Plants for a bathroom with little light
In a bathroom with a small or frosted window, pothos, ZZ plant, cast iron plant, Boston fern, spider plant, snake plant and heartleaf philodendron all manage. With no window, none of them lasts long unless you give it a grow light.
Updated 11 October 2026. How we write these pages
How to tell if your bathroom has little light
At midday, with the light off, try reading a page of a book where you want to put the plant. If you can read it easily, any of the seven will do. If it’s a struggle, choose one of the marked ones. If you have to switch the light on, none of them will last long without a grow light.
Seven plants that manage
Pothos
Deep shade or partial shade
Easy
Copes with very little light
ZZ plant
Deep shade or partial shade
Easy
Copes with very little light
Cast iron plant
Deep shade or partial shade
Easy
Copes with very little light
Boston fern
Deep shade or partial shade
Easy
Copes with very little light
Spider plant
Deep shade or partial shade
Moderate
Copes with very little light
Snake plant
Bright, no direct sun
Easy
Heartleaf philodendron
Bright, no direct sun
Easy
What a bathroom changes for a plant
Steam from the shower
The soil stays wet longer than it would in the living room.
Feel the soil before you water. In here it needs water less often.
A window that steams up
It cuts the light from a window that lets in little to begin with.
Nights with the heating off
Tropical plants feel the cold.
A Boston fern, for example, already suffers below 10–15 °C (50–59 °F).
Questions about plants in the bathroom
Can a plant live in a bathroom with no window?
For a few weeks, yes, then it weakens. To keep one there you need a grow light that stays on for many hours a day, or you can swap it with another plant so each takes its turn in the light.
How often should you water a plant in the bathroom?
Less often than in other rooms, because with little light and damp air the soil dries slowly. Feel it before you water.
Is steam from the shower good for plants?
Ferns and tropical plants like humid air. What a bathroom usually lacks is light.
Read next
Every plant has its own rhythm. LINFA keeps track for you.
It looks at the light where each plant stands, its pot and the season, and tells you which ones to check.
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