Which potted plant is the best for me?

tom.anderton04FyRyzoZO

Hello, my name is Tom and I am 15 years old.
I am planning to make for my GCSE tech project a plant pot with a lamp built around it to help with concentration during desk work.
I am trying to research which plant is best for air purification, but will also be able to cope with potentially bright lights. 
I originally thought a Japanese Peace lily, but I am not sure if they will work with the strong light source coming from the pot.
Do you have any ideas of what plant will be good for this?
Thank you all for your time.

B3

Rosemary is good for memory,apparently, but I don't think you could grow it inside.

amancalledgeorge

Maybe you can incorporate a growing light in the design so you have a more extended range of plants that can be used. Not sure if an illuminated pot would be a good idea for concentration purposes as you wouldn't want a bright object next to an already bright screen.

B3

Maybe you could grow parsley or some other supermarket potted herb and you could nibble while you study. The desk would need to have some natural light too. Good for the plant and good for you.

JennyJ

Something to consider is that if the light bulbs give off heat, the plant won't like that close to its roots or leaves.Also, grow lights designed for plants go above the plant (normally at a specific distance but I can't remember the details), and I think they are high frequency (more blue/UV end of the spectrum than regular indoor lighting) so might not be good for humans to look at for any significant amount of time. Something for you to research. Good luck with your project 😊

tom.anderton04FyRyzoZO

JennyJ said:

Something to consider is that if the light bulbs give off heat, the plant won't like that close to its roots or leaves.Also, grow lights designed for plants go above the plant (normally at a specific distance but I can't remember the details), and I think they are high frequency (more blue/UV end of the spectrum than regular indoor lighting) so might not be good for humans to look at for any significant amount of time. Something for you to research. Good luck with your project 😊

I was planning on using LED lights that do not give off much heat and are similar to daylight.

JennyJ

Glad you've considered that! So it's a desk lamp with a plant added, rather than a light designed to benefit the plant, is that right? In that case you need to choose a plant that will suit the conditions of the room. Zamioculcas zamiifolia (ZZ plant) is a toughy that will take fairly deep shade such as the corner of a room, and doesn't need frequent watering (it prefers to be on the dry side) . For a bright sunny spot, Sanseveria is tough and also needs only infrequent watering. 

wild edges

Tricky question. If the pot is designed as a desk lamp then the plant really needs to stay fairly compact (unless you turn it into a propagation station for growing on cuttings). If the light is potentially the primary or only source of light for the plant then it would need to be on a timer to ensure that the plant gets sufficient hours of light, or the plant element would need to be able to be moved to a window sill when the person isn't studying. With that in mind I'd say you'd be better off with cacti and succulents or maybe tillandsia (air plants). Tillandsia have the advantage that they don't require soil which means you can add funky holders to your lamp rather than it just being a pot. Tillandsia have been shown to be one of the best air purifiers of the plant world too. Succulents would also work as you'd need less soil than other plants and you can make a feature out of the soil by adding a dressing of pebbles and things. Maybe you could think about adding a moisture meter to the lamp or a thing that reminds you to water it. Haworthia would be a good choice of succulent, zebrina or limifolia maybe.