Plants produce oxygen from carbon dioxide during photosynthesis during the day. At night, they produce carbon dioxide. Some claim that you should not have a plant in your bedroom. Or that if you have one, you should move it out at night. The reason given is that they produce carbon dioxide which is harmful to you. However, the question to be asked is, how much carbon dioxide is produced? A plant that is about a foot tall, will weigh only a few hundred grams at worst. Considering that mammals produce gases in proportion to their body mass, the amount produced should be minuscule indeed. In fact, if you are so worried about carbon dioxide in the room, you should sleep alone! To put some numbers here, we have the oxygen consumption at about 200 gal during one night for an adult human being. This is around 10 % of the mass of the gas in an average room. BTW, this also underlines the importance of ventilation. Consider the reaction C6H12O6 + 6O2 = 6CO2 + 6H2O. In this case, the amount of CO2 produced is 44/32 times the O2 consumed, around 2.5 lbs.
Plants require nutrients from the soil: namely nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium. In addition, they also need micro-nutrients. Natural fertilizer include mulch, which is organic matter which will decay and give nutrients to the soil. They also retain moisture, so that watering needs are reduced. Before planting, you will need to test the soil to see the pH etc. A better way is to have raised beds where you can add store bought soil, which will give you a much shallower learning curve. Note that compost has a lead time of 3 to 12 months.
Tags: carbon dioxide, plants
