Ask Anna – Indoor plants to boost your mood and clean the air.

Hello everyone! My name is Anna and I manage your local Harvest Garden Centre on the corner of Vincent Massey and Powerdam Drive in Cornwall and I’m here to answer your garden related questions.

To start things off, I’d just like to wish a Happy New Year to all my plant people! Now that we are stuck inside for the winter months, one thing we can do is add some plants inside to boost our mood and clean the air of toxins, as plants can remove up to 10% of carbon dioxide in your home. Here are my top 3 low-maintenance indoor plants.

In third place we have Aloe Vera. I try to keep some on hand year-round for access to quick relief of insect bites, burns, or blisters. To use this plant just break an older leaf off and squeeze the jelly out and apply directly to the area. Aloe Vera also has the neat ability to release a lot of oxygen into the air at night, so it is a great idea to sleep with Aloe Vera in your bedroom. All you need is access to bright, indirect sunlight, usually a southern or western window, and allow the soil to dry in-between watering.

My second pick is the Snake Plant. This one is for the people who forget to water sometimes. The Snake Plant is a much more forgiving plant than other plants because it prefers to be dryer. All you need is some medium to low sunlight and allow the soil to dry between watering. Easy-peasy.

And my favorite low-maintenance indoor plant is the Spider Plant! These guys are a very tough plant making them great for anyone. Simply give them bright to moderate light and water once a week in warm weather and let the soil dry a bit more in the cold months. I like to prune any brown leaves that show up to allow the new growth to flourish. This is one of my favorites right now because of the newer variety “Bonnie”, (photo below). It’s similar to the original but the leaves are curled in giving it a different look.

If you would like me to answer one of your questions next month, you can send your question to me at in**@th*******.ca attention Ask Anna.

I hope everyone has a fantastic month and be sure to stop by Harvest and say hi!