LETTER OF THE WEEK

We will shortly be moving from our house and garden and into an apartment with a spacious internal bathroom. I know that there are plenty of houseplants that will cope with limited light, but are there any that will cope with none?

BRENDA SMITH – VIA EMAIL

A challenge indeed. You could leave the light on all the time, I suppose – but for a plant to thrive you would have to place a fluorescent light bulb (which produces the correct light spectrum) very close to its foliage, which, frankly, is rather impractical.

As you point out, there are many leafy tropicalforest-floor plants that will cope with no direct sunlight, all easy to source in the houseplant department of every DIY store in the land. But all plants need some light, though groups such as epiphytes, for example, will cope with the minimum for some time.

In your situation I would buy not just one, but two bathroom plants and swap them over regularly, giving each a period of “R&R” in a lighter place in your flat.

Avoid anything refined and delicate, such as maidenhair or asparagus ferns, in the hope that they will be happy with the humidity. The reality is that they will likely show their discomfort quickly and curl up or drop fine leaves all over the floor and react badly to sudden changes in light levels during their “holidays”. Choose instead plants with leathery leaves that will be slower to show any signs of distress; aspidistras are as tough as old boots, as is mother-inlaw’s tongue (sansevieria) with its stout and fleshy sword-like leaves.

Admittedly these are not the most fascinating of plants nor is this a sophisticated horticultural response to your question, but I am afraid pragmatism must be the order of the day. Either that or plastic.