Light in a room is usually measured in foot-candles (ft-c). There needs to be a minimum of 75-100 ft-c in order for low light interior plants to survive. High light plants require 1000 ft-c or more. It used to be easy to measure the light in your rooms with the light meter attachment from your camera.

Now, since we all use digital cameras with built in light meters, we no longer have this option. So try using this approach. If you have a spot in your home where you can read a book during the day without turning on the light, a live plant can usually live there. If there is not enough light to read a book, you should consider an artificial plant.

Next Section: Light Sources