Most low light plant lists tell you a ZZ plant handles shade and leave it at that. But “low light” means different things to different rooms. A north-facing bedroom gets maybe 80 foot-candles on a good day. A hallway with no windows sits closer to 20. Those are very different growing conditions, and the best indoor plants for low light are not all equally tolerant.
The good news: several of the best low light plants are also among the easiest indoor plants to keep alive. Below are 10 picks ranked by how little light they genuinely need, with specific foot-candle measurements so you can match each plant to your actual room.
What “Low Light” Actually Means (in Numbers)
Most plant labels say “tolerates low light” without telling you what that means for your actual room. So here are the numbers.
Low light for indoor plants falls between 50 and 250 foot-candles (roughly 500 to 2,700 lux). Very low light sits below 50 foot-candles. Medium light runs from 250 to 1,000 foot-candles. These ranges come from the University of Missouri Extension’s indoor plant lighting guide, which remains the most cited reference for houseplant light categories.
To put that in context: a north-facing room in a UK flat typically gets 50 to 150 foot-candles on an overcast day. My living room faces north, and on a grey January afternoon it measures about 80 foot-candles near the window. Move two metres back and it drops to 30. A south-facing room on a sunny day can hit 1,000 foot-candles at the windowsill.
You can measure your own rooms with a free light meter app on your phone. I use “Lux Light Meter” on Android. Hold the phone screen-up where you plan to put the plant, take readings at midday, and divide the lux number by 10.76 to get foot-candles. Do this on both a sunny day and a cloudy one. The cloudy number is more honest about what your plant will actually get most of the time.
Once you know your room’s foot-candle range, matching it to a plant becomes straightforward. Every pick below includes a specific light tolerance so you can compare directly.
The 10 Best Indoor Plants for Low Light
These are the best indoor plants for low light, ranked by how little light they genuinely need. Each entry includes a minimum foot-candle threshold, an ideal range, and a care note from growing them in my own flat. If you want a full species-by-species reference rather than a curated list, the A-Z directory of indoor plants for low light covers a wider range.
1. ZZ Plant (Zamioculcas zamiifolia)
Minimum light: 50 foot-candles (540 lux) | Ideal range: 100-500 fc
The ZZ plant is the first one I recommend to anyone with a dim room. It stores water in thick underground rhizomes, which means it handles drought and low light better than almost any other houseplant. In my hallway (roughly 40-50 foot-candles, no direct sun at all), a ZZ plant produced two new stems over six months. Growth was slow, but it never dropped a leaf or looked stressed.
Water every two to three weeks in low light. The rhizomes rot quickly in wet soil, so err on the side of forgetting. Yellow leaves almost always mean overwatering, not too little light. One thing to note: all parts of the plant are mildly toxic if ingested, so keep it away from curious pets or toddlers.
2. Cast Iron Plant (Aspidistra elatior)
Minimum light: 10 foot-candles (108 lux) | Ideal range: 150-300 fc
The cast iron plant has the lowest verified light tolerance on this list. The Missouri Botanical Garden confirms it grows in conditions that would kill most houseplants. It earned its common name for a reason.
I keep mine in the corner of my north-facing living room, about three metres from the window. It gets maybe 25-30 foot-candles on a cloudy day. Growth is glacially slow (one or two new leaves per year in those conditions), but the existing foliage stays dark green and healthy. It is one of the few very low light indoor plants that looks genuinely good in near-darkness, not just alive.
Water sparingly. Every two to three weeks in summer, less in winter. Root rot is the main killer. If you want a plant for a spot where nothing else works, this is it.
3. Pothos (Epipremnum aureum)
Minimum light: 50 foot-candles (540 lux) | Ideal range: 200-400 fc
Pothos trails beautifully from shelves and is one of the most forgiving easy indoor plants you can grow. The solid green varieties (jade pothos) tolerate lower light than variegated types. In low light below 100 foot-candles, expect two to three new leaves per year rather than the dozen or more you would see in bright conditions.
I have a golden pothos on a shelf in my east-facing bedroom. It gets about 150 foot-candles in the morning, dropping to 50-60 by afternoon. Growth is moderate and the variegation has faded slightly compared to the one I keep near a south-facing window. If you want to keep the yellow streaks, aim for at least 200 foot-candles. If you just want green trailing vines, it handles much less.
Water when the top 5cm of soil feels dry. Pothos also does well in water alone, which makes propagation simple. Several species on this list overlap with plants known for air quality benefits, and pothos is one of them.
4. Snake Plant (Dracaena trifasciata)
Minimum light: 50 foot-candles (540 lux) | Ideal range: 200-400 fc
Snake plants tolerate a wide range of conditions. They survive in low light, though growth slows to a crawl below 100 foot-candles. The NC State Extension notes they only flower above 800 lux with 14-hour photoperiods, which rarely happens indoors in the UK.
Mine sits in the north-facing living room near the window (about 80-100 foot-candles). It produced one new leaf in four months over winter. That is normal for low light. The main danger is overwatering: snake plants store moisture in their thick leaves and rot easily in damp soil. I water mine once a month in winter, every two weeks in summer.
The upright, architectural shape works well in corners. They are also among the toughest low light plants indoor spaces can support, handling temperature swings and dry air without complaint.
5. Peace Lily (Spathiphyllum)
Minimum light: 50 foot-candles (540 lux) | Ideal range: 200-400 fc
Peace lilies are one of the few low light plants that flower indoors. Below 50 foot-candles they stop blooming entirely, but the foliage stays healthy. Above 200 foot-candles, you can expect the white spathe flowers several times a year.
I like peace lilies because they tell you when they are thirsty. The leaves droop dramatically, looking completely defeated, then perk back up within hours of watering. It is a reliable signal that removes the guesswork. In my bedroom (roughly 150-200 foot-candles), mine flowers twice a year and droops every 7-10 days in summer.
Keep the soil consistently moist but not soggy. Brown leaf tips usually mean the water is too hard (chlorine or fluoride), not a light problem. Use filtered water or leave tap water out overnight before using it.
6. Chinese Evergreen (Aglaonema)
Minimum light: 50 foot-candles (540 lux) | Ideal range: 100-200 fc
Chinese evergreens are among the most adaptable indoor plants low light conditions allow. The solid green varieties (like Aglaonema ‘Silver Bay’) handle dimmer spots better than the pink or red cultivars, which need more light to hold their colour. Clemson Extension confirms they are slow growers that nearly stop growing below 50 foot-candles.
I grew one in the same north-facing room as my cast iron plant for a year. It sat closer to the window (maybe 60-80 foot-candles) and pushed out a new leaf roughly every six weeks. Not fast, but steady. The leaves stayed firm and the silver patterning held well in that range.
Water when the top third of the soil dries out. They dislike cold draughts, so keep them away from open windows in winter. This is a good pick for anyone who wants something with more visual interest than a ZZ plant but needs similar toughness.
7. Heartleaf Philodendron (Philodendron hederaceum)
Minimum light: 75 foot-candles (800 lux) | Ideal range: 200-400 fc
The heartleaf philodendron trails like pothos but with darker, heart-shaped leaves and a slightly higher light preference. UF IFAS notes it tolerates shade but grows faster in bright, diffuse light. Below 75 foot-candles, growth gets leggy as the stems stretch toward whatever light source they can find.
I have one trailing along a bookshelf in a room that gets about 120 foot-candles. It grows about 15cm of new vine per month in spring and summer, which is respectable for low light. The leaves stay smaller than they would in brighter conditions (about 5cm across versus 8-10cm), but the plant looks full because it branches well.
Water when the top 3-4cm of soil is dry. This one tolerates some neglect, but not as much as a ZZ plant or pothos. It is a solid middle-ground choice if you want a trailing plant with a bit more character.
8. Parlor Palm (Chamaedorea elegans)
Minimum light: 50 foot-candles (540 lux) | Ideal range: 150-300 fc
Parlor palms have been grown indoors since the Victorian era, which says something about their shade tolerance. They are completely non-toxic to cats and dogs (confirmed by the NC State Extension plant database), making them one of the safest options for pet owners.
Growth is slow everywhere, but especially in low light. Mine has been in the same pot for two years in a spot getting roughly 100 foot-candles, and it has added maybe 10cm of height. That is fine. The fronds stay green and arching, and the slow growth means you rarely need to repot.
Water when the top few centimetres of soil feel dry. Brown tips on the fronds usually mean the air is too dry rather than a light problem. A pebble tray or occasional misting helps in winter when central heating dries the air out.
9. Spider Plant (Chlorophytum comosum)
Minimum light: 75 foot-candles (800 lux) | Ideal range: 200-400 fc
Spider plants are classic easy indoor plants. They handle a range of conditions, though they need slightly more light than the first few plants on this list to produce their signature “spiderettes” (baby plantlets on trailing stolons). The Wisconsin Horticulture Extension notes that stolons develop only under short-day conditions of less than 12 hours of light daily for at least three weeks.
In low light below 100 foot-candles, a spider plant grows fine but may never produce babies. I have one in a room that gets about 150 foot-candles, and it pushes out stolons in autumn and winter when daylight hours drop. In summer, with longer days, it focuses on leaf growth instead.
Water when the soil surface dries. Spider plants are sensitive to fluoride in tap water, which causes brown tips. The plant is otherwise hard to kill. If you are new to indoor plants and your room gets at least 75 foot-candles, this is one of the safest starting points.
10. Prayer Plant (Maranta leuconeura)
Minimum light: 100 foot-candles (1,076 lux) | Ideal range: 200-400 fc
Prayer plants need the most light on this list, but they still qualify as low light plants. Their leaves fold upward at night (like hands in prayer), which is one of the most satisfying things to watch in a houseplant. Below 100 foot-candles, the folding behaviour stops and the leaf patterns fade.
I tried keeping one in my north-facing room at about 80 foot-candles and the leaves lost most of their pink veining within two months. Moved it to the east-facing bedroom (about 200 foot-candles in the morning) and the colour came back. This plant rewards a little extra light more than most on the list.
Keep the soil consistently moist but never waterlogged. Prayer plants like humidity, so mist them or place them on a pebble tray. They are not as forgiving of neglect as a ZZ or snake plant, but the leaf movement and patterning make the extra attention worthwhile.
Very Low Light Indoor Plants (Under 50 Foot-Candles)
Some rooms get almost no natural light at all. Windowless bathrooms, internal hallways, basement flats. If your space measures below 50 foot-candles, your options narrow, but they exist.
The cast iron plant (Aspidistra elatior) is the strongest pick for very low light indoor plants. It survives down to 10 foot-candles, which is barely enough to read by. The ZZ plant handles 50 foot-candles and may tolerate slightly less for short periods, though it will not grow much. Snake plants can survive at 50 foot-candles but start looking thin and pale below that.
Below 25 foot-candles, no plant truly thrives. You are in maintenance mode, keeping the plant alive rather than watching it grow. At that point, consider a small grow light to supplement what the room provides. Even a basic LED strip running a few hours a day can push a 20 foot-candle spot into viable range.
If you are not ready for a grow light, rotate plants between your dark spot and a brighter room every few weeks. Two weeks in the hallway, two weeks near a window. It is not ideal, but it keeps the plant recovering rather than declining.
Easy Indoor Plants That Also Handle Low Light
Several plants on this list overlap between “low light tolerant” and “hard to kill.” If you are choosing your first houseplant, or you travel frequently and forget to water, these are the ones to start with.
The ZZ plant, pothos, and snake plant form the easy indoor plants trifecta. All three tolerate irregular watering, handle dry air from central heating, and survive in 50-150 foot-candles without complaint. You could water any of them once a fortnight and they would be fine.
The cast iron plant and Chinese evergreen also qualify as easy care, though they are less commonly sold in garden centres. Both handle neglect well, and the cast iron plant in particular seems to actively prefer being left alone. Overattention (too much water, too much fertiliser) causes more problems than under-attention.
If you want a broader introduction to growing plants indoors, the beginners’ guide covers soil, watering schedules, and common mistakes in more detail.
How to Help Low Light Plants Grow Indoors
Low light plants survive in dim conditions, but a few adjustments help them do more than survive.
Water less often. Plants in low light use less water because photosynthesis slows down. The soil stays damp longer. In bright light you might water a pothos weekly; in 75 foot-candles, every 10-14 days is enough. Always check the soil before watering rather than following a fixed schedule.
Cut back on fertiliser. Feed at half strength, and only during spring and summer when growth picks up. In winter, most low light plants barely grow at all, and fertiliser just builds up as salt in the soil. Once a month with a balanced liquid feed (diluted to half the label dose) is plenty.
Clean the leaves. Dust blocks what little light reaches the plant. Wipe leaves with a damp cloth every few weeks. This sounds minor, but for a plant running on 80 foot-candles, a layer of dust can meaningfully reduce the light it absorbs.
Rotate regularly. Plants lean toward their light source. Give the pot a quarter-turn every time you water so growth stays even. Without rotation, low light plants develop a permanent lean that gets worse over time.
Accept slower growth. A pothos in bright indirect light might grow 30cm of vine per month. In low light, expect 5-10cm. That is normal, not a sign of a problem. If the leaves stay green and firm, the plant is healthy. Slow growth in dim conditions is not failure; it is the plant doing exactly what it should.