamy white foliage. Its leaves can grow up to 12 inches.
When this type is grown in optimum conditions, it grows white flowers that kind of look like peace lilies.
People love adding dieffenbachia seguine plants in their houses for its tropical vibe.
2 – Dieffenbachia Amoena
Dieffenbachia amoena is another popular type that is known particularly for its unique foliage. Its leaves are large and oblong. They’re dark green with creamy yellow stripes along the veins.
It can grow to 6 inches in height and its leaves can reach 20 inches in length.
3 – Dieffenbachia Camille
Another lovely dieffenbachia type that is easily differentiated from other dieffenbachia types. The plant has broad leaves with dark green edges and a lime-colored center.
4 – Dieffenbachia Camouflage
Dieffenbachia camouflage is also easy to identify as its leaves are uniquely shaped. Its leaves are less wide than other varieties and have somewhat wavy edges.
Also, the leaves are light green instead of dark green and have cream veins.
5 – Dieffenbachia Sparkle
On the other hand, dieffenbachia sparkle is popular for its small size. It grows up to 3 to 4 feet in height.
Its leaves are also on the light green scale with white and dark green patches.
Are There Air Purifiers Plants Other Than Dieffenbachia?
Yes, several plants clarify and improve indoor air quality. Here’s a list of some of the most common air purifier plants:
1 – Spider Plant
The spider plant (Chlorophytum comosum) is a great air purifier plant. It can quickly absorb several types of toxins from the air.
A study has shown that the spider plant does really well in detoxification of formaldehyde, a common indoor air pollutant.
Besides its purifying benefits, the plant is absolutely gorgeous and highly adaptable.
2 – Anthurium
This blooming plant is one of the most attractive air purifying plants. It has small and attractive leaves with bold blooming flowers.
Anthurium is effective at purifying the air from harmful chemicals such as ammonia, formaldehyde, toluene, and xylene.
3 – Calathea
Calathea doesn’t need any introduction. The plant is already widely popular among so many people.
People don’t only love it for its beautiful varieties and attractive foliage, but also for its air-purifying abilities.
4 – Boston Fern
Ferns are another well-known house plant, but Boston ferns particularly are amazing air purifiers.
They too absorb formaldehyde, toluene, and xylene. Besides, they’re easy to care for.
Final Thoughts
While dumb cane or dieffenbachia has a bad reputation because of its toxic sap, it’s a great natural air purifier that you can have in your house.
We included five types of dieffenbachia that you can add to your plant collection along with four types of other plant species that are also considered air purifiers.
Growing up with a mom who filled her home (inside and out) with all sorts of plants, Lisa got her start in gardening at a young age. Living now on her own with a home and yard full of plants (including an indoor greenhouse), she shares all the gardening tips she’s gained over the years.