Last Updated on January 21, 2022 by Grow with Bovees
Are you dreaming of decorating your office with lush green plants, but don’t have windows in your space?
The good news is there are myriad best plants for an office with no windows that will thrive in artificial light.
Plants need sunlight to photosynthesize, produce flowers for their overall health.
But if you work in an office environment, surrounded by blank walls, with no access to sunlight, great chances are that the only lights are the overhead incandescent lighting or fluorescent lights in your office.
Well, you can still brighten up your cubicle or office space with beautiful indoor plants.
Regardless of the lighting situations, it is possible to create some green walls, or at least some areas of greenery. The numerous benefits to employee wellbeing, are well worth the effort. The impact on mood will be noticeable.
How to Choose the Best Plants for Office with No Windows?
When choosing a plant for an office space without windows, choose plants that are uniquely adaptable to this type of artificial light environment.
In fact, there are several indoor plants that grow well in homes with lighting issues due to the shading from trees outside or the placement of the rooms.
Size is another important aspect to consider when looking for indoor plants that will grow well in areas with indirect light.
For example, some indoor plants such as dracaena-the tall, chic air-cleaning tropical plant or parlor palms, can grow quite tall.
Another factor to consider is the growth rate of the plant, especially if you have a small to medium-size office environment.
Vining indoor plants are great for all-size office spaces, but if you want small office space plants, try a container of hens and chicks.
If time is an issue, you may want to consider calling in somebody who specializes in office plant rentals, or a firm of plant care professionals.
They will be able to take care of all the plants, and will be able to advise the best plant options regarding your specific light situations and best plant placement.
If you are planning a vacation, you can use some plant watering globes to take care of the watering while you’re away.
Best Office Desk Plants for No Window Areas
1. Snake Plant
A snake plant is highly tolerable, and thrives even when neglected for weeks at a time. They feature strappy leaves and an architectural shape, making them a perfect addition to any space with no direct sunlight.
Adding to this, snake plants can survive low light levels, drought, and have little or no insect problems.The snake plant is one of the few plants recommended by NASA to keep the air inside your house clean.
Also commonly referred to as mother-in-laws tongue, they can grow anywhere between 6 inches to several feet, and help filter indoor air.
One of the unique qualities of a snake plant is its unique ability to convert carbon dioxide (co2) into oxygen at night. Adding to this, they can help remove toxic air pollutants from the air including cancer-causing pollutants such as benzene, formaldehyde, xylene, and toluene.
There are several different types of these plants, but the most common variety is topped with slender, green leaves, with grey or silver streaks.
Other common varieties include Hahnii aka bird’s nest snake plant that grows only six inches tall, cylinder snake plants that feature round leaves and grow several feet in length, and Laurentii that is known for its green-colored center and yellow margins.
How to Grow and Care for Snake Plants?
It’s fairly easy to grow snake plants from cuttings, but the most important thing is to plant the cuttings in well-drained soil to prevent root rot. After this low-maintenance indoor plant has propagated, you can place this office plant under very little light.
You don’t need to water snake plants too much, especially during the winter, and in fact, it’s better to let these low-light plants dry out between watering sessions.
2. ZZ Plant
Zamioculcas zamiifolia, short for ZZ plants, has been around for ages, and originates from Africa where it thrives outdoors.
ZZ plants can be identified by their wide, appealing dark green leaves, and grow to a height and width between two and three feet, so they’re not massive office plants that outgrow their containers easily.
They are regarded as some of the best office plants, because they can tolerate neglect, are drought-tolerant, and can accept low lighting conditions without a fuss.
This desk-friendly plant just like snake plants can greatly improve the air quality in your space by removing copious amounts of toxins such as xylene, toluene, and benzene from the air.
Even though a ZZ plant is a great plant for low light areas, a major pitfall is that all parts of the plant are poisonous, and some gardeners even claim they are cancerous.
But to bust the myth, the ZZ plant is indeed toxic but not cancerous, so keep them away from overly curious kids, and nibbling pets.
Further, always wear gloves when handling a ZZ plant, and wash your hands thoroughly to avoid skin irritation.
How to Grow and Care for ZZ Plants?
ZZ plants thrive in bright to moderate indirect sunlight, but will also do great in areas that receive low light, making them a great choice for window-less offices, beginners, and preoccupied office workers.
Another noteworthy trait of ZZ plants is that they don’t need any special type of indoor potting soil, but will do well in any well-draining potting soil, and in containers with drainage holes.
In terms of feeding, you can apply a balanced liquid houseplant fertilizer once a month when watering, and water when fully dry to prevent root rot.
ZZ plants should be placed in areas that have temperatures between 60 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit with average humidity.
This particular plant is very resistant to diseases and insects, and although they are flowering plants the flowers aren’t attractive, so they’re better off as foliage plants.
3. Aloe Vera Indoor Plant
You’ve probably already heard about the sensational health benefits of aloe vera, but what’s even better is that these plants grow well in low indirect light areas, making them a great addition to an office with no windows.
Aloe vera office plants are easy, attractive succulents that are basically stemless, and feature thick, greenish, fleshy leaves that fan out from the central stem of this potted plant.
Aloe vera plants prefer areas that receive bright, indirect sunlight, and even though the juices from their leaves can be used to relieve pain from scrapes and burns, they should not be ingested by people or pets.
How to Grow and Care for Aloe Vera Plants?
Before growing aloe vera, there are a few important things to do, starting with choosing the right container.
It’s recommended that you use a pot made from terracotta or a similar porous material for two reasons-allow the soil to dry thoroughly between waterings, and to add some weight to prevent the potted plant from tipping over.
You can also use a plastic or glazed pot to plant aloe vera in an office with low light conditions, but take note that these types of pots tend to retain more moisture.
When choosing a container for this desk-friendly plant, check to ensure it has at least one drainage hole at the bottom to allow the excess water to drain out easily.
Being succulents, aloe vera should be planted in a well-draining potting mix, and not in gardening soil. You can use a potting mix that’s geared towards cacti and succulents that contains a good mix of lava rock, perlite, chunks of bark, or all three.
After you’ve placed your also vera in the pot, don’t water it for a week or so, as doing so may increase the chances of root rot.
Aloe vera succulents are fast-growing plants that do well in temperatures between 55 and 80 °F (13 and 27 °C), and should be watered every two to three weeks in the spring and summer, and less during the fall and winter.
4. Lucky Bamboo
Lucky bamboo features intricate stems, and notable resiliency, making it one of the best plants for spaces with very little light.
It’s a great plant for beginners as well as seasoned gardeners looking to spruce up the indoor greenery in an office with no windows.
Part of the Dracaena sanderiana species, it is considered as one of the best plants for office desk with no windows, because it can tolerate light shade and indirect low light conditions.
Lucky bamboo plants have been used in Feng Shui for over 5,000 years, and are said to represent good luck and happiness.
One of the other reasons this bamboo is perhaps one of the best plants for an office desk with no windows is owing to its ability to be trained into shapes like a heart, swirl, braid, and other designs.
How to Grow Lucky Bamboo Office Plants?
With regard to plant care, they can be grown hydroponically or in soil. It requires plenty of indirect bright light, so, if there is little natural light, you can place florescent lighting approximately six to twelve inches away from your lucky bamboo plant for optimum conditions.
Direct sunlight will scorch the leaves, so avoid placing this indoor plant in front of a bright window.
Keep the soil slightly damp at all times, but don’t overwater, as it can lead to root rot.
Lucky bamboo grows well at temperatures between 65–95 °F (1835 °C), which is the average temperature in most office environments.
5. Peace Lily
Also known as closet plants, peace lilies require very little plant care, making them a popular choice for offices with no windows.
This beautiful tropical plant offers colorful blooms, and is excellent at cleaning the air in your office or space they are in.
Peace lilies stand out from the crowd with their dark green leaves and white flowers, which protrude from the center of the arching sword-like foliage.
How to Care for Peace Lilies?
One of the most common mistakes in peace lily plant care is overwatering, so refrain from watering these office plants on a schedule.
You should instead check them roughly once a week to see if the plant does need watering. If the top of the soil is dry, then this potted plant should be watered.
In terms of fertilization, you apply a well-balanced fertilizer once or twice a year to your peace lily plants.
6. Spider Plant
The spider plant is billed as one of the most adaptable office plants, and is perhaps the easiest to grow and care for. Just like the name would suggest, spider plants are aptly named for their dangle-down spiderettes from their arching stem.
There are several spider plant varieties, including green and variegated, both of which start out as small flowers. Spider plants look nice in hanging baskets, and were a go-to choice for Victorian-era households.
How to Grow and Care for Spider Plants?
Spider plants grow well in a well-draining potting mix, and are highly tolerant, making them an excellent choice for newbie gardeners or those who lack a green thumb.
They should be placed in rooms that receive indirect lighting, and watered without allowing them to get too soggy.
Spider plants enjoy cooler temperatures between 55 and 65 F. (13-18 C.), and can also benefit from the occasional pruning.
These blooming plants produce flowers in the spring as the daylight increases, which eventually evolve into babies, or spider plant spiderettes.
If you notice your spider plant leaves browning, you don’t need to worry, because it’s normal and will not harm the plant.
7. Cast Iron Plant
The cast-iron plant (Aspidistra elatior) is regarded as an indestructible indoor plant, yet doesn’t disappoint in terms of appeal with its gorgeous foliage.
It features arching, lance-shaped, rich green, glossy leaves that can grow up to roughly two feet long and four inches wide. Adding to this, it’s a good office plant owing to its slow growth rate, and is best planted in the spring.
How to Grow and Care for Cast Iron Plant?
Cast iron is a sturdy, long-lasting plant that requires simple and very little maintenance. It’s rarely bothered by pests and diseases, and should be kept away from direct sunlight.
Additionally, these office plants can tolerate a wide range of soils, as long as they provide good drainage. Cast iron plants have a certain level of drought tolerance, and prefer a moderate amount of soil moisture.
You should water cast iron plants regularly when they’re young, just enough to keep the soil slightly moist, and not soggy. Better to use distilled water if possible.
They prefer temperatures between 60 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit, and should be treated with an all-purpose fertilizer once a month during the spring and summer months.
Final Thoughts
If your desk is in an office with no windows, and you would like to spruce it up with some lush greenery, the aforementioned plants are some of the best plants to grow indoors.
These plants do not require a lot of natural light, but can grow in spaces that have little to no sunlight. There are other plants that make great office plants, such as a rubber plant, Swiss cheese plant or a peacock plant, a Calathea Medallion can survive with a reasonable amount of light, but we’ll save those for another post!