What Plants Grow Indoors in Low Light?
Combine shade-loving plants with attentiveness to watering and fertilizing, and you can successfully grow plants indoors in low light areas. Almost any type of plant can be grown indoors with some care. Most often, houseplants or indoor plants include ferns, flowers, climbing vines and small shrubs and trees. The plants that do the best indoors are actually those that tolerate a low-light environment. Some plants even thrive in the shade and are perfect for indoor gardeners. Does this Spark an idea?
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Significance
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The plants that enjoy and grow well in low light, whether deep or partial shade, are usually found in the understory of forests in the wild, plants such as ferns and vines. When choosing plants that you want to grow indoors in low light, pay attention to their shade preferences first. If you have very little light available, choose deep or full shade plants; if you have constant low light available, choose those that do best in partial or dappled shade.
Flowering
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Flowers grown indoors can be either annuals or perennials, but the list of flowering plants the tolerate low light is long. Among annuals, you could plant impatiens, begonias, Gerbera daisies, coleus or caladium. Perennials that love shade include ajuga, Japanese ardisia, cardinal flower, coral-bells or lily-of-the-valley, ginger lily, agapanthis and cast-iron plant. Philodendron is also popular potted indoor plant for its shade tolerance, and it comes in a variety of colors and textures; the philodendron sweetheart plant is very successful in low light.
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Ferns
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Ferns are an extremely popular choice that do well indoors. They are undergrowth plants in nature and prefer low light. Holly fern is a good indoor potted fern choice, with beautiful leaves and a high tolerance for shade. Others include bird's nest ferns, mother ferns or rabbit's foot fern. With ferns, humidity levels are important, and they, like all plants, prefer natural to artificial light.
Shrubs and Vines
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There are several kinds of shrubs that can be potted or planted in containers indoors that also thrive in low-light situations. Azaleas are popular for their attractiveness, as are fatsia, aucuba, leatherleaf mahonia, camellia, oakleaf hydrangea and sweet shrub. Chinese evergreen provides wide, lacy leaves, and African imports like snake plants or dracaenas are attractive standing plants.
Some vines also thrive in shady locations. They include English ivy, periwinkle, Confederate jasmine and creeping fig.
Warnings
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If you have toddlers or animals in your home, check plants to be sure they are not poisonous when eaten. Some shade-loving plants can harm animals and small children. You also should fertilize and water shade-loving plants carefully. Don't fertilize in the winter; allow the plant to rest during its naturally dormant time. Water only as much as needed. For ferns, a small humidifier may be warranted to keep them from drying out.
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