Bathroom plants for humidity lovers
The perfect plant environment
The bathroom is the most naturally plant-friendly room in the house. It has humidity, warmth, and often a window with filtered light, the exact conditions that many plants love but that are hard to maintain in the rest of the home. Ferns that crisp and brown in the living room thrive in the bathroom. Orchids that refuse to flower elsewhere bloom repeatedly in the humid, warm air.
If you have been struggling to keep a plant alive in the dry, air-conditioned air of your home, try moving it to the bathroom. You may be surprised by how it responds. The bathroom is not just a place for plants. It is the best place for plants, and it is the room that benefits most from having them.
The best bathroom plants
Ferns are the quintessential bathroom plant. Boston ferns, maidenhair ferns, and bird's nest ferns all love the humidity and will produce lush, green fronds in the bathroom that they never could in the dry air of the living room. Peace lilies are another excellent choice, thriving in the humidity and producing their elegant white flowers.
Pothos trails beautifully from a shelf or the top of a cabinet, and it tolerates the temperature fluctuations of a bathroom. Spider plants produce arching leaves and tiny plantlets. Orchids, which are notoriously difficult in dry homes, bloom repeatedly in the warm, humid bathroom. Air plants (tillandsia) can be mounted on walls or hung from the ceiling, needing only the humidity from the shower to thrive.
Light and placement
The main challenge with bathroom plants is light. A bathroom with a window is ideal, as it provides the natural light that most plants need. Place plants on the windowsill, on shelves near the window, or hanging from the ceiling in front of the window. A bathroom with a frosted window provides bright, diffused light that is perfect for ferns and peace lilies.
A windowless bathroom is more challenging but not impossible. Choose low-light plants like pothos, snake plants, or ZZ plants, and add a grow light. A full-spectrum LED bulb in a bathroom fixture, left on during the day, can sustain many plants. Alternatively, rotate plants between the bathroom and a brighter room every week or two. The humidity of the bathroom benefits the plants even if they only spend part of their time there.
The shower garden
For the most immersive bathroom garden, bring plants into the shower itself. Eucalyptus hung from the shower head is a classic, releasing its essential oils in the steam and creating a spa-like experience. The steam carries the scent, clears the respiratory system, and turns a daily shower into a ritual.
Ferns and air plants can be mounted on shower walls using waterproof adhesive or suction-cup mounts. They will thrive on the direct humidity from the shower and need almost no care. A shelf or rack in the shower can hold small potted plants. The shower garden is the ultimate biophilic bathroom, a space where you are surrounded by living things while you wash. It is a daily experience of nature, available to anyone with a shower and a few plants.
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