Aside from looking great, plants have been proven to improve workplace productivity, enhance employee wellbeing and can also help to contribute to cleaner air conditions – but what can you do if your office has poor natural light or even has no windows at all? Let’s take a look at 8 of the Best Office Plants with No Windows.
Do plants need sunlight to grow?
Plants need light to photosynthesize, taking in energy from light via their green leaves and using it to produce food, but not all plants require direct sunlight to grow. In fact, many plants prefer medium and low light conditions, with some even able to survive with fluorescent lighting and no natural light at all. So even if your office has very little natural light, or even no windows at all, with careful plant selection and maintenance you can still enjoy the benefits of plants in your workplace.
Using fluorescent light
Although sunlight is typically the preferred light source for many indoor plants, fluorescent light (which just so happens to be one of the most common forms of artificial lighting used in offices) can also be a worthy substitute. Not all indoor plants can survive on fluorescent light alone, but many will tolerate highly shaded conditions if they also have access to fluorescent light throughout the day. In extremely low light situations, there are a few plants that will survive on fluorescent light alone, though to keep them at their healthiest we recommend rotating them into brighter positions, something that we can do on your behalf as a part of our indoor plant care and plant rental services.
Plants that survive in tricky lighting conditions
Here at Simply Plants, we have more than 30 years of industry knowledge and experience and have created both living and artificial plant displays for offices with a variety of different lighting conditions. In our experience, some of the best plants for offices with very low or no natural light include:
Mother in laws tongue, aka the snake plant
Snake plants are very hardy succulent, with long sword-shaped leaves that come in beautiful green and gold variations. Extremely easy to care for, snake plants can survive harsh watering conditions and will also tolerate a range of lighting conditions including near-complete darkness. Perfect for heavily shaded corners of the office, snake plants are also great air purifiers, helping to keep your office air clean.
Peace Lilies
Peace lilies are a beautiful flowering plant that ideally enjoy medium light levels or diffused light, but will also thrive under fluorescent light if they only have access to poorer light conditions. In general, the more light a peace lily receives, the more likely it is to produce flowers, however, with proper care, peace lilies can be made to flower in virtually any lighting condition, making them a great office flowering plant.
ZZ Plant
The ZZ plant can thrive in most lighting conditions ranging from the extremely bright to situations where they have no natural light at all. As one of the hardiest plants that you can buy, the ZZ plant is virtually impossible to kill, making it a great way to add greenery to your office space, even if you only have access to fluorescent light.
Chinese Evergreen
Chinese evergreen plants are amongst some of the easiest indoor plants to grow and only need a very little amount of light to survive. Younger and smaller Chinese evergreen plants are compact enough to make colourful desk plants, with larger plants looking best potted on the floor. If Chinese evergreen plants weren’t popular enough, they were also listed by NASA as one of the best air-filtering indoor plants.
English Ivy
If a mass of green leaves are what you are looking for, then English ivy can provide a beautiful hanging or climbing centrepiece. English ivy typically prefers filtered indirect light, but will also grow well in much darker conditions with very little natural light, making it a great plant for shaded corners well away from the office windows.
Lucky Bamboo
Lucky bamboo is said to attract positivity and luck and is one of the most popular desk plants thanks to its compact nature. Although lucky bamboo does prefer to have some bright light throughout the day, it can actually survive with very little, making it a great choice even for those who have desks in the furthest corners of the office.
Peperomia
Peperomia plants are small and make another great desk or tabletop plant. Found through South and Central America, Peperomia plants come in a number of different colours including red, cream, green and even grey. Although they prefer a bright indirect natural light source, Peperomia plants can also flourish under fluorescent lights making them a good choice for underground offices.
Bromeliad
Lastly, when it comes to thriving under fluorescent light, Bromeliads are another top pick. As a tropical plant, Bromeliads have a vibrant pop of colour and make a great addition to the workplace environment. Bromeliads tend to like indirect natural light, which means that they will grow well from across the other side of the room, but if no natural light is available, they are also one of the few plants that will thrive under fluorescent light alone.
Simply Plants – Complete Plant Care
Here at Simply Plants, we specialise in providing plant care services and plant rentals to the corporate sector, bringing your green office dreams to life. No matter the lighting conditions of your office, we are able to work with you to find a suitable plant display and will ensure the health and vitality of your plants by rotating and caring for them as if they were our own. Whether you already own your own plants and are looking for someone to take care of them on your behalf, or would prefer to rent your plants for easy seasonal variation, we are able to assist you. To find out more about our plant care and rental services, please contact us on 07014216769 or by emailing us at info@simplyplants.co.uk.
