Low light indoor plants that really cope

The University of Illinois Extension sets low light at about 75 foot-candles: a few feet back from a north window, 3 to 10 feet from an east or west one, or 15 to 20 feet from a south window. A room corner far from any window can fall well below that, which no plant tolerates for long without a grow light.

Not on room lighting alone, in most homes. Clemson HGIC puts the minimum at about 100 foot-candles for 12 hours a day just to maintain a plant for a year. Ordinary ceiling lights rarely deliver that at plant height. A grow light on a timer, or swapping the plant with one from a window every few weeks, keeps it alive.

Because tolerating low light is not the same as growing in it. In dim spots, stems stretch toward the window, new leaves come in smaller and variegated forms turn greener. Move the plant closer to the glass over a week or two; the stretched stems will not shorten, but you can cut them back and new growth will be compact.

Yes, noticeably. Clemson HGIC notes that a plant in a cool, low-light spot needs water less often than one in a warm, sunny place, because it grows and transpires less. In the watering calculator, choosing low light stretches the range by about half compared with bright indirect light. Overwatering kills far more dim-room plants than darkness does.

Among the plants on this page, the ASPCA lists Boston fern and cast iron plant and haworthia and parlor palm and peperomia and prayer plant and spider plant as non-toxic to cats. The snake plant, ZZ plant, pothos, philodendron and peace lily all tolerate dim rooms but are toxic to cats according to the ASPCA or, for the ZZ plant, extension sources.

Directly in front of it, no: the University of Illinois Extension rates that spot as medium light, about 150 foot-candles. A few feet back from a north window drops to low light. North light is steady and never scorching, which suits shade-tolerant foliage plants; flowering plants and succulents usually want more.