If you live in a place or a room that doesn’t often get sunlight, you would think it is unsuitable for plant growth. But there are a variety of plants that also thrive well while indoors. They still need light, which can easily be substituted with direct, indirect, or artificial light to allow them to thrive in dark spaces.
How To Take Care Of A Low-Light Indoor Plant
Most Indoor Plants require less maintenance, water, and light compared to some outdoor plants. You must ensure they get direct or indirect sunlight and water to prevent the soil from drying. That’s why most of these plants are considered low maintenance to sustain themselves and grow.
Here are the 15 best indoor plants:
Best Indoor Plants For Low Light Conditions:
1. English Ivy
English ivy has a wide range of leaf colours and forms and does well in low light, and it can also be trained to grow in several topiary shapes.
English Ivy is also known as an air-purifying plant based on NASA’s clean air study. It is said that the English Ivy can help reduce air pollutants such as formaldehyde, benzene, toluene and trichloroethylene.
You can grow them as trailing plants in a hanging basket or on a high shelf. It works wonders to liven up your home’s otherwise dark and bland region.
2. Snake Plant
Since snake plants are notoriously known to be one of the toughest plants that are hard to kill, given that snake plants are succulents–known to store water in their leaves–they are ideal for a tiny, windowless bathroom, stairwell, or bedroom corner. Overwatering them can cause them to die in low light conditions. That’s why do not water until the soil is fully dry.
These plants are great bedroom plants because they remove air pollutants and continue releasing oxygen at night, improving sleep quality.
3. Peace Lily
These lovely houseplants have exquisite white blossoms and lush, dark green leaves. They are not only lovely, but they also do a fantastic job of maintaining our health and purifying the air. Popular flowering plants like peace lilies can bloom multiple times a year, even in low-light environments.
Peace lilies prefer being damp and humid by getting watered regularly. You will know that you are not watering them enough once they start dropping their leaves. Feel free to water your plant merely twice a month during the winter.
Low to bright, indirect sunlight is suitable for growing a peace lily. They are the ideal plant to add colour to a dim space or nook. Their leaves may burn and scorch under prolonged exposure to direct sunlight, which can also dry up their blossoms.
4. Prayer Plant
These colourful plants have lovely patterns and hues. Deep green leaves striped and speckled with red, pink, and white make up the beautiful foliage of prayer-plants. This plant’s leaves fold upwards at night, mimicking praying hands which got its most common name.
Pray plants prefer bright, indirect sunlight but can also withstand low light, making them perfect for most spaces in your house. A prayer plant is a good option for nightstands or bookshelves because it only grows 10 to 12 inches tall.
5. ZZ Plant
Zamioculcas zamiifolia, also known as “ZZ Plant”, is a tropical plant found in Easter Africa. The beautiful, wand-like stems of ZZ plants begin thick and bulbous at the base and then narrow to a tip as they mature. The plant’s fleshy, oval-shaped leaves along the stem give the impression of stylised feathers. The entire plant is covered in a slick, waxy coating that gives the impression that it is synthetic.
The ZZ plant thrives in bright to moderate indirect light, yet it can also tolerate very low light levels. This plant is perfect for a windowless location like a restroom or an office where it only gets dim artificial light.
6. Chinese Evergreen
Chinese evergreen is a low-maintenance indoor plant that even beginners can grow. It is regarded as one of the greatest foliage plants for removing pollutants from the air, including formaldehyde, toluene and benzene. This tropical plant is among the hardest indoor plants you can cultivate since it can withstand low lighting, dry air, and drought.
Indirect sunlight or medium to low light levels is ideal for Chinese evergreen plants. You should ensure the plant obtains mild temperatures and moderate humidity levels wherever you put it in the house.
7. Spider Plant
Spider plants can survive with little to no natural light or bright, indirect sunlight. These plants can survive in environments with artificial and natural light. They are low maintenance and do not require much care other than regular watering once the soil gets dry and can be grown in hanging baskets or pots.
8. Corn Plant
Being simple to care for, corn plants are excellent indoor plants. It benefits you because it purifies the air and helps eliminate air pollutants like formaldehyde, ammonia, xylene, and toluene.
Although the corn plant can handle full to low light, it thrives in soft shade or filtered or indirect sunlight. Be careful not to expose it to too much light, as its leaves will be scorched. When the soil is too dry, the leaf tips dry out and turn brown, so water is necessary to maintain the potting soil equally hydrated.
9. Boston Fern
The Boston fern is an ideal indoor plant because it works in lots of indirect light. Letting it bask in the morning sun is ideal because the afternoon sun might burn fronds. Boston ferns grow well on mid-height groundcover in humid subtropical climates. They prefer soils with steady moisture. While not in direct sunlight, Boston ferns planted indoors should be placed close to a window.
10. Lucky Bamboo
Lucky bamboo can be seen in many homes and offices and grown in soil or water. They don’t require much attention and are considered tough and nearly unbreakable. It thrives in both medium and low light conditions and only needs water to flourish if you don’t feel like setting up a pot or planter.
11. Pothos
These lovely, lush plants can be kept by trimming them back. They look great trailing from shelves or hanging baskets. The leaves will become smaller, and the plant’s general growth will be impeded if not given adequate water. They’ll look lifeless when they don’t get enough water.
Golden pothos and other varieties will become green in extremely low light. Therefore, jade pothos is the best choice for low-light conditions. Pothos can endure low to high light and leaves easily scorch under direct sunlight.
12. Hoya (Wax Plant)
Hoyas, also known as wax plants, have lush, waxy leaves that spill out of a container in lovely trailing vines. Like its distant cousin, the milkweed, they flower in clusters of fragrant, sweet-smelling blooms. Like carefully carved porcelain, the blooms are stiff and waxy and frequently come in pink or white.
Hoya plants prefer moderately bright indirect light. Some thrive in roughly two hours of morning or evening direct sunshine, but too much sun exposure can burn their leaves. They can survive in low light, although they might put more effort into growing more leaves than blooming flowers.
13. Dragon Tree
The green sword-like leaves of the dragon tree have scarlet edges, making it stunning and attractive. The striking spiky tree, native to Madagascar, is a perfect gateway plant for home gardeners because it requires little maintenance, is drought-tolerant, and is almost indestructible.
Dragon trees can survive in some shade but thrive in bright lights. Remember that plants grown in low-light environments will develop more slowly and produce leaves with less vibrant colour. Furthermore, be careful not to position your dragon tree in a location that receives direct sunlight, as its leaves will quickly burn.
14. Kentia Palm
This indoor plant can tolerate neglect, dry indoor air, and low light levels. It looks fantastic in a floor planter and can add height to your present plant collection. It can occasionally grow as tall as 2-3 meters indoors.
The kentia palm does best in indirect sunlight, while it may still survive in low light. Direct sunlight is never good for it. It would benefit from sunlight that passes through a cover, but as long as it receives some light, it will still thrive on a wall far from your window.
15. Staghorn Fern
Staghorn ferns have a unique appearance. They can grow indoors and outdoors. They prefer natural, bright light but not direct sunlight. They often grow in the light shade provided by the tree canopies.
Conclusion
Indoor plants can survive and thrive in dark places. They are easy to take care of and a good starting plant for beginners. You just need to give them enough light from direct or indirect sunshine. Some can even thrive on artificial light, like fluorescent light. Ensure that you water them enough that their soil stays moist and far from dry.
You can choose from various indoor plants in your home or office to help freshen up the surrounding air and add an aesthetic look to your room. Indoor plants are a great addition to your room’s decoration as they can help freshen up the surrounding air and can help you have a better focus and productivity.
FAQs
Why do some plants prefer dark rooms?
Even though plants have numerous adaptations to deal with UV light, some produce UV-absorbing pigments. This raises the question: why do some plants prefer dark rooms? The answer may be to help them keep out the UV light. Other plants, such as some ferns, have specialised strategies to cope with sunlight in their underground home. They absorb and store their light energy to survive in the dark. Some insects that inhabit darkness also have this ability, including aphids and flies that live in dark places.
What is considered low light for indoor plants?
Low-light locations include those at least seven feet away from windows and those with no natural light, such as certain offices and rooms. Many plants can adapt to low light, and some thrive in it. Although low-light plants grow more slowly than other plants, many choices remain.
