Add life to the shadiest corners of your home with these indoor plants that don’t need sun yet offer practical benefits for a healthy environment!
While it’s a no-brainer that plants need sunlight to photosynthesize, certain varieties can do surprisingly well, even with less. Just like these indoor plants don’t need much sun and can brighten up even the dimmest corners or spots with just the usual indirect light most homes get.
Indoor Plants That Don’t Need Sun At All
By ‘no sun at all’, we don’t mean the absence of direct sunlight. Also, it’s a good idea to shift them to indirect sunlight every few weeks to ensure healthy growth!
1. Spider Plant
The variegated leaves of this resilient beauty are quite sensitive to direct sunlight, which can scorch and fade their vibrant patterns. It’s best to position it in low-light areas where it not only thrives but purifies the air, efficiently eliminating common household toxins.
2. Zz Plant
Known for its lush, waxy leaves, the ZZ Plant suffers in direct sunlight, showing signs like yellowed and curled foliage. Also, it’s incredibly forgiving if you forget to water it now and then, making it ideal for both busy offices and low-light areas of your home.
3. Cast Iron Plant
This one earns its name from its nearly indestructible nature unless you corner it at a sunny windowsill. Its lush, dark green leaves grow slowly and can reach up to two feet in length, perfect for livening up the dimly lit corners of a room.
4. Chinese Evergreen
Although it is rare for a variegated plant like Chinese Evergreen to dislike sunlight, it stands out with its multiple varieties. Plus, they’re compact enough to fit perfectly on a tabletop, no matter how dim the room is!
5. Lucky Bamboo
Lucky bamboo stands out as a token of good fortune and hence grabs a place on work desks or in drawing rooms. Plus, low-light tolerance makes it a tailored fit for such spots, as even a few hours of direct sunlight can crisp out its edges.
6. Boston Fern
Ideal for bathrooms or kitchens, these ferns excel in cool places with high humidity and indirect light. In fact, direct sunlight exposure can dry out their lush fronds, leading to brown patches and crispy edges.
7. Prayer Plant
If you have a taste for textured foliage, prayer plants can be your pick. Plus, they have this unique nyctinastic behavior that flourishes best in medium to low-lit areas.
8. Maidenhair Fern
This delicate fern prefers shadows to sunlight. Bright, direct light can quickly damage its soft, lacy fronds. Plus, its love for humid spots and moist medium makes it an exquisite choice for low-light shower rooms or kitchens.
9. Parlor Palm
The Parlor Palm is one of those very few palms that prefer shaded areas over the harshness of direct sunlight, which can otherwise scorch its leaves. Its lacy fronds are the epitome of tropical understatement, livening up the darker areas of your home or office effortlessly.
10. Philodendron
Philodendrons comprise a wide range of specimens that are favored for their adaptability to not-so-bright conditions. In fact, direct sunlight can fade the variegated ones and lead to dry patches on their glossy foliage. Also, some exhibit smart trailing habits, ideal for moss poles or draping against any vertical support.
11. Peace Lily
This forgiving houseplant is perfect for those who may not have a naturally green thumb, yet want one to grace their hall. And if you have a shady one, this one comes as a boon with a preference for low-lit rooms. Its ability to clean the indoor air of toxins such as ammonia and formaldehyde definitely adds to the pros.
12. Pothos
Pothos is a go-to choice for most urban plant parents who value lush, robust growth but must manage with limited direct sunlight, as is often the case in apartment or condo living. Also, this plant comes in handy with those trailing vines, perfect for draping over shelves or climbing along a trellis, adapting well to medium or low light.
13. Snake Plant
Tough as nails, the Snake Plant is nearly indestructible and thrives in forget-me-not corners with little light. Although it enjoys indirect sunlight, direct beams can cause its tips to turn an unsightly yellow or even brown, so it is wiser rather to place it in the shady corners of your home.
Fun Fact: It’s a NASA-verified air purifier, working overtime to strip toxins like benzene and formaldehyde from your home environment.
14. Aloe Vera
Hyped for its skin-soothing gel, aloe vera is a must-have for any low-light kitchen window sill. It not only beautifies the space but also provides a handy burn remedy. The succulent leaves are highly sensitive to sunlight and can quickly develop a sunburnt appearance with just a few hours of direct exposure.
