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Looking for the best low-light indoor plants that will thrive in a dim area of your home? There are so many options, many of which hail from tropical regions. Deep in the jungle, blazing sunlight gets blocked out by leaves and vines and trees before reaching the jungle floor—and shade-loving plants of all kinds grow in cheerful abundance. And while far less sexy a setup, windows that face air shafts and tall buildings and curbside trees actually simulate this low light.
Buy your houseplants accordingly. Think tropically when you go shopping for them—and with a little thoughtful TLC they’ll flourish. (Don’t worry; this kind of TLC is easy: You’ll actually water them less than full-sun specimens, because more shade translates to slower growth rates and slower evaporation of the water in the soil.) Here, discover low-light indoor plants that will thrive shade-loving plants that will thrive in dim and shady conditions, plus tips for taking care of them.
We’ll start off with the ZZ plant and, ahead, the snake plant, since these two plants are the most tolerant of low light—in fact, there’s even a chance they could survive in no light. We still wouldn’t recommend placing any of them, however, in zero natural light, but know that they will do just fine in shady areas.
Golden pothos is a trailing plant that can grow up to 10 feet long. It does best in low light with a weekly watering. It’s a native of Southeast Asia, and can tolerate humidity of any level.
Not only can the snake plant survive with low light, it’s also extremely drought-tolerant—meaning even if you forget to water it, it won’t die. It gets its name thanks to the wavy, striped patterns (reminiscent of a snake) on its leaves.
This standout plant–also known as the Swiss Cheese Plant–grows wild in Panama, and it belongs to the family of plants called araceae. In Latin, araceae translates to “abnormal.” Well, monstera’s leaves are certainly abnormal—but in the best possible way. Their massive, perforated leaves can grow up to two feet wide in a jungle environment.
Fill the shady areas of your home with these slow-growing, lush-leaved, low-light plants.
Not only does this cascading South African plant grow to great lengths, it also flowers! Don’t be surprised if you see small, white blooms emerging from a spider plant’s leaves.