Leaf color segmentation and pot volume influence on the co2 absorption efficiency in two common green-wall plants

Har’El Agra, Daphna Uni, Rael Horwitz, Tamir Klein, Leon Blaustein

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

Green walls can improve indoor air-quality by reducing concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2 ) and other air pollutants. Our study focused on the spider plant, Chlorophytum comosum, and devil’s ivy, Epipremnum aureum, both common green-wall plants that have been found to be efficient CO2 absorbers. Both species have multiple variants with varying degrees of leaf green-white segmentation. Since photosynthesis depends on the concentration of leaf chlorophylls, we hypothesized that green variants are more efficient carbon absorbers than green-white variants. In addi-tion, we tested the hypothesis that the photosynthetic rate of plants is affected by pot volume, as suggested by previous studies. We used a portable gas exchange system to determine the rate of photosynthesis of the study plants. No evidence was found for better photosynthetic performance in the green vs. green-white variants of each species. In fact, our results suggest the opposite. It was observed that a spider plants assimilated carbon more efficiently when grown in a larger pot volume. In conclusion, our study shows that in terms of carbon assimilation, green-white variants of spider plants are the better choice for indoor green walls. Their efficiency can be improved dramatically by increasing pot volume.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)3-12
Number of pages10
JournalJournal of Green Building
Volume16
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jun 2021
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, College Publishing. All rights reserved.

Keywords

  • Air quality
  • Carbon dioxide
  • Chlorophytum comosum
  • Epipremnum aureum
  • Indoor green wall
  • Photosynthesis

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