Plants in offices increase happiness and productivity

An interesting alternate approach I was privy to and liked joining was a weekly 'spruce up the office meeting' where some of the management team would discuss upcoming holidays (how to best fit employee needs), decorations, budgets allocated to 'team building' events (more often than not - give the staff the money and have them provide a receipt for somewhere they've spent it), who has a birthday coming up, etc. Discussion of plants was included too. Team prizes, award certificates. I definitely recommend trying such a weekly approach and seeing if it works. We did ours on a Friday afternoon, where everyone was itching to get going as it was; pretty fun and relaxed.

Now we have a problem where where to put it all. I make a huge bowl of pesto every week and force feed basil to all my coworkers whenever I get a chance but I just can't get rid of all of it. I can't even make a dent in the huge bush we have.

We also grew some salad with mixed success but it's not a reliable enough source to be worth the effort.

Anyway, it's rather enjoyable. I recommend getting a small hydro garden to anyone who has any space and a little natural light in their office. Hydros need less regular maintenance (but need a bigger maintenance every now and then).

If anyone has any (preferably edible) plants that are suited for a hydroculture, please do suggest.

My first EcoSphere was the little one, and the shrimp lasted a year or two.

My large sphere has been going for at least 4 years. From what I remember reading the algae will go on basically indefinitely once the shrimp died, but my little shrimp are still kicking. I've got two little shrimp in there right now, and I've seen so much.

When the shrimp die, they go away (eaten by bacteria) quite quickly. You can see the other shrimp poke at the corpses, I assume eating some of the bacteria or algae.

The shrimp also change colors. Depending on how stressed they are and a few other things they can be quite light pink (fading into white) or bright red.

My shrimp have bread at least one. I saw the little bits in the water and thought it was some sort of debris but I noticed that it was moving. They looked like little fry. I don't think any survived (I assume died or eaten), but maybe the shrimp I have are second generation or more. No real way to know.

I haven't touched it in years. It gets a dusting every few months, but there isn't much dust so it doesn't matter. I haven't done a 'cleaning' (uses a magnet sealed inside to scrap algae off the glass) in years. It sits in my apartment that I try to keep about 70 but has been as low as 60 and over 80. They seem quite resilient.

It's a very neat desk accessory. At this point there is quite a bit of algae built up in mine so it looks dirty, and a few people have asked me why I don't clean it (doesn't help since the algae is still trapped in there) or just throw it away because it looks disgusting.

But with the two shrimp living in there, I can't throw it out. They're still happy.

Marijuana. In the prohibition era just ending, many people discovered this in surreptitious basement experiments.

> I tried a succulent but the soil was covered in mold in a few weeks.

From an evolutionary perspective, that would indicate success, but for the mold, not the plant.

A mild dish soap works, personally I get one with no dyes, fragrances or anti-bacterial stuff in it.

For these reasons, the best office plants tend to be species that were historically found in the understory of cloud forests or rainforests. Some popular options are Dieffenbachia sp. (mother-in-law's tongue), Philodendron sp., Monstera edulis (it can grow really large, but it also produces an edible fruit that tastes like a pineapple), Ficus benjamina (weeping fig), many orchids and ferns will also work if you can supplement their lighting by placing them on a windowsill. If you are someone is who is not good about remembering to water, you might want to consider a bromeliad such as Tillandsia.

Succulents are not a good choice. Succulence in plants is usually an adaptation for an outdoor environment with too much light -- the exact opposite of what is found in an office. Mold on the soil is also a clear indication that you are over-watering.

Let me tell you what I have in my office (disclaimer: I like plants): Monstera deliciosa, Adiantum aleuticum (five-fingered fern), Vanilla aphyla (leafless vanilla orchid), Vanilla planifolia (Tahitian vanilla orchid), another orchid (can't ID it until it flowers), and Coffea arabica (yes, coffee actually does pretty well in an office, if you have the room).

There are better types of lights for growing plants but fluorescent are not bad at all.

Given that you are willing to accept mold as a plant, that is. Make it easy on yourself. Accept the mold.

The cleaners/the people who try to keep the cost of cleaning low.

They're not that bad, though, as long as you have sufficient daylight (building not too wide, large windows, low cubicle walls)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA_Clean_Air_Study

Personally I don't care one way or the other. As long as it's cool, clean, relatively quiet, and I have a comfortable chair and a nice keyboard I'm good. But I don't put up any pictures or nicknacks either. I guess I prefer clutter free space.

So, as counter point, I look at a plant and feel happy. I mean, if it can survive here, then I probably can.

But, Reddit-puns aside, this is already quite a common office service in London. We pay a company to bring plants, water them, prune them, etc.