Low Light Houseplants

For the room with one window and a radiator that thinks it is in charge.

Delivered by hand across Toronto and the GTA · Potted before it leaves · Pick-up 702 Queen St W

Low light houseplants are the plants that keep growing in rooms where a sun-loving fern would sulk: snake plants, ZZ plants, pothos, aglaonema and the slower dracaenas. They want brightness without direct sun, water only when the soil has dried out, and very little else from you.

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At Chive Plant Studio on Queen Street West in Toronto, low light houseplants are the ones we send home most often with people whose apartments face north, east, or another building. These plants evolved under forest canopy, where the light arrives green and filtered and the ground stays dim all day. A living room six feet from a window is, to them, a reasonable approximation of home.

The grid runs from desk-sized four-inch snake plants and pothos up to floor-standing ZZ plants and mass canes in ten- and twelve-inch pots, with the Chinese evergreens and prayer plants in the middle, built for shelves and side tables. Everything on this page tolerates low light. Most of it would prefer a little more, and none of it wants to sit in direct afternoon sun, which scorches the leaves it has spent months growing.

Pick a size, choose one of three house pots if you would like it potted before it leaves, and we deliver by hand across Toronto and the GTA. Or pick it up at 702 Queen Street West and carry it home yourself, which is how most of us ended up with more plants than shelves.

Low Light Indoor Plants

Low light indoor plants are not plants that like the dark. They are plants that can live on what reaches the back of a room: the soft light from a north window, the bounce off a pale wall, the glow of a south-facing room once the sun has moved past it. The test is simple. If you can read a paperback comfortably without a lamp in the afternoon, a snake plant or a ZZ will be fine there. If you need the lamp, it will survive for a season and then start to lean toward the door.

The trade-off for tolerating dim rooms is speed. A pothos in a bright kitchen puts out a new leaf every couple of weeks; the same plant in a hallway might manage one a month. That slower pace is why these plants are also the forgiving ones: they drink less, they stretch less, and they hold their shape in the pot you bought them in for a long while. Delivered by hand across Toronto and the GTA.

Low Light Plants

Seven groups do most of the work on this page. Each name below goes to its own page, where the varieties and sizes we carry are laid out in full.

Low Light Houseplants varieties we grow

ZZ Plant

The plant for the room you forgot about. Thick, glossy leaflets on arching stems, a rhizome underneath that stores water for weeks, and almost no opinion about light. We carry it from a four-inch starter to a floor-standing ten-inch, plus the near-black Raven form. Not safe for pets.

Snake Plants

Upright, architectural and nearly indestructible. The classic yellow-edged Laurentii and the grey-banded Zeylanica are our two main sellers, with Moonshine and Black Coral behind them. They tolerate low light better than almost anything else here, though they colour up more in brighter rooms. Not safe for pets.

Dracaena

The tall ones. Mass cane and marginata are floor plants that live happily a few metres from a window, growing slowly on a woody cane. Janet Craig and Warneckii are the lower, bushier dracaenas for a dim corner. All of them want the soil to dry well between waterings

Pothos

The trailing vine that made low light famous. Golden and jade pothos keep their colour in dim rooms; marble queen and neon want a little more brightness to hold their variegation. Satin pothos, a scindapsus rather than a true pothos, sits with them here because it behaves the same way.

Aglaonema

The trailing vine that made low light famous. Golden and jade pothos keep their colour in dim rooms; marble queen and neon want a little more brightness to hold their variegation. Satin pothos, a scindapsus rather than a true pothos, sits with them here because it behaves the same way.

Peperomia

Small, thick-leaved and slow. The baby rubber plant, peperomia obtusifolia, is the one that handles a dim desk best; it holds water in its leaves and asks to be left alone between drinks. A good first plant for a windowless office.

Cast Iron Plant

Named honestly. Aspidistra was the parlour plant of gaslit Victorian houses because it survived the gaslight, the coal smoke and the neglect. It is slow, deep green and content in the darkest spot on this page. Safe for cats and dogs.

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Low Light Houseplants Frequently Asked Questions

What are the best low light indoor plants?

Snake plants, ZZ plants, pothos, aglaonema and cast iron plant are the best low light indoor plants for most Toronto homes: they tolerate a north window or a spot well back from the glass, they drink slowly, and they hold their shape for months. Dracaena mass cane and marginata are the best choices where you want height. If the room is genuinely dim, start with a ZZ or a snake plant; both will forgive a missed watering and a dark week in January.

Which plants don't need sunlight?

No houseplant lives without light, but snake plants, ZZ plants, cast iron plant and pothos come closest: they grow on indirect light alone and never want direct sun on their leaves. If a room has no window at all, a plant will hold for a few weeks and then decline; a bright LED on a timer for ten to twelve hours a day changes that completely and costs about as much as the plant.

Do low light plants need any light?

Yes. Low light means low, not none. The honest version of the label is "plants that will put up with the back of your living room," which is less catchy and would not fit on a tag. Every plant on this page needs enough daylight to read by in the afternoon. Give it that and it will grow slowly and look pleased with itself. Give it a windowless bathroom and it will wait politely for a few weeks and then begin to lean toward the door, which is the plant's way of asking to be moved.

How often should I water low light plants?

Less than you think. In a dim room a plant uses water slowly, so the soil stays wet longer and the most common way to lose a low light plant is rot from watering on a schedule. Check the soil instead: when the top five centimetres are dry, water thoroughly and let it drain. For a ZZ or a snake plant that can be every three to four weeks in winter; for a pothos or an aglaonema, closer to every ten days.

What are good large low light indoor plants?

Dracaena mass cane and dracaena marginata are the large low light indoor plants we sell most: both stand well over a metre in a ten- or twelve-inch pot and live happily a few metres from a window. A tall ZZ plant or a ten-inch snake plant fills a corner at roughly waist height. For the full range of floor plants in every light level, see large indoor plants.

Are there low light hanging plants?

Pothos is the low light hanging plant: golden and jade pothos trail from a shelf or a hanging pot in rooms where little else will, and satin pothos does the same with silver-flecked leaves. Heartleaf philodendron is the other reliable trailer for a dim spot. Our full range of trailing and hanging plants, including the ones that want more light, is on the hanging plants page.

Which low light plants are safe for cats?

Cast iron plant, parlor palm, peperomia, prayer plant and spider plant are low light plants safe for cats and dogs. Two of the most popular plants on this page are not: ZZ plants and snake plants are toxic if chewed, so keep them out of reach or choose from the pet-safe list. Every plant we sell is tagged for pet safety; the full set is on the pet friendly plants page.

Do you deliver low light plants in Toronto?

Yes. Delivered by hand across Toronto and the GTA. Choose a size, and if you would like it potted before it leaves, pick one of three house pots on the product page; the potting is included in the price shown. Delivery fees are calculated at c

About Chive Plant Studio

Looking for something that wants more sun? Start at indoor plants Toronto for the whole shop, large indoor plants for floor plants in every light level, pet friendly plants if you share the apartment with a cat, hanging plants for shelves and hooks, or go straight to snake plants, the group that sells best from this page.