Is the parlour palm toxic? Get the facts straight before you bring one home

The parlour palm is a small evergreen shrub native to Mexico and Guatemala. Because the whole plant closely resembles a coconut palm, people call it the parlour palm; it also goes by names such as miniature bamboo and miniature palm. Miniature bamboo is a very shade-tolerant plant, so many people grow it indoors as a small to medium-sized potted plant. So can the parlour palm be kept in the bedroom? Next, Qinnong Network will answer that for you.

I. Is the parlour palm toxic?

To know whether the parlour palm can be placed in the bedroom, the first thing you need to understand is whether this plant is toxic. If it gave off toxic fumes, never mind the bedroom, you would not even let it into the room. But the parlour palm itself is cultivated as an indoor plant, so Qinnong Network tells you here that the parlour palm is non-toxic and absolutely safe: it is not poisonous itself and does not produce toxic substances, so you can safely plant it inside a room.

II. Can the parlour palm be placed in the bedroom?

Generally speaking, plants need light to grow, and they can produce oxygen during the day, while at night they absorb oxygen. The same logic applies to the parlour palm. If you put the parlour palm in the bedroom, poor light can easily mean that it only absorbs oxygen and cannot produce oxygen through photosynthesis. When you sleep at night, it will compete with you for the limited fresh oxygen in the bedroom, making the air stale and greatly reducing your quality of sleep. So it is best not to put it in the bedroom. Occasionally placing it in the bedroom during the day for its decorative effect is fine, but at night you should move it outside the bedroom. If you want to choose a plant that can also stay in the bedroom at night, Qinnong Network recommends the cactus, because the cactus lives in an environment with extremely high temperatures, so it closes its stomata during the day and only opens them at night, which means it can also supply us with fresh oxygen to breathe at night.

III. Where the parlour palm is suitable for placement

Since we advise against putting the parlour palm in the bedroom, where can it be placed? We usually use the parlour palm to decorate indoor spots such as the living room, meeting room, bar counter and study; it can make the interior look more tropical in character and atmosphere. When growing the parlour palm, keep the plant's height from exceeding 1 m. Its stem is very straight with no branching at all, and at the top of the stem it grows emerald green leaves. The parlour palm blooms in spring, and the flowers are generally yellow, and it also bears small fruits of the same colour, making it highly ornamental. Growing the parlour palm requires careful attention so that it looks its best.

That is Qinnong Network's answer to the question of whether the parlour palm can be placed in the bedroom. Although Qinnong Network does not recommend keeping the parlour palm in the bedroom all the time, it does have some purifying effect on benzene, formaldehyde and trichloroethylene in the air, and it can also raise the humidity in the air, so it is still very suitable for placing indoors!