How to Grow Fresh Air. 50 House Plants that Purify Your Home or Office

Customer Reviews

More Questions than Answers

2008-07-21
"How to Grow Fresh Air" is the best book I've found on the topic of using plants to improve air quality. It has easy-to-use recommendations, rating plants' ability to improve air quality and listing information that will help the reader decide if they can keep this plant alive.

There are a few problems. First, the book does not describe the 50 best plants -- it describes the only 50 plants tested. Second, this book doesn't indicate how many plants should be put in a room. An internet search of unknown accuracy indicated 1 to 3 plants (size medium to large) for 100 square feet of floor space (attributed to the author). Third, the book doesn't tell you about any patterns the authors observed in their research: does plant size matter? Leaf size? By how much? Growth rate? If there were a simple pattern (like large fast-growing plants are best; or that air-cleaning appears to be a characteristic of certain plant species), then this would be very good to know. Forth, the research is at least 12 years old, and there doesn't appear to be any new research on this subject. Fifth, I found two conflicting tables in the technical section. This doesn't give me a warm fuzzy feeling about the book's technical accuracy -- like Al Gore's "time goes backwards" Global Warming chart. The whole thing reads like an exploratory research project that wasn't funded further -- but should have been.

With that said, this book has useful advice, and seems to be worth the purchase price. I'm going to give buy a few of the highest rated plants for my office, and see if their gas-elimination properties (combined with my air filter) yields improved air quality.

Fabulous

2008-04-27
Not many products both clean the air and are beautiful. How to Grow Fresh Air explains how houseplants do just that. Beautiful book, well written with plenty of information, this book is wonderful.

Clever Idea

2008-04-25
This is a clever book. It is well thought out. It has clear explanations of the plants chosen and where and how they can be grown indoors. I like the variety. Fifty plants is not an overly cumbersome number so it is a manageable read. If someone has allergies some of these plants or their fragrance may be problematic. Matt Cohen MD

Gets the job done.

2008-02-15
When I first read the book I kept wanting more. More plants, more info on each plant - then I had to remind myself the title and objective of the book was to highlight 50 plants and it only has 144 pages. Well worth $12.24.

The pictures are amazing and the information on each plants needs such as water, light, and feeding allowed me to choose which would be suitable for my home.

how to grow fresh air

2007-12-18
i highly recommend this book. it is easy to understand. the pictures are great and all of the plants are available at your local nursery.

Wealth of information on houseplants

2007-11-18
Very clear and concise book that is also interesting to read and nice close-up pictures so you know you are buying the right plant. If you are concerned about your indoor environ and want cleaner air in your home, this should be your bible for choosing your indoor plants. With our dry Arizona indoor air, it's nice to know which plants transpire the most so we don't always have to run our humidifiers.

Fresh Air

2007-09-27
This book was interesting. It was very easy to obtain the information I wanted to haelp with air problems. I enjoyed it and would recomend it.

plants with oxygen

2007-09-06
Love the fact that this book has nice big pictures and explains
everything about the plant.
Have many plant books (from different states lived in) and this one is
very easy to read and understand and I love the pictures.

I'm growing fresh air!

2007-07-11
Love this book. Exactly what I needed to help me decide which houseplants to buy. This book has plants for different temps, situations, needs, etc. I'm buying a copy for several of my family members. Beautiful on the coffee table too!

Why buy an airpurifier when you can buy plants!

2007-07-03
Research based information about the value of plants in our homes. Certain plants absorb toxic gases from our carpets, furniture, and other items that can make the air in our homes as bad or worse than outdoors.