Plants for the bathroom: add a green touch to your bathroom! | Duravit
Plants for the Bathroom
Knowledge
Including plants in your bathroom is a perfect solution if you're looking to make the room feel more homey and vibrant. Relaxing and invigorating at the same time, plants help improve the air quality in the room and provide aesthetic highlights that can serve as a harmonious addition or an exciting contrast in many bathrooms. But are there certain bathroom plants that work particularly well? Which types can get by with relatively little light in a darker bathroom? And what are some good alternatives to natural plants? We have all these answers for you in the following article.
Light
Lighting conditions are often very different in different bathrooms. Different plants are recommended for the bathroom, depending on the amount of light and whether the light is direct or indirect. With no light at all, by the way, it just won't work. Even though certain plants are better suited to darker bathrooms, photosynthesis is vital for their survival, and this can't take place without any natural light or special lamps. Artificial plants are the best choice for plants in bathrooms without any windows.
Humidity
It's clear that bathroom plants need to be able to handle high levels of humidity. In contrast to the average humidity of 40-60% in most other rooms, humidity levels can often be as high as 80% in bathrooms. This means that desert plants like cacti generally don't do very well. Even tropical plants will need some fresh air on a regular basis in order to reduce the humidity after a shower and prevent mold from forming in the soil.
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Airflow
However, you need to be careful when airing out the room. Tropical bathroom plants, in particular, don't tolerate cold drafts very well. For this reason, bathroom plants should be placed in locations where they are least exposed to cold drafts. It is a good idea to put larger plants on a base that can be rolled to a new location. Smaller plants are easier to relocate quickly.
Watering
Of course, bathroom plants will also need to be watered regularly. A high humidity level isn't enough on its own, especially because not all plants are as effective at taking advantage of high humidity levels as others. But the effects of the higher humidity can still be felt. Bathroom plants still need to be watered, but they can often get by on less frequent watering than you might be used to in other rooms in your house. Testing the soil with your finger on a regular basis and/or a watering indicator can help you find the right frequency.
Our tip: Very few plants like to be overwatered. Using smaller amounts of water and watering more frequently is recommended in order to avoid this.
Potting soil
As mentioned earlier, high humidity levels can promote the growth of mold in the soil. To combat this, you should use loose, permeable soil or even a different substrate, like coconut coir, for your bathroom plants if possible. Mold has a much harder time forming in those conditions.
Monstera
Maybe it's the holes in the leaves of this bathroom plant that enable it to tolerate a ton of direct light. Ideally, morning or evening sun is best, since the blazing midday heat can sometimes be too much. The plant exhibits strong growth and is sometimes called the Swiss cheese plant or split-leaf philodendron because of its impressive leaves and their fenestrations (natural holes and splits). Monstera needs to have plenty of space to grow. It is important to avoid overwatering this type of plant; when in doubt, less is more.
Snake plant
Snake plants are resilient and double as a genuine air freshener. These plants are extremely easy to care for, and they look great in pots of any size. This means they can also fit right into bathrooms of any size. Direct sunlight usually has no negative effects on them, since snake plants love the heat. They also don't need much water when humidity levels are high, and they're very forgiving if you forget to water them now and then. For all of these reasons, snake plants are an excellent choice if you want to keep things simple.
Aloe Vera
This bathroom plant is an excellent choice, and not just because it is an ingredient in so many personal care products. Aloe Vera is similar to snake plants in that it is easy to care for and likes a lot of sun without needing a lot of water. The most important thing to keep in mind is to avoid overwatering.
Banana plant
The banana plant requires a lot more care and space. The plant is a spectacular sight that can impart a truly tropical feeling, especially in large natural bathrooms. However, providing enough light and water is an absolute must here.
Parlor palm
These plants can thrive in partial shade, and the typical humidity present in most bathrooms is also not a problem. The parlor palm is used to humidity thanks to its origins in the rainforests of Central America. In fact, they like to be watered generously – only overwatering should be avoided, as is so often the case. Having this plant in your bathroom will help you create a tropical atmosphere.
Pothos
Pothos also thrives in partial shade. It is also a practical solution if you are looking for plants for a bathroom with space constraints. Its trailing overgrowth makes it an excellent candidate for creating an especially aesthetic accent as a hanging plant in your bathroom. Make sure not to water it too frequently or too much, as it doesn't tolerate overwatering well.
Peace lily
Thanks to their white spathes, peace lilies provide some colorful relief as a bathroom plant. They also serve as a good alternative to relatively high-maintenance or short-lived flowers in your bathroom. In addition, peace lilies like both full sunlight and complete shade, and they have few problems with humidity, making them a perfect choice as a plant for your bathroom.
Artificial plants for the bathroom
Artificial plants for the bathroom are the most obvious and least expensive solution. The reason, of course, is that they don't require any additional work, and you won't have to deal with the problems of humidity and regular watering.
Dried plants
Just like artificial plants, dried plants don't need any soil, light or water. They are nevertheless real plants that have been preserved through gentle drying. Though the aesthetic impression is a bit different, they can work really well in certain combinations, especially in more minimalist bathrooms.
Cut flowers
Of course, cut flowers for the bathroom are always an option. Because cut flowers only have a limited lifespan, a lack of natural light is not a critical problem for them. However, they do need to be replaced regularly, which means they are not a very sustainable solution relative to other plants in the bathroom.
Moss wall art
Moss wall art will create an authentic and
natural impression in your bathroom. One of the advantages is that moss doesn't
need natural light or water. In addition, moss wall art is simply hung on the
wall, freeing up space that other plants would need. They might just be the
perfect solution for incorporating plants into a windowless, small bathroom and providing a fresh, green touch.
If at first you don't succeed...
If you have your heart set on including potted plants in your design, you can also try some experiments with plants in a bathroom without any windows. For example, it's very possible to leave certain plants like succulents in a room without any natural light for a few days – they can then be swapped out with plants in rooms with plenty of natural light. However, it is important to note that you shouldn't move the plants from a dark bathroom directly into the blazing sun. A shady spot is recommended at first. Some plants can potentially even survive without any direct light at all if, for example, enough natural light comes through an open door into a bathroom without any windows.
With either approach, however, you should always check whether the plant is doing well on a regular basis. Even if individual plants can tolerate something, don't assume this will hold true for all of them. If there is any doubt, plants should always be moved out of a dark spot if they are not thriving there.
