Plant for NO Natural Light

[ButterflyGarden]

My husband has a new job and we are setting up an office for him in our storage room. It is a small windowless room that will have artificial light about 8 hours a day. We want to make it nicer and more welcoming. He would like to put a plant down there. Any suggestions?

[hendi_alex]

I was thinking that a snake plant will grow just about anywhere. A quick google confirmed that. Got lots of hits with the search 'low light indoor plant'.

[amylong]

I didn't know what a snake plant was, so I googled it and was like wow that looks like underwater seaweedish:) I also googled about low light indoor plants to see if I can find one I like.
https://www.bhg.com/gardening/houseplant ... ow/#page=6
I like the fiddleleaf fig picture. I hope you find one that you like.

[hendi_alex]

I got sucked into that link also. After going to the site, saw that 'easy' didn't always mean 'low light'. The first plant in the list, Norfolk Island Pine, says "The secret to keeping Norfolk Island pine healthy is to give it ample light" The plant that you like, fiddleleaf fig, calls for "Medium to bright light". Neither of these would likely do well under ceiling mounted fluorescent lights with no other source of light.

A few hits down is an article named "Top 10 Houseplants for Low Light". All of those would IMO be candidates for your basement area.

https://paulsplants.blogspot.com/2011/12 ... lants.html

The article "Houseplants for Low Light Conditions" has some additional candidates.

https://houseplants.about.com/od/picking ... Plants.htm

[rainbowgardener]

Those are nice links, alex, and give all the ones I would have thought of. I particularly like the peace lily. I used to have one that I kept UNDER a table all summer and it did fine there.

[pinksand]

The lobby of my office building has chinese evergreen that seems to do well with little to no natural light. Pathos seems to grow well in any conditions as well and makes for a nice plant to cascade down from the top of a bookshelf.

[ButterflyGarden]

Thanks for the tips. I like the peace lily too, and I think I can find it locally. Anyone have any tips for growing it? My husband is plant challenged.

[rainbowgardener]

They are very easy care.

This:

https://www.proplants.com/guide/peace-lily-care-guide

says water once a week IF they are starting to show a little bit of wilting. But mine never were so I water them (thoroughly) every other week. I fertilize once in a season only. Might get a few extra blooms, if I gave it a bit more, but as far as the plant surviving and growing that is all it needs. Repot every year or two if it is starting to outgrow the pot. Otherwise you could probably kill it easier by fussing too much than by benign neglect.

[ButterflyGarden]

That sounds perfect for him!! Thanks.

[imafan26]

It is best if the plant can get really close to the light and not be tucked in a corner with general lighting. I would also consider giving the plant a break once a week and take it outside, preferably in the early morning, hose off the dust, flush the pot and let it get a couple of hours of natural light (not full sun). Don't forget to feed the plants and rotate it so it grows evenly.

[rainbowgardener]

Well, I can't argue that the plant might like those things and grow faster, etc. But honestly some of those plants like the peace lily and snake plant, pothos, will survive without any of it. Stick them in a corner and water them every couple weeks. Like I said I had a peace lily that I had under a table, no direct light ever, never fertilized, never did anything but water and it grew and bloomed for years. I one time had a snake plant (that I inherited when I moved in to a place) that was in a little container (maybe 12" long, by 4" wide by 4" deep), full of what looked like very hard compacted soil and the plant was huge. Sat on a window sill facing out on to woods, so very low light. I never did anything but add a little water now and then. I considered it a science experiment to see how much plant matter could be created out of water and air and a very small number of photons. The soil kept getting more and more depleted (not like less nutrients, like less soil there) and the plant kept getting huger, the little pot was just crammed with giant tall plants. I kept it like that for 9 yrs and then left it behind for the next person when I moved out.