Contrary to what advertising for dark room plants say, all plants prefer bright indirect light. No plants like darkness. Some plants can survive low light for extended times, but it is less they can live in lowlight and more they very slowly die in lowlight. With that in mind, I recommend getting a plant light or lights for any plants you buy and put in your dark apartment. I use the yellow version of this light set for my plant area in my house as I have the same issue. I keep it on a separate timer. At my office, I have a sun loving succulent that is thriving on my desk under a lamp like this one . I keep it set for 12 hours of light a day. Having said that, ZZ plants and snake plants are legendary for surviving years in dark areas and little to no water. ZZs are known for thriving on neglect. To the point that they are mistaken by people as fake and only noticed to be real when they finally start dying from no water. There are multiple tales on this subreddit of people leaving their ZZ in a dark closet for 6+ months, only to find it later, give it bright light and water, and get new shoots almost immediately. Answer from bartbartholomew on reddit.com
Proven Winners
provenwinners.com › learn › houseplants › low-light
14 Low-Light Houseplants That Thrive in Dim Indoor Spaces
Try these Proven Winners® leafjoy™ ... in low light. Some of the best low-light indoor plants include calathea, cast iron plant, monstera, philodendron, pothos, prayer plant, snake plant, spider plant and zz plant....
Reddit
reddit.com › r/houseplants › recommendations for low light house plants?
r/houseplants on Reddit: Recommendations for low light house plants?
April 20, 2024 -
My apartment doesn’t have east/west facing windows or have window space for plants. In the past I’ve bought plants that say they’re good in low light but always die on me.
What are some low light loving plants that I won’t slowly murder?
Top answer 1 of 24
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Contrary to what advertising for dark room plants say, all plants prefer bright indirect light. No plants like darkness. Some plants can survive low light for extended times, but it is less they can live in lowlight and more they very slowly die in lowlight. With that in mind, I recommend getting a plant light or lights for any plants you buy and put in your dark apartment. I use the yellow version of this light set for my plant area in my house as I have the same issue. I keep it on a separate timer. At my office, I have a sun loving succulent that is thriving on my desk under a lamp like this one . I keep it set for 12 hours of light a day. Having said that, ZZ plants and snake plants are legendary for surviving years in dark areas and little to no water. ZZs are known for thriving on neglect. To the point that they are mistaken by people as fake and only noticed to be real when they finally start dying from no water. There are multiple tales on this subreddit of people leaving their ZZ in a dark closet for 6+ months, only to find it later, give it bright light and water, and get new shoots almost immediately.
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You’ll probably need some grow lights if you want to keep any plant alive long term. Some species like snake plants are recommended for low light, but are the definition of “slow dying”.
Videos
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10 Plants That Require ZERO Effort From You - YouTube
Gardeners' World
gardenersworld.com › home › house plants › best indoor plants for low light
Best Indoor Plants for Low Light | BBC Gardeners World Magazine
September 29, 2025 - We've listed some of the best indoor plants for low light below: Zamioculcas zamiifolia (ZZ plant). Sarah Cuttle · Zamioculcas zamiifolia, also known as fern arum or the ZZ plant, has an upright shape that makes it useful for those with limited ...
House Beautiful
housebeautiful.com › lifestyle › gardening › 38 low-light indoor plants that will keep thriving all winter long
Experts Say These Are the BEST Low-Light Plants for Even the Darkest Days of Winter
December 2, 2025 - With leaves that open and close with the sun's rise and fall, calathea musaica thrives with plenty of indirect light. Ideal for sitting far from the window (or on a north-facing windowsill), this plant prefers distilled water and lots of humidity to prevent the leaves from scorching. ... A begonia rex plant is an unexpected way to bring color into your indoor garden scheme. This low-light indoor plant loves bright, indirect sunlight, but know that direct sunlight will scald the leaves.
The Spruce
thespruce.com › low-light-conditions-houseplants-1902917
35 Best Low-Light Indoor Plants for Your Home
April 1, 2025 - Bright indirect light is ideal for the best leaf color, but the plant will survive in dimmer locations. Place silver pothos in a humid room or near a humidifier for best results. Grow this vine on a moss pole or a trellis or in a hanging planter.
Real Simple
realsimple.com › home-organizing › gardening › indoor › plants-that-dont-need-sunlight
30 Hard-to-Kill Indoor Plants That Don't Need Much Sunlight to Thrive
May 8, 2025 - ... One of the most lauded easy-care plants is the dieffenbachia (also known as dumb cane). As a tropical plant, it prefers low, filtered light, and does better with under watering than over watering.
Quora
quora.com › What-small-houseplants-do-well-indoors-with-little-sunlight-and-human-healthy-humidity-levels
What small houseplants do well indoors with little sunlight and human healthy humidity levels? - Quora
Answer (1 of 2): I’ll start from the end of your question . —- human healthy humidity levels. Since humans live successfully in all levels of humidity, I’ll just assume you’re really thinking of plants that don’t need extra humidifying. —- indoors with little sunlight.
Chicago Botanic Garden
chicagobotanic.org › plant-information › smart-gardener › denizens-dark-indoor-plants-low-light-spaces
Denizens of the Dark: Indoor Plants for Low-Light Spaces | Chicago Botanic Garden
They do especially well in bathrooms, ... you grow them on a radiator cover, place some pebbles in the saucer and keep it filled with water for extra humidity. Several palms make great indoor plants for low-light situations....
Lively Root
livelyroot.com › collections › low-light
Low Light Indoor Plants for Dim Spaces & Easy Care
Benefit from the air-purifying ... enchanting world of low-light house plants and take your pick from our collection, the Boston Fern, for example, or the Peace Lily Plant (Spathiphyllum)....
Preen
preen.com › learn › lawn-garden-tips › plants-trees-shrubs › houseplants › best-indoor-plants-thrive-with-low-light-and-less-water
Best Indoor Plants Thrive With Low Light and Less Water
Snake plants also aren’t fussy about water or fertilizer. Another hard-to-kill houseplant that seems to almost thrive under neglect and low light is the ZZ plant. This highly drought-tolerant plant has dark-green fleshy leaves that run up the stems like steps.
BHG
bhg.com › gardening › houseplants › projects › indoor-plants-for-low-light
32 Best Low-Light Indoor Plants to Brighten Up Your Home
March 31, 2025 - Dracaena deremensis 'Janet Craig', one of the many species of dracaena, can handle low light, low humidity, air conditioning, and irregular care. Its shiny green, arching leaves brighten the dark corners of any room.
Facebook
facebook.com › groups › plantylife › posts › 4055838037994379
Best house plants for a very low light area? 🙏🏻 (staircase ...
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Room For Tuesday
roomfortuesday.com › home › plants & gardening › the easiest indoor plants that thrive in low light
The Easiest Indoor Plants that Thrive in Low Light
August 8, 2024 - If environment weren’t a factor- which indoor trees would you choose instead? An olive or ficus variety- I like the delicate, wispy textures! I also enjoy indoor maples, gingkoes, and palms.
Happy Houseplants
happyhouseplants.co.uk › collections › shade-tolerant-indoor-plants
Shade Tolerant Indoor Plants – Happy Houseplants
In general, ferns are good choices for low light areas as these indoor plants have interesting leaf shapes and thrive in shady, humid conditions.
Gatheraus
gatheraus.com › house-home › 14-low-light-houseplants
16 HOUSE PLANTS THAT CRAVE DARK CORNERS - Indoor Plants That Don’t Need Sun. — Gatheraus
June 25, 2023 - Despite its tropical origins, it is quite tolerant of low light, making it a great option for rooms with little natural sunlight. To care for your Swiss Cheese Plant, keep the soil slightly moist, but not waterlogged. These plants prefer high humidity, so you can mist the leaves regularly or place the plant on a tray of wet pebbles to help increase humidity around the plant.
Epic Gardening
epicgardening.com › home › 21 houseplants that like low humidity
21 Houseplants That Like Low Humidity
January 31, 2025 - Tropical houseplants won’t thrive in these regions; plants like cacti, succulents, and vigorous vines are ideal. Avid houseplant grower Jerad Bryant shares these 21 best houseplants for dry sites.
BHG
bhg.com › gardening › houseplants › projects › houseplants-for-the-forgetful-gardener
17 Drought-Tolerant Plants that Don’t Need Water Very Often
October 27, 2025 - If you’ve struggled to keep plants alive, this hearty houseplant tolerates low light, low humidity, and infrequent watering. It has broad, dark green leaves, and some varieties have variegated foliage. Cast iron plants are also popular in outdoor gardens with temperatures above freezing. They tend to grow about two feet tall and wide. ... The rough-textured, gray-green leaves of ox tongue (Gasteria bicolor) make a unique addition to your collection of indoor plants.
Reddit
reddit.com › r/indoorgarden › plants for a coffeeshop bathroom with no natural light, high humidity and poor ventilation
r/IndoorGarden on Reddit: Plants for a coffeeshop bathroom with no natural light, high humidity and poor ventilation
April 1, 2016 -
Hi all, I did some searching but didn't exactly find what I was looking for.
I work for a high volume coffee shop that has recently made huge leaps in all areas, but here im focusing on cleanliness. We do well just to keep our bathroom decent. At this point any extra effort there is marginal and hardly noticeable or worth the extra time so we want to move on to manipulating the customers perception instead. We want to add some plants and artwork/posters to liven up the bathroom and make it look better since cleaning an ugly bathroom can only get you so far.
My question is, what are some plants that will do best in a humid bathroom with no natural light and poor ventilation? This bathroom will have fluorescents on from 5am-8pm and will be in the dark overnight. If any other details help let me know, otherwise I'm looking forward to some recommendations. Thanks
edit: I will not be adding any lights to the bathroom. It currently has one overhead fixture and a fixture above the mirror that almost never works
Top answer 1 of 5
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You could likely get away with these plants: Snake Plant - Sanservia trifasciata Heartleaf Philodendron - Philodendron scandens Golden Pothos - Epipremnum aureum Both the philodendron and the pothos look great hanging down from above. Good luck! Luckily, these are also some of the easiest plants to keep alive.
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My recommendation would be Snake Plant . It's one of the most low-light friendly (and super easy to care for) plants out there. Biggest danger is overwatering, only give it water once every 2-3 weeks. It's a common house plant, you should be able to find it at just about any plant store--including Home Depot or the like. Edit to add: it grows slowly--a couple of inches a year--so buy it the size you want it, don't try to buy it small in the hope that it will soon grow to the size you want.
Reddit
reddit.com › r/indoorgarden › certain plants for indoors (cats, humidity, low light...)
r/IndoorGarden on Reddit: Certain plants for indoors (Cats, humidity, low light...)
February 16, 2022 -
Hi there :)
This is my first time posting here so if such questions are not welcome here, feel free to tell me.
I'm looking for plants for my gf's and my small flat with some required features:
We have cats, so they need to be non-poisonous
We have relatively little and mostly diffused light with not many sun spots available but lots of places with shadow/little light
I'd like them to be able to spread a fair amount of humidity, we almost always have ~35% of humidity which I guess is too low.
Being able to hang them from the ceiling would be a plus, but is not required
We have several "spider plants" (Chlorophytum) already, but while I could multiply them easily, I don't want 40 of the same plant all over our space :D Maybe you guys have some ideas as to what else could work.
My gf especially loves monstera-style plants, those are supposed to be poisonous for cats, though.
I very much like Sempervivums, which grow inside and are non-poisonous, but don't help much with humidity.
This looks like a great community, I'm looking forward to the answers :)
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We have cats too, so I did a lot of research when I was looking for indoor plants - also our lighting situation is similar, so maybe I can help: There’s a ton of calathea variants that are not poisonous and neither want nor need direct sunlight. They require a lot of humidity though, I always spray them with a little bit of water once in a while which they seem to enjoy. Also, dypsis lutescens - they also don’t need direct sun since their leaves will turn yellow. I do however have some poisonous hanging plants as well (golden photos eg.) but hung them up so high that they are out of reach four our little rascals (put the pots on some selfmade shelves and got some hooks on the ceiling and walls to keep the vines high above). Billbergia nutans could also work, they’re pretty low maintenance and if you treat them right they will reward you with a nice bloom. Galingale works fine as well. There’s also a lot of peperomia variants that will work out nicely with no direct sun, they could also be cultivated as hanging plants and are not poisonous. The more colourful they are, the more light they’ll need though. I also recently started to use artificial plants although I hesitated for a long time (they just didn’t seem as pretty as real plants) but eventually saw that they really add more nice green vibes where there’s just no chance for real plants to survive (bathroom with no windows eg.) - that’s a no on more humidity though…. Hope I could give you some nice ideas! 🤗 Edit: The clue for me was to look for plants that naturally grow somewhere where they wouldn’t get much sunlight anyways (like plants in the rainforest that mostly grow on the ground for example)
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If you want to raise your humidity, you can either get a humidifier or pack your place with plants. There's no "one plant" that will raise humidity - it's a "quantity" thing. Grape ivy, if you can find it, will likely fit your bill pretty well. It's safe for cats, can grow even in a north-facing window, and trails wonderfully if you want to grow it as a hanging plant. That being said, I really, really, really recommend you get a simple light meter app to check how much light you have before you put a plant anywhere. Most people overestimate how much light they have, so hearing someone describe their place as having "little light" is worrying! The absolute lowest-light plants still need at least 50 foot candles (or equivalently, 500 lux) for a big chunk of the day just to survive - and preferably more!
RHS
rhs.org.uk › shows-events › rhs-urban-show › houseplant-profiles › houseplants-for-shade
Care tips for low-light tolerant houseplants at the RHS Urban Show 2024 / RHS
Spathiphyllum ‘Diamond’ Light: The ‘Diamond’ peace lily prefers bright, indirect light but can tolerate lower light conditions, which makes it an excellent indoor plant. Avoid direct sunlight, which can scorch its white and dark green leaves. Watering: Keep the soil consistently moist but not waterlogged. Water when the few centimetres of compost feels dry to the touch. Peace lilies are sensitive to overwatering and under-watering; if the leaves droop, it’s a sign that the plant needs water. Humidity: This plant thrives in high humidity.