10 of the best bathroom plants

Looking to spruce up your bathroom? Bring on the botanicals with these ten, easy-to-maintain houseplants. All of the following suggestions are very happy bathroom plants: they enjoy a warm, humid room, ideal for a steamy bathroom.

As a safe bet, make sure to avoid over-watering these plants, plant them in a good draining potting mix in bright, in-direct light and keep them away from hot and cold draughts.

For more on houseplants and container planting, head to our pots page.  And don't miss our houseplant columnist Jane Perrone's monthly houseplant suggestions. 

The best bathroom plants

The Boston fern, and ferns in general, make ideal bathroom plants as they love moist air. Keep the potting mix moist at all times, but never waterlogged. Mist the leaves regularly or let the shower steam do the work. They are best placed away from direct sunlight so the leaves aren’t scorched and will thrive in medium to bright light. 

The luscious, trailing leaves of an ivy make it ideal for a bathroom shelf or placed high up. This bathroom plant likes moderate humidity and bright light. Ivies prefer to be slightly dry, so make sure to let the soil dry out before its next watering.

If you have a dark bathroom, a peace lily may be a good choice as it can handle medium to low light (although if you want the white flowers to bloom, place it somewhere with direct light). The soil should be kept moist but never wet, and these bathroom plants can handle long periods of time without watering.

The flowers of the moth orchid can last for months, with re-flowering occurring year after year with the right care. They prefer under-watering to over-watering and it's best to water only the roots, keeping the flowers and leaves dry. These are perfect bathroom plants and thrive best in a bright room away from direct sunlight.

Still better known to many as Sansevieria trifasciata, the snake plant is another good bathroom plant contender bathroom for low-light levels if you have a darker bathroom although it is also happy in brighter rooms. It only needs watering about once a month and is very forgiving.

The weeping fig is native to Asia and Australia, so it loves a balmy climate. They don't like draughts or low temperatures, so this bathroom plant would be best placed in a warm corner away from doors or windows. Bright, indirect light is ideal for them. Misting it and keeping it in a pebble tray will increase its humidity levels. Only water properly when the soil is dry.

The spider plant is one of the most adaptable houseplants and is a great for houseplant beginners. Its hardy nature makes it a great bathroom plant, as long as you have a bright room. As with most of the plants on this list, leave the soil to dry out between waterings. Its long leaves look great in a hanging basket.

Aloe vera is a succulent which does best in a potting mix with small pebbles, perlite and sand (or all three). It requires good drainage to stay happy, and only needs watering when the potting mix is completely dried out. When the leaves are big enough, you can use the juice from them as a topical treatment to relieve pain from cuts and burns, or to rub on inflamed skin. A living first aid kit bathroom plant!

So called because it is supposedly impossible to kill (even in the dark), devil's ivy grows naturally in tropical forests, so is another lover of humid conditions, so an ideal plant for your bathroom. It only needs a light watering if the top two inches of soil are dry and it can be grown in either soil or in vases of water, and is tolerant of both light and dark rooms. Win win.

The Chinese evergreen is native to Asia and New Guinea and comes in a variety of shades, from light green to red to silver. Generally, the lighter in shade the leaves are, the more light it needs to stay happy. It is best kept in a warm and moist soil, so a bathroom windowsill is ideal (as long as there are no draughts) and keep it in a slightly acidic potting soil. Mist this bathroom plant it in the summer to increase its humidity.