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Evaluation of foliage plants for interior plantscaping

KrishiKosh

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Title Evaluation of foliage plants for interior plantscaping
 
Creator Alex, R
 
Contributor Sudhadevi, P K
 
Subject Pomology
floriculture
interior plantscaping
 
Description Studies were undertaken in Department of Pomology and Floriculture, College of
Horticulture, Vellanikkara during 2010-2012 to evaluate the foliage plants for interior
plantscaping. The study comprised of four experiments in which fifty foliage plant species
were selected for evaluation under two growing structures having two different systems
viz., open ventilated and fan and pad. Air Pollution Tolerance Index of all the selected
species of foliage plants were computed and based on that, ten species was selected and
their performance under different indoor light conditions was studied. The air borne
microbes and dust filtering efficiency of these ten indoor foliage plant species were also
evaluated.
When the growing structures, viz., open ventilated & fan and pad greenhouses were
compared, the plants kept in fan and pad system were found to be superior than the plants
kept in open ventilated greenhouse with regard to most of the characters. So the fan and pad
system could be considered as the best for growing the foliage plants. But precautions
should be taken to check the humidity levels.
Fifty selected species of foliage plants were classified into six categories namely
rosette, tree-like, flowering, upright, grass-like and climbing and trailing based on their
growth habit. Among the rosette type, Anthurium crystallinum, Calathea zebrina,
Philodendron wendlandii and Homalomena wallisii could be recommended for their
compactness. Chrysalidocarpus lutescens, Codiaeum variegatum ‘Punctatum aureum’,
Ficus benjamina, Licuala grandis, Rhapis excelsa and Schefflera arboricola could be
recommended among the tree-like species which could be utilized to decorate bigger indoor
places. In flowering foliage plants, Anthurium andreanum ‘Bonina’, Spathiphyllum wallisii
and Kalanchoe blossfeldiana could be recommended for any indoor conditions as they
would improve the interior environment with their attractive flowers as well as foliages.
Aglaonema pseudobracteatum, Dieffenbachia amoena, Sansevieria trifasciata ‘Laurentii’,
Dracaena ‘Purple Compacta’, Peperomia obtusifolia ‘Sensation’ and Zamioculcas
zamiifolia could be recommended in upright foliage plants. Among grass-like species,
Cyperus alternifolius, Chlorophytum ‘Charlotte’ and Ophiopogon jaburan ‘Variegata’ were
found to be good and recommended to place them in groupings. Among climbing and
trailing plants, Scindapsus aureus, Syngonium podophyllum, Philodendron ‘Ceylon Gold’
and Philodendron elegans were found best and recommended for places like staircase,
balcony etc.
The Air Pollution Tolerance Index (APTI) of the foliage plant species under the
study was computed for three different seasons, viz., March-April, June-July and October-
November and based on this they were categorized into sensitive, intermediately tolerant,
moderately tolerant and tolerant. It was observed that Anthurium andreanum ‘Bonina’,
Calathea zebrina and Dracaena ‘Purple Compacta’ had the highest APTI value and was
tolerant to air pollution irrespective of the seasons. In all the seasons, Aglaonema
pseudobracteatum, Kalanchoe blossfeldiana, Sansevieria trifasciata ‘Hahnii’,
Spathiphyllum wallisii, Syngonium podophyllum, Tradescantia spathacea ‘Sitara’ and
Zamioculcas zamiifolia were found to be the most susceptible and they could be
recommended to be used as indicator plants for pollution. Other species could also be
utilized based on their tolerance levels with respect to the seasons.
Based on the APTI value, ten species were selected (two from each category) and
their performance was studied under five different indoor light conditions viz., low (2000 lux), supplementary (800-2000 lux) and
supplementary light with air condition. From the results, it was found that most the foliage
plants could thrive well under medium light condition. In addition with that, under air
conditioned zone with supplementary light, species like Anthurium andreanum ‘Bonina’,
Philodendron elegans and Syngonium podophyllum could be recommended. Species like
Chrysalidocarpus lutescens, Rhapis excelsa and other palms could be recommended for
areas with high light intensity. The performance of Scindapsus aureus was found good with
regard to almost all the desirable characters in all the light conditions.
The foliage plants were found very effective in reducing air borne microbes present
in indoor conditions. The maximum amount of reduction (35.43 %) was recorded in the
zone with medium light intensity where there were 127 Total colony forming units (Tcfu)
without plants, which was reduced to 82 Tcfu when foliage plants were kept under the same
zone. Regarding the dust filtering efficiency, the maximum amount of dust (3.57 gm-2) was
found to be removed from the atmosphere by Syngonium podophyllum. Based on the
amount of dust collected by the species, they could be arranged as Syngonium podophyllum
> Philodendron elegans > Ficus benjamina > Philodendron ‘Ceylon Gold’> Anthurium
andreanum > Schefflera arboricola > Chrysalidocarpus lutescens > Rhapis excelsa >
Spathiphyllum wallisii > Scindapsus aureus.
 
Date 2016-10-25T16:20:01Z
2016-10-25T16:20:01Z
2012
 
Type Thesis
 
Identifier http://krishikosh.egranth.ac.in/handle/1/81929
 
Language en
 
Format application/pdf
 
Publisher Department of Pomology and Floriculture, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara