Lighting: What plants are suited to low light conditions in a BioActive enclosure?

It can be hard to incorporate plants into your BioActive enclosure, especially when your animal prefers low light conditions. In this blog post, we are going to give a quick summary of why not all plants can endure a low-lighting-type setting and highlight three plants that do well in an enclosure with low lighting.

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Why can't we plant any plant in our reptiles enclosure?

There tend to be a few reasons why plants tend to fail in a BioActive enclosure. One of the most persistent and often overlooked reasons is lighting, or the lack of proper light for the plant to thrive.

Not all plants are suited for low light conditions. These plants cannot survive because they require high light intensity to drive photosynthesis, producing the food necessary to thrive. Without adequate light, these plants cannot generate enough energy, leading to starvation, metabolic stress, leggy/stretching stems, pale foliage, and death.

Plants suited for low-light conditions are typically found in the forest understory naturally. These plants have high levels of chlorophyll, large leaves to capture sunlight filtering down through the canopy, and a slower metabolism. These adaptations allow them to photosynthesize in dim conditions. Below are my top three plants for a low-light BioActive enclosure!

Pothos,Epipremnum aureum:

Pothos has been a long-loved plant family in the reptile-keeping world! This hardy plant has many different variations and can tolerate, if not thrive in, a wide array of care conditions, including dim lighting. This vine is often used when a keeper wants a vine that will fill in a space. It is important to note that not all variations of pothos will be happy in low light conditions; any pothos with white or yellow variegation will revert the variegation to green when exposed to low light.

Parlor Palm, Chamaedorea elegans:

The Parlor Palm is one of our favorite low-light plants to recommend for taller low-light BioActive enclosures. This Plant get's it's name from the Victorian period and the dim parlors it would be kept in! This plant spreads via bulbs and can easily be split up to spread throughout your enclosure!

Draceanea Janet Craig, Draceanea compacta:

Not all Species of Draceanea are suited for low-light conditions. Luckily for us the Draceanea compacta isn't one of those! This plant is very popular with crested gecko keepers because of its sturdy leaves and bushy nature. This plant can tollerate low-light conditions without fail.