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Houseplants are becoming increasingly popular as we spend more time indoors, and bathroom plants are no exception. With their mental health-boosting properties and air purifying qualities, it’s not hard to see why we like to surround every inch of our interiors with its lush greenery!
But what plants thrive in the damp, humid and sometimes dark environments bathrooms have to offer? Read through our guide to the best bathroom indoor plants. But first, let’s cover some main factors you need to consider before choosing the best bathroom plants and plants for windowless bathrooms:
Humidity and Temperature
Humidity and temperature fluctuate massively between shower time, day and night time. Some plants suffer when exposed to warm, humid conditions and then drier, cooler conditions, whereas others thrive. A bathroom plants’ chance of survival is critical to this factor!
Space
Bathrooms come in all shapes and sizes, and there’s the perfect plant to suit all of their needs. You may want to consider how large the plant will grow depending on your bathroom size. After all, a small bathroom may get a little cramped with a plant too large!
Lighting
Bathrooms vary in light intensity, with some receiving tonnes of indirect bright light, whereas others have very low light levels of sunlight. Some are entirely windowless! Whilst LED grow bulbs are an excellent option to help your plants grow; we have also suggested the best plants for windowless bathrooms.
Maintenance
Some of our suggested best bathroom plants require different care levels. Some love to drink often, whereas others can go for weeks without water. They’re all relatively low maintenance, but you may want to choose accordingly depending on how often you water your plant babies!
When choosing the best bathroom plant, it’s essential to consider these factors. Now we’ve got that out the way, let’s go through our list of the best bathroom plants you should consider getting:
The Best Bathroom Plants for High Humidity
Lace Fern
Although always referred to as a fern, this gorgeous dainty plant is actually a member of the Lily family. She has beautiful, airy long pinnules that give her the appearance of a soft “wiry” cloud. She loves humidity and thrives in moderate to bright indirect light. In the right conditions, she can grow up to 0.6 metres tall. Make sure you have a larger bathroom!
Dinner Plate Aralia 'balfour'
Native to Africa, Australia and parts of North, Central and South America, dinner plate aralia 'balfour' has large striking variegated leaves that can grow 3-5cm in diameter. She loves warmth and high humidity, which makes her perfect for bathrooms. She loves bright indirect light and needs watering once a third of the soil has dried out. She’s quite a fussy plant and requires little but frequent watering, so she’s better suited for those with a little more time to care for her!
Swiss cheese plant
Of course, our best bathroom plants list wouldn’t be complete without the Swiss Cheese Plant. This beauty has been the go-to plant for many plant lovers, and there's little wonder why! She thrives in warmer rooms with high humidity and tolerates cooler and drier conditions. She’ll survive with very little light, which makes her ideal for them shadier bathroom spots. Her easy care and laid back attitude make her the perfect introductory plant for plant parent newbies.
Large Green Wonder
The large green wonder is a sight to behold and certainly makes it on our best bathroom plants guide. Her large lush green leaves fan out like a star, sitting tall on top of long thin stems. This rare beauty prefers bright indirect light and moist, well-draining soil. She can grow up to 2.5m tall and 4m wide, so she’s certainly better suited for larger bathroom spaces!
Ferns
Who doesn’t love a fern? With their luscious wild greenery, they’re loved by all plant enthusiasts alike. They’re rather intriguing and a bit of an oddball compared to their other plant kin, whereby they reproduce through spores and have neither flowers nor seeds! They thrive in warm, humid rooms and tolerate extreme temperature fluctuations, making them one of the best bathroom plants around.
From the 10,560 species known, we’ve chosen just four with all different and beautiful characteristics. Love that classic lush fern look? Check out the Mother Fern and Boston Fern. Or if you prefer a daintier fern or something that looks a bit different, then you certainly want to check out the Asparagus Emerald Fern 'Sprengeri' and White Rabbits Foot Fern. They also look ever so graceful, cascading from hanging baskets.
Get The Trailed Look
Green Sweetheart Plant
This gorgeous plant can be kept small and bushy or grown to immense length. She’s an avid climber and grows excellently in low light conditions. Grow her cascading from a rail or up a frame; Green Sweetheart will fulfil every desire! She’s one of the best bathroom plants if your bathroom is missing some green loving but lacks light and space.
Lipstick Plant
Want a plant that will give your bathroom an edge? Look no further. The Lipstick Plant has gorgeous little leaves like tiny hanging bananas with her long, unusual-looking shaggy vines. She’s easy to care for, requires bright indirect light and watering every 7 days (10 days in the winter). With the proper care, she’ll grace you with gorgeous red flowers reminiscent of tiny lipstick tubes when they bud! Her splash of colour makes her one of our favourite best bathroom plants.
Golden Goddess Philodendron
Does your day need a bit of colour? This Golden Goddess is sure to bring some vibrancy to your life! With her cheerful large lime-green and yellow leaves, there’s no better way to brighten your day. She loves to climb and crawl, making her perfect for hanging on a rail or curtain. She requires very little care, loves humidity and only requests to be watered when the top 3cm of her soil dries out. She is a perfect bathroom plant for smaller spaces.
Did Your Plant Just Move… And Pray? Say Hello To The Peaceful Prayer Plant!
Calathea Elgergrass
With her gorgeous green and purple rib-edged leaves, calathea elgergrass is the perfect addition to darker and humid bathrooms. She prefers partially shaded locations and loves to be waters little and often, up to once or twice a week. She tolerates temperatures down to 18ºC, so she’ll prefer bathrooms that don’t get cold. Her leaves are receptive to light and open and close in the morning and night. Try taking a time-lapse video to see her live in action!
Calathea Bluegrass
Much like her Elgergrass sister but with vivid green leaves, this rainforest-dweller loves humidity, bright indirect light and moist soil. She’s the best bathroom plant because she tolerates low light conditions. Need to bring a bit of textured fun to your bathroom? The Calathea Bluegrass has a textured fuzzy underside of her leaves, bringing a more mattified look to the room she’s placed in.
Calathea Network
With mosaic-like patterns on her large bright green leaves, this Prayer Plant adds an architectural edge to plain and busy looking bathrooms. This beauty is easy to grow and renowned for her tough and resilient qualities; just place her in a bright indirect spot with lots of humidity. Ensure to keep her away from drafty windows and the dry heat of radiators as it may cause the leaves to wilt. She grows to around 0.6m tall, so she will need adequate room!
Easy Care and Low Maintenance Best Bathroom Plants
Philodendron Imperial Green
Much like her grand name suggests, this Philodendron Imperial Green has lush, majestic green leaves that will fill your bathroom with that luscious jungle look. If you’re someone that often kills your plant babies, never fear. This plant has been bred specifically to be a tough houseplant, so she doesn’t require a lot of fuss. All she needs is indirect light, moist soil and dust the leaves now and then.
Shark Fin Sanservieria Masoniana Victoria
The Shark Fin plant is a true spectacle to behold! She’s rare, so you may not find her in many other places. She has a singular, pointy leaf that resembles a shark fin poking out the surface of the water. She’s super easy to care for and is ideal for those that like to ‘set and forget’ their plants. She’ll thrive in little light, which makes her an excellent plant for windowless bathrooms, too.
Curly Spider Plant - Chlorophytum Comosum 'Bonnie'
Easy care and thriving in poorly lit dingey bathrooms, the curly spider plant is the perfect low-maintenance housemate. She has gorgeous green leaves with a striking white stripe running down the middle. You can either grow her trailing or keep her bushy and compact. She’s perfect for decorating smaller bathrooms and is also an ideal plant for windowless bathrooms. If you’re fresh in your plant-growing journey, you probably want to consider this one!
Dwarf Weeping Fig Tree
Easy natured, stunning bright green leaves and ever so beautiful, it’s easy to see why the Dwarf Weeping Fig Tree made it on our best bathroom plants list. She prefers bright indirect light away from any draughts and artificial heat. She likes to be misted and watered when the top few inches have dried. This one is slightly sensitive to temperature changes, so make sure your bathroom temperature doesn’t drop under 18C.
So, What Is The Best Bathroom Plant?
The best bathroom plant really depends on the bathroom they’re going to be housed in. Because some bathrooms get extremely warm and humid, it’s good to choose a plant like a fern or a pothos that prefers humid locations.
However, not all bathrooms are humid and some stay relatively dry and constant. For these conditions, it’s best to consider plants such as the Snake Plant or Philodendron. However, you don’t need to be limited to this as you can easily add a pebble tray to increase the humidity levels. Check out our best bathroom plants section on our website to easily browse and compare your favourite plants!
