Creating an interior landscape in your home or office is going to involve low-light plants and plants that can stand full sun (at least for a while). There are plants like the Sansevieria or Snake plant is an extremely low-light plant, able to sit in the dark for periods of time. The Sansevieria is also a low light succulent.
But also plants like the Ficus Benjamin Tree or bush that is going to want to have a good look at the sun for at least 5 or 6 hours a day to really flourish. Ficus Benjamins in the Caribbeanean are used as hedges in the front of homes like boxwoods in the north. Plants like the Ficus can stand full sun. Sun up to sundown. We’ll be talking about low-light plants, these are usually plants that grew on the floor of the jungle. These plants usually had big canopies over them and on most days only got a peek of the sun.
If trained from the beginning of arriving at home most indoor tropical plants can stand medium-light rooms or low light rooms. Our problem is that most people don’t have the watering skills to keep low-light houseplants alive in a true low light setting. Low light, in my opinion, is a room that has no windows.
What is considered a Low-Light Houseplant?
Or rooms that are on auto-light shutoffs where the plant is sitting in the dark most of the time.
Most people don’t have to deal with examples like these, but there are going to be people who want to have live plants in rooms with no windows but with artificial light on constantly. The real key to keeping plants alive in these settings is watering really sparingly.
If watered wrong or twice you will have a plant that won’t dry out and will very soon start drawing gnats to the room. A rule of thumb in the plant vs. light scenario is that the darker the leaves on the plant the more the plant can hold up under low-light conditions
Below I will give you a list of 11 Low-Light Indoor Plants
(a room that has at least one window) and a low light room (a room with no windows or on auto light shut off).
With the Jades dark leaves, these plants can stand medium and low light conditions if watered properly. These plants stay wet for long periods of time. In a low light setting the plant should go for three weeks until it needs to be watered lightly.
The Ming in the professional plant care profession is a high-end plant. I wouldn’t want to have a Ming in a true low light setting, but a good gardener can keep a Ming alive in a medium-light setting. Mings need a spray from time to time with an Isopropyl Alcohol; anti-bacteria dish soap and water solution. If not this is a plant that can quietly be infected with Spider mites and all of a sudden it will start to shed large clumps of their leaves. I have seen it happen numerous times over the years. Most people won’t see the Spider mites until it’s too late.
The dark leaf ZZ plant is a very good plant for full sun, medium-light or low light, ZZ’s don’t really care. People just have to understand the lower the light, the lower the water the plant needs.
The ‘Neon Janet Craig’ as they are also known is one of my favorite plants. This plant stands out in a crowd and is beautiful in most interior landscape setting. This plant can stand medium-light fine. But will need some help in low light settings. This is a plant that you will need to feel the soil to see the moistness. I say that because this is one of those plants that form dark tips when it’s wet or too dry. Stick your finger in the grow pot and if you feel any moisture don’t water.
Another great plant, especially when they are older and have had good light most of their lives. The Dieffenbachia stalk legs will start to bend and turn in the grow pots with their big beautiful leaves. This is a plant that can go a couple of weeks without water, but when you do water, this plant gives it a good drink around the edge of the grow pot where the roots wind around the inside of the grow pot.
A real looker in the tropical world the Brom as their called is usually found in shady areas of the jungle. I don’t think the plant can be into a super dark room, but if kept moist (not wet) and given some artificial overhead light you could keep a Brom alive for six months before it kind of wastes away.
This very stable offshoot of the Philodendron family this climber is usually seen on a growing tower -climbing and multiplying. This vine is a prolific grower in the right setting. This plant is one of the 11 that will do really well in a low light setting.
Also known as a Silver Queen, this is a plant you will find outside in exterior landscapes in South Florida. Silver Queens are great plants for the low light setting. Very reliable this is another plant that should get a spray every couple of weeks when watered. I have found that these plants can easily and slyly acquire mealy bugs. For some reason, the mealy’s can hide on a Silver Queen until it’s too late to really do anything. Great accent plants to group with other plants.
The Dracena Reflexa (Solid Green)
One of the most solid landscape plants indoors or outdoors. The Reflexa is a very reliable plant that can stand up to medium light well, but low light may hold some challenges for a novice waterer. Sometimes Reflexa will start shedding leaves if over watered in a low light setting so watch out. The Reflexa needs to be watered lightly around the edge of the growing pot.