Plants for dark rooms

Your eyes adjust, so a room almost always looks brighter than it is to a plant. Judge the spot instead of the room.

Stand where the pot will go and look toward the window. How much open sky you can see from there is roughly the light the plant gets. A view of a wall opposite, or of a balcony floor above, cuts it a long way down.

Distance takes light away fast. A shelf ten feet into the room gets a small fraction of what the windowsill gets, even though the room feels evenly lit to you.

Curtains, a tree outside and a north-facing aspect each remove another share. A north window with clear glass and open sky is a better spot than a south window behind a hedge.

The plants below cope with little light, from the dimmest spots down to plants that want a little more. Each line gives the light it takes, whether it is safe around cats and dogs, and when to water it in a dark room.

All of them grow more slowly in low light than by a window, which mostly means they need less water. Push a finger an inch or two into the soil before you water, whatever the plant. Safety around children is covered in each plant’s own care guide.

• Cast-iron plant (Aspidistra elatior): the dimmest spots, a hallway or a cool corner. Pet-safe. Water very little, once the soil has dried well.
• ZZ plant (Zamioculcas zamiifolia): low light, well back from a window. Toxic to pets. Water rarely. It can go weeks between waterings.
• Snake plant (Sansevieria trifasciata): low light, a dim corner. Toxic to pets. Water sparingly, once the soil has dried out.
• Golden pothos (Epipremnum aureum): low light, a dark shelf. The yellow marbling fades to green. Toxic to pets. Water when the top inch or two is dry.
• Chinese evergreen (Aglaonema commutatum): low light. Darker-leaved varieties cope better than pale pink ones. Toxic to pets. Water when the top inch or two is dry.
• Parlor palm (Chamaedorea elegans): low light, a corner that needs height. Pet-safe. Water when the top inch or two is dry.
• Peace lily (Spathiphyllum wallisii): low light. It flowers less but keeps its leaves. Toxic to pets. Water when the top inch is dry or the leaves start to droop.
• Lucky bamboo (Dracaena sanderiana): low light, faster growth in medium light. Toxic to pets. Water when the top inch is dry.
• Heartleaf philodendron (Philodendron hederaceum): grows best in bright, indirect light, and the plain green form copes with a dim shelf. Toxic to pets. Water when the top inch or two is dry. It forgives a missed watering.
• Spider plant (Chlorophytum comosum): grows best in bright, indirect light, tolerates a dim spot but makes fewer plantlets. Pet-safe. Water when the top inch or two is dry.
• Boston fern (Nephrolepis exaltata): grows best in bright, indirect light, holds on in lower light only in humid air. Pet-safe. Water as soon as the surface feels dry, and never let it dry out hard.

No houseplant lives long term without enough natural or artificial light. A windowless bathroom, inner hallway or basement corner needs a suitable lamp or a rotation with a bright place.

The first real option is a suitable lamp on a timer, positioned close enough to supply the needed light. A typical ceiling light left on in the evening is usually too weak at leaf level.

The second option is a rotation. Keep two plants of the same kind, put one in the dark room for a couple of weeks and the other in a bright room, then swap them.

The third is to accept it. A cut stem in water or a plant you replace when it declines is an honest choice for a windowless downstairs toilet, and cheaper than watching a good plant fade.

This is where most dark-room plants actually die. The plant grows slowly, uses little water, and the routine that suited it by the window drowns it in the corner.

Water by the soil, not by the day. Push a finger an inch or two down, and if there is any dampness there, wait and check again in a few days. Boston fern is the exception: water it as soon as the surface feels dry.

Pot weight is the faster check once you know the plant. Lift the pot right after watering so you learn what full feels like, then compare.

Water until it runs out of the drainage hole, then tip out whatever collects in the saucer or the cachepot after half an hour. In a dim corner that leftover water sits for a long time.

Give the best light in the room to the plant rather than to the furniture. The floor beside the window beats a high shelf on the far wall.

Pale walls and a mirror opposite the window put a useful amount of light back into the room. A dark wall behind a pot absorbs it.

Keep the pot out of the draft from a door and away from a radiator. Cold air and dry heat both hit a plant harder when it is already growing slowly.

Turn the pot a quarter turn whenever you water it. In a dark room a plant leans hard toward the only light it has, and turning it keeps the shape even.

New leaves come out small and sit far apart on a long bare stem. That stretch is the plant reaching for light and it does not reverse.

Variegated leaves turn plain green. The plant drops the white and yellow parts because they do no work in low light.

The whole plant goes pale rather than yellow in patches. Pale all over with slow growth points at light, while yellow lower leaves with wet soil point at watering.

Old leaves drop and nothing replaces them. At that point move the plant to a brighter room for a while, or add a lamp, and cut the watering back until it is growing again.

Wipe the leaves every few weeks. Dust costs a plant light it cannot spare in a dark room, and wiping is also when you spot pests early.

Feed very little. A plant that is barely growing cannot use fertilizer, and what it does not use stays in the pot as salts.

Repot only when the roots come out of the drainage hole or water runs straight down the side. A larger pot in a dark corner means more wet soil with no roots in it.

Buy a plant that was grown in reasonable light and give it time to adjust. A plant moved straight from a bright shop floor to a dim corner usually drops a few leaves before it settles.