To know more about the plants which would be ideal for an office environment, we spoke to Sanya Ahuja, Founder & CEO of Greenish- a plant gifting company. “Table-top plants require minimal maintenance and do not occupy a lot of space—they are less than half-a-feet tall, thus making them suitable for the office desk. An ideal plant is chosen on the basis of whether it acts as an air purifier i.e., absorbs toxins from the environment, beautifies or is easy on maintenance. They are mostly priced between INR 450-600,” said Ahuja.
Read to know more about the five ideal table top plants, according to Ahuja, and pick the one which would make your desk look lively at work:
1. Golden Pothos : Golden Pothos belongs to the money plant family and is very easy to maintain too. This is an air purifying plant which means it absorbs toxins from the air apart from producing oxygen. They are tolerant of low light conditions and erratic watering—they need to be watered only when its soil starts to dry. It needs to be kept in the sunlight only once a week. The beauty of this plant lies in the texture of its leaves.
2. Syngonium : There are six to seven shades of Syngonium of which pink and green have a greater demand. These air-purifying plants are preferably grown using organic manure instead of soil. Organic manure is light in weight, has more nutrients than plain soil and it also tends to retain moisture for a longer time. Thus, this plant needs to be watered and kept in the sunlight only once a week, making them an ideal choice for the busy bees.
3. Philodendron : The beauty of this plant lies in the ‘cut’ of its leaf —the fast growing Philodendron hybrid has red leaves and extremely attractive foliage. It requires bright but indirect exposure to sunlight once a week to get the best foliage colour and should be watered only when the soil dries up. The brown leaves could be cut or trimmed as per the need.
4. Sansevieria ; Interestingly known as mother-in-law’s tongue, these are air purifying plants and are available in different types like straight, golden and green. These plants have hard-textured leaves and hence are perfect for beginners. Sansevieria needs to be watered once in few days and are also ideal to be kept in bedrooms as they are known to produce oxygen even at night.
5. Chlorophytum : This again is an air-purifying plant. They have dark green leaves with white margins and are extremely tolerant to harsh conditions– thus making them an ideal choice for beginners or forgetful owners.