Plants that need NO light at all

I saw that our walmart is putting out some house plants in large containers, it's not well lit up in the area that they are in and , well, I'm looking for a few plants I can put in the house that don't need much light at all. I have one living room window and it's shaded, so they'll have to do very well inside without much light.

any suggestions?

what about that mother in laws plant, I've seen that in restaraunts and there isn't any light at all in there. I need to liven it up in here and can put a few things inside but after a couple weeks inside they have to go back out to the greenhouse because leaves turn yellow not enough light, etc...

All the plants at walmart are unnamed mostly, bu t large containers , they would probably do well in a non lit up house don't you think?

kathy

MIL tongue or Sansevieria would be an excellent choice. Pothos also seems to do well under similar low light conditions. But how can you? In the winter it has to be bright or I am down in the winter blahs dump!

You could also try Peace Lily, it grows fairly well in low light. Just make sure the soil doesn't dry out.

Steve

Make sure you know what the houseplant is that you're getting from Walmart before you buy it--just because they put it in a part of the store that doesn't have much light and it looks OK there for a few days or even a week or two doesn't mean that it'll like being permanently in low light conditions. Stores like that don't know much about plants, so they probably have light-loving houseplants mixed in with the ones that might really be tolerant of low light, and the plants may not be there for long enough for you to notice that they don't really like the conditions.

I TOTALLY agree with ecrane3 .... My local Wal-Marts will put all kinds of plants together in one location. They just don't know or don't care, thinking they will sell. I have seen shade loving plants burning in the hot sun at Wal-Mart garden centers here and also I've seen just the opposite .... plants that need a lot of light in dark shaded spots!

Good ones for indoors with low light conditions are the Pothos, Aglaonema (Chinese Evergreen), Peace Lily, Heart Leaf Philodendron, Dracaena, and many more!

I have very low light conditions inside my living room and I have a 'Janet Craig' Dracaena that does really well. And, I also have Pothos, and Philodendron 'Brasil' in hanging baskets in low light areas as well as a couple of small pots of Heart Leaf Philo. Also another one I have in low light that does great is Fittonia (Nerve Plant). I have a large Philodendron Emerald Prince inside too.

The most important thing to remember is to watch your watering. Get on a regular schedule and don't over due it. I used to kill my plants by watering them to death! I keep all of my plants on the dry side now and they seem to do well.

Good luck in your endeavors and keep us all posted as to what plants you decide to try!

Lin


edited to say: The Sanseivera (Mother In Laws Tongue) is a great choice for indoors too. I have 4 cats with one of them who likes to "taste" my plants, and I have to be VERY careful because so many houseplants are poisonous! So, if you have small children or pets, that's something you will need to consider also.

This message was edited Jan 20, 2007 4:49 PM

This message was edited Jan 20, 2007 4:49 PM

Thanks for all the tips , I know what you mean about walmart throwing them alltogether in one area like that.

I have a huge chefelier (spelling) in the living room and it seems to do very very well, while my ficus tree does horrid in the house. nothing else in the house right now.

you might mean schefflera (if I got it right, LOL). if it's doing very very well, you must have enough light for some of the others above. I rotate some small plants around under table lamp locations.

yeah that's it, It does seem to be doing very well.

Kathyann:

You must be doing it right if your Sheff likes it inside. I've never had luck with them indoors! I have 2 that were houseplants many years ago and I planted them in the ground ... just posted a photo on another thread a few minutes ago. They are REALLY large in the yard. If we have frost or a hard freeze they are mush ... brown mushy leaves down to the ground, but they always come back in spring. Here's a pic of one in my back yard. I pull all the branches off from the bottom to give a canapy effect and so I can see the flowers and plants in the bed below.

I used to have very tall Ficus Benjamina in my screen room. Those plants are so finicky about location. If I moved them from one side of the screen room to the other, or even just a few feet to a different location they would go into shock and sometimes lose ALL their leaves! So temperamental! They wouldn't die, just lose all the leaves and take a few months to sprout new ones!

Wow that's beautiful. And I loved that area behind it, is that screen? that's neat looking.

I'm definitely living in the wrong neck of the woods LOL

Yes Kathyann ... That's our screened pool enclosure your seeing behing the Sheff. Here's a photo I took last year of the inside:

that's a nice picture. Love those orchids. And that Cat, it's beautiful. Quite happy there LOL

It looks so peaceful in that area, like it's a retreat at the end of a long hard day .......

sorry ... wrong photo. This is inside the screened enclosure too, but it doesn't show the pool which is farther out to the left. Let me search again ...... here we go .....This one shows a shot of the pool area.

Thanks Kathyann .... it doesn't look quite like that now. Furniture is re-arranged and that shelf that had Orchids now has other plants and the orchids are all hanging form the top of the roof on the side of the screen. I have to drag the orchids and a lot of other stuff inside next week ... we are supposed to have nightime temps in the 30's!! Coldest it's been in a long time! We haven't had much of a winter here yet. It's been around 79-80 every day the past couple of weeks. Today was only in the 60's and windy .... felt a lot colder! I love my screened enclosure in the spring and fall. During the hot, hot summer it's not pleasant being out there, and usually we have cold weather in late January/early February and it's too cold to sit out there! We haven't used the pool in MANY years! It just sits there. My husband has mentioned on ocassion that maybe we should fill it in and told me I could plant a garden in there. I reminded him that we have 4 cats who would just love that! They would think we made them a Giant Litter Pan! I would love to take the screen room down, but our cats are declawed indoor cats and that screened area runs the entire length of the back of our house and it's the only outside they have ever known! I couldn't take that away from them!

Lin

ZZ plant is another one.

Tom

Kathy Ann- as others have mentioned, there are several types of plants that will tolerate low light. None of them will thrive with the type of light conditions you describe, but they will survive. Although, if you've gotten a Scheff to survive in your light conditions, then all the others should do very well! You might also consider the Cast Iron plant. Doesn't need much water or light and looks great in a dark corner!

GH

Many types of ferns do well in low light conditions, in fact all plants that naturally grow on the floor of dense forests. Some types of Begonia's could also work.

Oh ~ GH is right cast iron plant ~ aspidistra is the original and best low light plant. From victorian parlor days.

Plantlady, Love your patio and pool, I see blooming orchids’, what’s in that plant hanger with the three cones, I really like that hanger. I have a birdhouse collection, too

Well, I need to correct my statement then, I do have some light or else my Shef. Plant wouldn't survive, but very low light, I have more light when I leave the front door open to expose the light coming in from the glass door. but that lets in cold air some and can't do that much in winter.

So, I have a little light.

kathy

HollyAnn: I think it was Petunias planted in the cones at the time that photo was taken. The past two years those cones have been hanging out front with Pink Geraniums in them! I have NEVER had much luck with Geraniums until I got these a few years ago. They must be enjoying the location, as they are still blooming here in January .... Here's a photo .....


I have lots of Birdhouses ... have had people ask me why I like them so much, and I don't have an answer .... just began with one, and now I have no idea how many I have. There are some mounted on posts in the yard and a few hanging in trees ... but so many more on shelves and hanging in my pool enclosure and in my Florida Room!

Ahhhh, love geraniums and petunias(my favorite). BUT, so do the aphids. They kill my petunias every year, the little suckers!!!!! I hate them!!!! They love my million bells too. Why must aphids exist? LOL

GH

Oh GH, I'm so sorry that the Aphids had to attack your Petunia's and Million Bells! Last year I had aphids on a Hoya plant hanging inside my screened pool enclosure and on a plant out in the yard. I was at Home Depot one day and saw that they were selling little bags of live lady bugs ... so I bought a couple of bags. Released some in the yard and some in my pool enclosure on the Hoya. They did a great job of eating those aphids! But, alas .... the "ladies" were eaten by the little green chameleon lizards! Nature .... what can ya do?

I love the "Million Bells" too .... like little miniature petunias .... I planted a few hanging baskets of those gorgeous purple ones a few years ago.