Can A Flower Bloom In A Dark Room? (Explained)

Plants are amazing and when you spend a lot of time around them you may begin to get some questions.

Do plants always need bright light to flower, or will some plants bloom even if they can’t “see” their flowers?

You might have noticed that putting a plant in a darker space causes it to grow more slowly but does it also mean that it will never bloom?

Can A Flower Bloom In A Dark Room?

A flower will not bloom in a dark room. Plants won’t even grow in total darkness so a flower will definitely not bloom in a dark room.

However, if the room has some light and the plant is a shade-lover, it may bloom – if it has enough light to grow with.

Plants need light for food, so if your plant isn’t getting enough light, it won’t have the energy to flower.

And plants need more energy to produce flowers than they do to grow at a regular rate.

Why Do Flowers Need Light To Bloom?

All plants need light to photosynthesize, (produce their own food for energy).

Without energy, plants will do nothing but go dormant and die back.

If you put your plant in a room with no light, it not only won’t flower – it also won’t grow or do anything apart from maybe dropping all of its foliage.

Plants will tolerate no light for short periods of time, but they will starve and wither if they don’t get some sun (or light from a grow bulb).

Related Article: Can A Plant Live Without Leaves? (All You Need To Know)

Which Plants Like Low Light?

If your plant likes low light, it might flower in a dark room, provided there is still some light.

Generally, plants that grow on forest floors are capable of flowering beautifully even in shade.
If you have a somewhat gloomy space, try to choose a plant that will enjoy it and thrive.

Plants that will blossom in shade include:

Moth orchids, which tend to grow in canopied rainforests and don’t need a lot of direct sun

Peace lilies, which will grow in fluorescent light as well as natural light. However, be aware that they are toxic, so keep them away from children and pets.

Lady’s slipper, another kind of orchid that likes high humidity and is shade tolerant.

However, to get it to flower, you will often need to give it more light than its normal growing conditions.

Snake plants; these rarely flower, but will occasionally do so if they have been mildly stressed.

Gardenia Augusta, which can be grown in the garden or in the house, and often opens its flowers when light levels go down at the end of the day.

There are many other plants that will enjoy low light, such as pothos, cast iron plants, ivy, ferns, zebra plants, silver inch plants, etc., but many do not flower readily (some not at all), especially if there isn’t much light available.

To get them to bloom, you’ll need to increase the light slightly.

You can often do this using a grow lamp if you don’t have a way to add to the natural light the plant receives.

Alternatively, try and place it nearer a window, even if you can’t leave it there long-term.

This may be enough to encourage it to bloom.

Are There Plants That Bloom In The Dark?

There are some garden plants that naturally bloom in the evening or even at night.

Evening primrose, as the name suggests, opens when the light is fading.
It stays open all night and will close around midday the following day, ready to open again at dusk.

Moonflowers are also nighttime bloomers, opening in the evening and closing just after dawn.

They have pink or white flowers and are very pretty.

Night gladiolus is another dark-lover that blooms around dark, and they have impressive, showy flowers.

Alternatively, queen of the night, with again a very telling name, will open its impressive white flowers when the sun goes down, and close them when it rises again.

A final variety, the dragon fruit flowers open just once per year, but you need to be living in a suitable zone to grow these, as they like warmth – but not too much.

These plants are all ones that grow outdoors, however, and while you could try growing them inside, you may not have much success.

Just because they bloom at night doesn’t mean they will like being in your house, or that they like the dark overall.

Final Thoughts

Very few plants can bloom if they are grown in a dark space and no flower will bloom if all it has is pitch darkness.

You need to choose plants that prefer heavy shade, and sadly, many of these do not flower well.

You can try to brighten up a space with a grow light or put your plant closer to the window to maximize what light there is.