Indoor Plant Oxygen Cycles for Your Home

I am no green thumb, but I know that plants can make a difference in the indoor environment. For the home office, plants can be especially beneficial to provide visual comfort to reduce stress, contribute additional oxygen to the air, and help to remove any airborne toxins. For the home sleeping spaces, high levels of CO₂ are accumulating in your room at night and the right kind of houseplants can help to balance this effect and contribute greater amounts of oxygen back to the room. For these reasons, I am a strong believer that every workspace and bedroom should have a couple of plants or more! While there are a lot of choices for indoor plants, and the aesthetics of your home may dictate the size, style, grouping, and configuration of plants, some environmental functions should also be considered.

There are many types of indoor house plants, and I am not the expert with Latin names of each species nor the full range of plants available. But I am aware of the three types of photosynthesis that plant groups are characterized by, and this becomes the most important variable for matching your plants with your space use to optimize indoor health. Remember from science classes in elementary school that photosynthesis in plants uses CO₂ and water and converts these elements into sugars (glucose) and oxygen, respectively. The three types of photosynthesis are C3, C4, and CAM. C3 photosynthesis is the most commonly occurring, and results in the first carbon compound containing three carbon atoms during the plant’s photosynthesis process. Unfortunately the C3 process increases the tendency for photorespiration, in which the plant’s rubisco enzyme acts upon trapping oxygen at the same time it is trapping CO₂.

Given that it is more ideal to increase oxygen levels of indoor spaces especially in work environments, the C4 plants will be great additions for your home spaces. C4 photosynthesis results in the first carbon compound containing four carbon atoms, while separating the CO₂ fixation and the Calvin cycle (when the rubisco enzyme goes to work) into different parts of their anatomy. This allows for the steps of carbon dioxide  fixation vs. oxygen fixation to be separated and minimizes oxygen binding tendencies. In addition, C4-plants release peak oxygen levels during the day when light sources are available.

The final photosynthesis process to discuss is found in the CAM plant (short for crassulacean acid metabolism). CAM plants also produce four carbon atoms and are therefore a subset of C4 plants. The name actually refers to the pathway that these plants use in order to minimize photorespiration. Rather than separating the light-dependent rubisco enzyme interactions with CO₂ in different parts of the plant anatomy, the processes are differentiated in time. CAM plants have the ability to absorb CO₂ from the atmosphere during the nighttime when their stomata are opened up. When daytime comes, the CAM plants close up their stomata but can still photosynthesize. The organic acids that were created the night before can be transported out of the plant’s vacuoles to facilitate the Calvin cycle. CAM plants are very water efficient in addition to their ability to avoid photorespiration.  

Most common houseplants will be of C3 types while indoor potted succulents and cacti are CAM plants. C4 plants (aside from the CAM variety) are not as common for growing indoors, but if you incorporate wheatgrass to your interiors, it is one of the best for your health and well-being. Not only will indoor wheatgrass be more effective at producing oxygen for your workspace, but it is also a great nutrient to add to fresh juices or to share directly with your cat or dog to help their digestion and boost their nutrient intake. Small pots of wheat grass can be multifunctional, and most often these are placed in the kitchen due to their edibility. However, there are also wheatgrass plants that are not utilized for dietary consumption but rather for home décor and can grow taller and include crown plumes.

In conclusion, different types of plants have different evapotranspiration cycles due to the way they process light and photosynthesize. This means that different plant species can release oxygen at different times of the 24-hour period and some plants are better at minimizing photorespiration than others. This can be helpful to consider inside of homes and workplaces based on both the type and time of use for human activities. It is always best to incorporate plants into spaces that release peak oxygen levels during the same time of day or night as human occupancy. Focusing primarily on integrating C3 and C4 plants into your home workspace, and CAM plants into your bedroom, will optimize the plant-based benefits to your health and well-being. However, bringing any kind of plant into your home spaces, as long as you pay attention to avoid those that can be poisonous to any pets or plants that you are allergic to, will improve your indoor air quality and reduce your overall stress.

If you are considering some design modifications for your home workspace and would like some personalized guidance, reach out to AIDA, LLC today for a consultation. You can always find more information and healthy home resources at Aletheia Ida Design and Architecture, LLC (AIDA, LLC) at www.aletheiaida.com.