Bathroom plants for low light
Updated: 21 October 2026
Steam on the mirror after a shower feels like the tropics, and it is not daylight. If you are choosing bathroom plants for low light, stand where the pot will sit and see whether you can read a book by the window, not by the bulb. The Royal Horticultural Society says a bathroom suits live plants when it has plenty of natural light, and that a bathroom with no window is not a place for them. That rule covers the seven amazon.co.uk pots in our [low light plants comparison](/hub/houseplants/low-light-plants). Peter F. updated this on 20 October 2026 from the listings, the RHS, and the PDSA. This is not a lab test. A qualifying purchase through our links can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Steam on the mirror after a shower feels like the tropics, and it is not daylight.
Steam on the mirror after a shower feels like the tropics, and it is not daylight. If you are choosing bathroom plants for low light, stand where the pot will sit and see whether you can read a book by the window, not by the bulb. The Royal Horticultural Society says a bathroom suits live plants when it has plenty of natural light, and that a bathroom with no window is not a place for them. That rule covers the seven amazon.co.uk pots in our low light plants comparison. Peter F. updated this on 20 October 2026 from the listings, the RHS, and the PDSA. This is not a lab test. A qualifying purchase through our links can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Our top picks
| Badge | Product | Light on the listing | Habit | Watering on the listing | Note | Price | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall |  Carbeth Plants Carbeth Plants (schefflera, 8 cm) | Low light possible; slower and leggier | Upright schefflera | Top 2 inches dry, then soak | 6.4 | about £10.49 | View offer |
 Carbeth Plants Carbeth Plants (peace lily, 9 cm) | Low to medium; also bright indirect and shade | Upright peace lily | Lightly moist; top dries slightly | 9.0 | about £9.99 | View offer | |
| Alternative |  Carbeth Plants Carbeth Plants (Boston fern, 9 cm) | Bright indirect care; partial shade field | Arching Boston fern | Evenly moist; mist often | 5.5 | about £10.99 | View offer |
On this page
Steam is not daylight
A frosted north window is low, indirect light. You can keep a plant there if a paperback is readable on a dull afternoon. You cannot keep one in a windowless room because the extractor has run. Humidity is the bonus the RHS describes. It does not replace the missing window. Shower steam lasts minutes.
Grow lights were taken out of this comparison. If the bathroom has no window, do not order a live pot and hope the steam will carry it. A seller bullet that names bathrooms does not add light the glass does not have. A pot pressed against January glass can sit in a draught. Pull it back so the leaves are not on a freezing pane. That is placement, not a reason to water more. A fern and a devil’s ivy still fail in opposite ways. The routine is on how to care for low light houseplants.
Peace lily, Boston fern, umbrella plant
The Carbeth peace lily, about £9.99 in a 9 cm nursery pot, has a bullet that names bathrooms. The RHS still wants plenty of indirect light, and flowers are rare in deeper shade. You may get the leaves. Do not expect white spathes beside a frosted north pane in December. The decorative pot is not included. The pet question has no answer.
The Boston fern, about £10.99 in a 9 cm pot, is the humidity plant. The English Garden, on 16 October 2026, says it likes a steamy bathroom and turns crisp in a dry living room. The listing still asks for bright, indirect light and evenly moist compost. The bathroom question has no answer, and reviewers say it arrives small. Buy it for moisture you will keep up, not for a dark room.
The schefflera ‘Janine’, about £10.49 in an 8 cm pot, is the umbrella plant the RHS lists for bathrooms under Heptapleurum, formerly Schefflera. The bullet says low light means slower, leggier growth, and also bright indirect light rather than full sun. A potential size of about 4 metres by 3 metres is not the parcel. Nanouk wants bright light, the two-pack says prefer good light, the single ivy has eight reviews, and the monstera’s shade bullet conflicts with a bright-indirect care line.
A cat, the cistern, and the shelf
A cat treats the cistern, the shelf, and the edge of the bath as a route. An unanswered “pet friendly?” line is not a yes. The PDSA names peace lily among plants that can cause more than a mild upset. The RHS says the peace lily is poisonous and that you should wear gloves with devil’s ivy. Schefflera is not cleared for pets in these files, and the HTA lists it as a human skin allergen. A high shelf is not a safety plan if the cat jumps.
Cold glass and a warm floor
Underfloor heating dries a fern from below even when the mirror is fogged. Keep the compost evenly moist, and do not stand the nursery pot in a saucer for days. Cold glass and a hot floor can sit in the same bathroom in January. The peace lily’s RHS range, about 12–24°C, is a check against a pane colder than the room.
If the plant arrives yellow, small, or smashed, photograph it that day. The Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 9, is the frame, and Citizens Advice is on 0345 404 0506 if a dead-on-arrival return is refused. A windowless bathroom is the case where you stop before the basket.
Common questions
Is a windowless bathroom allowed?
No. The RHS says bathrooms with no natural light are not suitable for live plants. Steam, an extractor, and a warm radiator do not stand in for a window. None of the seven pots in this comparison changes that. If you cannot read by daylight where the pot would sit, leave the room unplanted or move the plant to a window that passes the book test.
Does shower steam replace light?
No. Steam raises humidity for a short time, which a Boston fern and a peace lily can use, and it does not create daylight. The RHS still asks for plenty of indirect light in a bathroom, including for a peace lily. A frosted window that you can read beside is the workable case. A dark internal bathroom is not.
Which of these pots does the RHS put in a bathroom?
The RHS bathroom page includes peace lily, for a warm spot with plenty of indirect light, and umbrella tree, which is the schefflera group. It does not list these amazon.co.uk ASINs, pot centimetres, or prices. The Carbeth peace lily bullet also names bathrooms. The fern is supported as a humidity plant by The English Garden, while its own listing still asks for bright, indirect light. Nanouk is not a bathroom pick from a dim-room sentence, because the care line wants bright light.
Will a peace lily flower in a frosted north window?
You should not count on it. The RHS says a peace lily flowers in bright, indirect light and that deeper shade means slow growth and rare flowers. A frosted north pane in winter is the deeper end of that range. The Carbeth plant at about £9.99 can still hold leaves if you can read beside the glass. Spathes are a bonus, not the reason to order it for that sill.
Can the fern sit on the floor over underfloor heating?
Only if the compost stays evenly moist and the leaves are not crisping. Underfloor heat dries a Boston fern from below, which is the same dryness The English Garden links to leaflet drop in dry air. The 9 cm nursery pot is small, so it dries faster than a large ceramic. Check it with a finger. Do not leave it standing in a full saucer, and do not treat a daily shower as a watering.
Is a high shelf safe if there is a cat?
Not by itself. Cats jump to cisterns and shelves, and a peace lily within reach is a PDSA problem, not a styling choice. The listing’s pet question has no answer, which is not clearance. Devil’s ivy and schefflera are not given a safe label in these files either. If the cat chews plants, this bathroom is the wrong room for this set.
What about cold glass in January?
A pot touching the pane can chill overnight while the room air is warmer after a shower. Pull the nursery pot back so the leaves are not on the glass. The peace lily’s comfortable band on the RHS page is about 12–24°C. Cold glass is not a reason to soak the compost. Water from the species habit, and keep the fern moist without leaving it wet against a freezing window.
Related pages
Sources
Public UK sources named below. amazon.co.uk prices, stars and review counts on these seven listings are the figures used for this comparison. Page updated 21 October 2026.
- RHS houseplants for shady rooms (retrieved 21 October 2026)
- RHS how to grow peace lilies (retrieved 21 October 2026)
- RHS Epipremnum (retrieved 21 October 2026)
- RHS how to grow Swiss cheese plants (retrieved 21 October 2026)
- RHS Nephrolepis exaltata (retrieved 21 October 2026)
- PDSA poisonous plants (retrieved 21 October 2026)
- HTA harmful-plants guide (2022) (retrieved 21 October 2026)
- Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 9 (retrieved 21 October 2026)
- GOV.UK plant passports (retrieved 21 October 2026)