The best plants you want to use in your bathroom thrive in high humidity environments. These plants can also act as air scrubbers to remove harmful chemicals often used in bathroom cleaning.
1. Boston Fern
Anyone who has grown Boston ferns has placed them in a bathroom and allowed them to soak up the steam as part of their maintenance and care. These plants thrive in high humidity environments, so a bathroom is an ideal place for this lush delicate looking plant.
Where to Place Ferns
There are many places you can set your Boston fern. Depending on the size of your bathroom, you may need a smaller plant.
- If your bathroom is big enough, you can either use a wall plant hanger or a fern stand to showcase this magnificent draping plant.
- If you have a large shower, hang this plant inside the shower, so it can enjoy your daily showers. If you have a steam shower, this plant will be even happier!
- Don't place in front of a window that receives direct light.
- Ferns prefer shade, so if your bathroom is short on natural light, your fern will love it!
Care and Maintenance
You want to water your plant once a week. Boston ferns can thrive in temperatures 68° to 78° F. Fertilize only in the spring and summer once a month. Ferns shed, so you'll want to take them outside every few weeks to remove dead leaves.
- Place you hand over the top of the soil, threading your finger through the fern stems.
- Turn the fern upside down with your hand splayed apart and holding the plant firmly in the pot.
- Use your other hand to rake through the long stems the way you would run your hand through your hair, helping the dead undergrowth to release.
- You can shake your plant gently to ensure all the loose leaves are free from the plant, before turning it right side up and returning it to the bathroom.
2. Spider Plant
The spider plant variegated leaves arch up and over. The plant grows offshoots that look like spiders called spiderettes. The spider plant loves humidity as well as bright indirect sunlight. If you have a window in the bathroom that receives lots of indirect light, hang one of these plants in the window, place on a windowsill or plant shelf/pedestal.
Mega Air Scrubber
The spider plant is an air scrubber on steroids! It is reputed to remove 90% of harmful chemicals in the air, so you don't have to worry about lingering disinfectants.
Maintenance and Care
Spider plants can tolerate temperatures 70° to 90° F. They are easy care plants that can give you many offshoots.
- You need to water spider plants one to two times a week (test soil for dryness).
- You can snip new sprouts and repot for more quickly growing plants.
- Fertilizer every two weeks during summer and spring only.
3. Peace Lily
The peace loves indirect sun, but lots of it. Be sure you buy a household peace lily that grows no more than 16" - 18" high, since outside cultivars can grow six feet high or higher. The plant produces white lilies in early summer. The glossy leaves are excellent air scrubbers and purify the air.
Care and Maintenance
Under the right conditions of heat, moisture and indirect light, the blooms may continue into winter. Some indoor plants bloom year-round. Peace lilies can tolerate temperatures 65° to 80° F.
- Keep the soil moist but not soaked.
- Use non-fluorinated water since this chemical is harmful to the plant.
- Fertilize once every six weeks only in the summer and spring.
4. Lady Palm
The lady palm is another tropical plant that thrives in warm humid environments. Like other humid-loving plants, this one absorbs the humidity in a bathroom through its leaves and filters the air. This plant is known for being a formaldehyde air scrubber.
Slow Growers
The potted lady palm is a slow grower and takes years to reach height, so whatever size you buy, the plant with remain that size for around two or three years. The unpotted plants reach a mature height of 8' -10' with a 2'-3' spread. To give you an idea how slowly this plant grows, a nursery grown plant in an 8" pot is between 2-4 years old and will most like remain the same height for another 2-4 years. As a result of this slow growth, large potted lady palms cost more than the smaller ones.
Care and Maintenance
You can place the palm so it receives indirect light, either on a back counter or, if it's tall, on the floor. Palms are easy care plants and only require fertilizer is the leaves begin to fade and turn pale. A healthy plant has rich dark leaves. Lady palms can tolerate temperature 60° to 80° F. Give your lady palm a through watering once a week. You need to drench the plant to allow the root system to be saturated. You can set it in a sink of water and leave for 15 to 20 minutes. Don't allow the soil to dry out or disease can set in.
5. Orchids
Another tropical plant that loves humidity, the orchid isn't difficult to grow. Orchids soak up humidity to get the nutrients they need. They prefer indirect light, so you can place an orchid on a bathroom counter, a tub wall shelf, or windowsill that doesn't receive direct sunlight. The higher the humidity, the happier your orchid will be.
Care and Maintenance
Orchids can tolerate temperatures 65° to 80°. You should fertilizer your orchid every two to three weeks. You don't want to water your orchid. Most people over water orchids and end up killing them. The age-old trick to growing healthy orchids is to place two to three ice cubes on top of the soil once a week. That's all it takes!
Choosing the Best Plants for Your Bathroom
The criteria for selecting the best plants for your bathroom include, indirect to low light and thrives in humidity. You will soon tell the difference in your air quality and level of humidity once your plants get to work.
