A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2004 House plants that don't need a lot of light??

Hi everyone. I am a massage therapist and would like to have a living plant in my massage room. Is there a plant out there that likes to grow in the dark or with dim lighting? I don't even know if there is such a thing. I hope someone can help me. Thanks. Kelly

First of all some more questions!

Does the room have any windows and if so what direction are they facing?

If your room is lit with floresent lights then, Yes there are a number of plants that will fair well!

Pothos
Heart leaved philodendron
Corn plant
Janet Craig
Snake plant
Parlor Palm
Peace lily
Cast Iron plant
Baby Tears
Kentia Palm

These are just a few I'm sure other will have more suggestions!

The most important thing to remember when growing in low lights conditions, is that these plants won't need as much water or fertalizer as plants that are growing in natural light and they won't need to be repoted as often!

Hope that this helps!

Thanks for the info. I have no windows in my massage room so that is the other issue. When I am there the lighting is very low, and when I am not there the room is dark. It does get some indirect flourescent light from the hallway, but not much. There was a bamboo plant in there from the last person and that seemed like it was dying. So I put it out on a shelf in the light and it is growing new shoots. Which makes me very happy. I will take the list to a local greenhouse and see what I can do. Thank you so very much again for the help.

With florecents just in the hallway you might find yourself very disappointed! If you have your heart set on living plants you might want to purchase a floresent light for your plants while you are not there!

I don't think you'll have any luck at all unless you put some flourescent lighting in the room.Indirect light from the hall won't cut it.

I'll add the ZZ plant to the low light list as well as Chinese evergreens although they'll need a bit more light if you want nice markings on the leaves.

Tom