Monstera deliciosa will grow quite well in up to 70% shade, as will most other vining aroids. Orchids also spring immediately to mind, since I have to generate extra artificial shade for mine (then again, I have no winter and grow almost exclusively Ecuadorian species.)
peace lily, spider plant, sanseveria, syngonium (does better in bright light, yet will still do well in low light), most draceana and especially 'lucky bamboo'
My main indoor and best I've had is Raphis excelsa (Lady Palm) and Ptychosperma palms (most young palms actually), also for flowering Eucharis sp. do really well, Clivia but they need reasonable light. Aglaonema and Dieffenbachia are good foliage plants that do well in limited light. Most ferns do well but need a little extra watering and misting. I have Nepenthes (pitcher plants) in pretty low, indirect light positions. Some species of Aloe (A. variegata, A. humilis, A. aristata), Gasteria, Haworthia, Echeveria, Crassula do better in shade than sun. Calathea and Bromeliad give nice colour indoors.
One Dracaenas, such as Warnecki manages to thrive in deep low light areas... Kentia Palms too, but watch for mealy bugs!
My Dieffenbachia (dumb cane) wasn't thriving in an east facing window, so I moved it to a room that has bright light in the afternoon, and it's now green and lush. I also have an Algonema (Chinese Evergreen) and Spathiphyllum (Peace Lily) on the same shelf. It's up high and the tops of the leaves actually touch the ceiling, so they don't get much light at all, but they really love it there. My spider plants prefer more light than that, but I'm sure they wouldn't mind being in a darker room. One of my Sansieveria (Spelling??) is in the darkest corner of my house, and so far so good, but I'll see how it continues there, as it's only been in this placement for a little over a week or two.
My condo is north-facing and the following plants have done well, even away from windows: diffenbachia, dracaena marginata, phal orchids, peace lilly, chinese evergreen, monstera, various ivies. Like another poster said, my monstera gets no direct like whatsoever, and seems to do quite well. It's growth has slowed since I put it in the shade, but if you've owned one before, you'll know that that's a good thing!
Thank you, KBaron. I noticed this is a mostly West-Coast dominated site, which is not surprising, considering how much better your growing conditions generally are. I also forgot to add ficus elastica to the list of low-light plants. It seems to do quite well in medium to low light.
Thanks for answering. I am from the east cost, Well really from Pennsylvania. I am very concern with the Sick Building Sindrome, our houses here are about 170 years old in an average. so I am concern with everything inside the house. Walls carpets etc, so I am trying to create "inside gardens" to clean the enviornment. I read about NASA trying to do this in their buildings and other scenarios, they are even thinking and developing plants to take to the moon and Mars. This is very interesting. Keep posting I love it.
Things that have been doing extremeley well in a north facing room away from a window are ;Clivia, Canella, large leaved Philodendrons, Pothos, Norfolk Pines, ZZ plant, Sanseiveria,Agleonema, Aspidistra, Dracaena, Codonathe, Spider plants. There are quite a few more, Hope this helps.
Norfolk Island pine is not really a pine, it's Araucaria heterophylla. Sub-tropical. It will only survive outside in warm climate areas.
We grow the Araucaria as Christmas trees (Cook Island Pines Araucaria columnaris, have softer foliage and are better for potted specimen). They last well in pots and do okay in sheltered spots but really do need full sun. A month indoors for the season doesn't hurt them. A few years ago I was working at a nursery selling some with artificial snow sprayed on them... It kinda looked weird and I got a comment from an overseas visitor that they looked like they'd been through a severe snowstorm :} (All for just an extra $20 too - it was special stuff, according to the wholesaler)
Indoor Plants at home & Office. At Home, semi shade works well, however at home at night lights are switched off. hence I use zero watt green bulb at night. Room temperature also plays its part I can send you a list of plants with temperature required In Offices, use of florescent lights during the day, is not enough for growth Specially when office lights are switched. Use zero Watt bulbs near the plants I can also speak of Infra Red/Ultra Lights on Plants and Birds on receipt of your reply B. Shah shahwin at gmail.com
I am an Organic Gardener, use no chemicals. Pests will vanish easily Just peel an Onion, cut small pieces, bury a small piece 2 inch deep in the soil, put at least 2/3 pieces. It will make the plant immune to pests B. Shah Organic Gardener shahwin at gmail.com
