As a New Yorker living in one of many buildings competing for natural light with many other buildings, my solution to the darker corners of my apartment, including my north-facing windows, has been plants and plant lights. They bring both life and light into our home.

The leafier plants have been easy to keep alive in my apartment jungle, but with the right plant light I've found that most plants I bring home can thrive in dark places. So really any plant works, but not just any plant light.

The traditional plant light emits a red or purple glow, and in addition to being aesthetically displeasing I also find them ineffective. Soltech lights have been my go-to. This isn’t an ad; I just really like these lights, and I haven’t found anything yet comparable to them. My Dracaena, ZZ, Elephant Ears and Pothos are thriving.

1. A Plant Light

As mentioned, I recommend Soltech. Unless your indoor plant is next to a south-facing window, your plant may need some extra help through plant lights—I was in denial about this for ages and lost many good plants along the way. My ZZ doubled in size with this light source.

Soltech lights come with their own hardware so you can hang them from your ceiling, like pendant lights. I use a tension rod because I rent my NYC apartment.

If Soltech is a bit out of your budget, I am equally obsessed with this cute planter on Amazon (see pic below) that also lights up my dark corners. I keep this light in my family home as a night light. Still thinking of shopping around? Also check out this affordable LED grow light.

2. A Tension Rod or Floor Lamp (for renters)

As a renter and to avoid making holes in the ceiling/walls in my NYC apartment, I use these tension rods to hang my plant lights. I got them from Amazon, and they were easy to set up and perfect for this use. I have also tried using a floor lamp from Amazon (see picture below), and instead of installing the electric wiring/bulb I just wrapped the plant light around it. Do be careful—these do-it-yourself industrial floor lamps can come a little greasy from the pipe grease, but nothing a bit of wiping down didn’t fix.

3. Leafy Plants

My carnivorous plants, ferns, olive tree, succulents, air plants and dark leafy greens have enjoyed this setup. I’ll be trying the more finicky flowering plants next. I love going on Etsy to find my plants, but check the reviews and be careful who you buy from lest you inadvertently bring plant pests into your home. Bloomscape can be a bit pricey, but it is my fail-safe. Each plant I’ve bought from them has thrived in this setup—my Prayer Plant has bloomed multiple times. I also didn’t realize Elephant Ears could flower, but it did! (I got the Elephant Ears at The Sill in NYC.)

Are you also tending to your green ones in the dark corners of your home? Lighting up a dark corner brings me so much joy. Send a pic if you’d like to share your space!