Rescuing green oases: how and what to choose flowers for the office
People who work for a long time in stuffy, small rooms by the end of the working day experience severe fatigue, headaches, irritation of the skin and eyes. The reason for this lies in the lack of oxygen and dry air, which flowers for the office can eliminate. Green oases of health help to neutralize the influence of many negative office factors and improve the atmosphere. Even employees who are indifferent to flowers and do not plant them at home start to appreciate green “saviors” in the office.
The benefits of plants for office workers
First of all, flowers for offices are a life-giving flow of oxygen. Employers often save on square meters for their employees, so sometimes a small office has a large number of people sitting a couple of meters apart. As a result, the air is quickly filled with carbon dioxide, bacteria, stuffiness appears, which causes rapid fatigue, headache, and breathing problems. The situation is saved by flowers, which absorb carbon dioxide and give off oxygen. Indoors with a lot of plants, the air is much fresher than air-conditioned rooms.
Flowers and small trees help with air disinfection. The number of harmful bacteria and germs in offices is off the charts, especially if it is often visited by strangers.
The air in offices suffers from smokers. Even if the smoking rooms are located in remote places, the smell of tobacco constantly worries non-smokers. Office flowers such as geranium, clivia, aspidistra... They are placed near smoking areas, but so that negligent tobacco lovers do not use the pots as ashtrays.
Once a week, the plants are taken out into the fresh air to restore their strength, which they spent on improving air quality.
Green oases are useful for sight. Such an exercise is known for relaxing the eye muscles, as transferring the gaze from a nearby object to a green dot in the distance. A green plant is fine instead of this point.
The more flowers in the office, the more humid the air in it. Plant care includes watering and spraying to improve air quality.
Flowers work as anti-stressors, which is very beneficial for people of mental labor. They improve brain function, increase the efficiency of office workers.
Best small flowers for the office
Not all flowers are suitable for office conditions. It is important to understand that they are also alive, and long-term stay in rooms with unfavorable conditions affects the health of not only people, but also plants. They choose unpretentious flowers that can survive a long absence of watering, need rare dressings, and can withstand temperature drops. Office plants should not have a strong scent. Many people do not like harsh odors, and some have allergies.
Medium and small flowers are placed directly on their desktop, on the windowsills. The easiest plants to care for, which do not require special lighting and temperature conditions, are very popular.
Mother-in-law's language (sansevieria)
A flower quite suitable for office everyday life. Perfectly adapts to any conditions, easily tolerates drafts, drought, temperature changes, lives for a long time without transplanting. Perfectly cleans the air, saturating it with oxygen.
Sansevieria has dense, rigid leaf blades. They are difficult to damage, and if this happens, the plant can easily recover. The color of the leaves is varied. It can be monochromatic saturated green and variegated green-whitish-yellow.
Mother-in-law's tongue grows in partial shade and in the sun, without losing its beauty. With constant partial shade, the leaves turn rich green, the light edging along the edges disappears.
Cactus
This desktop flower for office and home until recently stood near almost every work computer. And all because of the myth about the ability of a cactus to absorb harmful computer radiation. Now the myth has been debunked, but from the point of view of rest for the eyes, cacti are quite useful. Doctors advise to look at something green more often, it relaxes the eyes. Therefore, a cactus placed near the monitor is quite useful if you constantly look at it. Cactus captivates and so, it practically does not require care. Grows in the poorest soils, with a minimum of light and watering.
The only drawback of a cactus is to create cool conditions for it in winter, which is not always possible in an office environment.
Oval fat woman
In common people the fat woman is calledmoney treem. Unpretentious flower, grows both in the sun and in the shade, easily tolerates drought. All his life he can not be fed (only occasionally watered with vermicompost). Lives quietly in cramped pots without transplants.
Violet
Among the flowering and unpretentious plants for the office, the violet is one of the most delicate and beautiful. There are varieties with velvety leaves and double flowers of different colors. There are compact plants, and there are large ones with flowers in the form of huge stars. A mini garden of several compact varieties of violets will give aesthetic pleasure to lovers of beauty, improve mood and improve performance.
Violet is unpretentious:
- They say that it grows even in a spoonful of dry soil and can bloom at the same time.
- She loves sunny places, so in shaded offices or in rooms without windows, she needs additional lighting with special lamps.
- Does not tolerate temperature extremes, drafts and frosts.
- It is demanding for watering, but often dies from an excess of moisture in the soil. Therefore, water the flower only as the top layer of the soil dries up.
Lack of moisture also leads to the death of the plant, so water is poured into the pan.
Zamioculcas
Although this flower has recently appeared in the field of view, it has already become quite popular. A medium-sized plant, feeling well under the sun's rays and in partial shade, is cold-resistant, does not die even on non-insulated windowsills.
Zamioculcas does not require frequent transplanting, watering, it grows at any air humidity and low temperatures (up to +16). Virtually no smell.
Chlorophytum
It holds the record for air purification. Chlorophytum - picky plant, care for which is minimized. The flower can withstand temperatures of +8 ° С, it feels great at +18 ° С. Grows in the sun and in the shade, at any humidity. Differs in endurance, can live without watering for a month. He does not need pruning and feeding. Lives for a long time without transplanting in one pot.
Large flowers for the office
Large plants in the room create a sense of stability and solidity. Popular, unpretentious flowers for the office with photos and names are presented below.
Ficus
One of the most popular plants that has long been used in rooms with a large number of people:
- Fits organically into a strict office environment.
- Ficus pots are placed in a place where diffused sunlight falls on it.
- In winter it grows well under fluorescent lamps.
- This is a classic for rooms with a large number of people, as it has the ability to actively purify the air, saturating it with oxygen flows.
Ficus prefers to grow constantly in one place. When rearranged, it can shed leaves. Loves sunlight, with a lack of it stops growing. Does not tolerate excess moisture in the soil.
The main disadvantage of ficus is its dust collector leaves. Wipe them daily with a damp cloth.
Monstera
This popular office flower with large leaves is also grown in hospitals, sanatoriums, and schools for a reason. A persistent, shade-tolerant, unpretentious plant native to the tropics of Brazil, grows well in Russia under fluorescent lamps, and its carved huge leaf blades delight the eye with their unusual shape.
Monstera has another name "crybaby", because of the peculiarity after rain or abundant watering "to let a tear" (droplets of moisture flow from the leaves).
The plant easily tolerates temperature extremes, dryness of the surrounding air, and does not require pruning for a long time. It grows actively at a temperature of +25 degrees in summer and +20 in winter. Practically odorless, does not need annual replanting, does not shed foliage, moisturizes and purifies the round air.
The downside is that the monstera takes up a lot of space, needs to be added to the soil as it grows. It blooms only when optimal conditions are created (long daylight hours, leaf spraying, top dressing).
Yucca (dracaena)
The flower tolerates the sun and heat well, since its homeland is Mexico with its hot deserts. For the same reason, the plant is not suitable for an office without windows or for shaded, semi-basement rooms where there is little sun.
Accommodation rules
Flowers in offices fulfill not only a practical role (purifying the air and saturating it with oxygen), but also an aesthetic one:
- They must fit correctly into the interior in order to form a single composition, which will not only be useful for mobilizing the workforce of employees, but also for their short-term relaxation during smoke breaks and lunch.
- The lack of green flower islands in the office impoverishes it, turning it into a stone cage, but an overabundance is also unacceptable.
- With a large number of plants, the office will look like a winter garden or greenhouse, turning it not into a work organization, but into a recreation area. Everything should be in moderation.
- The location of the flowers is also important. Large office plants are usually placed in reception areas, waiting rooms, executive offices. They look organic there. Small ones are placed on employees' desks, window sills, flower shelves.
Do not place flower pots near radiators, under air conditioners, or in drafts. It is bad for them.
Flowers for the office are a piece of life-giving nature in the urban stone jungle. Ideally, they should exude a light, unobtrusive aroma, fit into the interior, and require a minimum of maintenance.