Indoor Plant Lighting For, Thriving Plants

From watering, fertilizing, and repotting to fighting off diseases and pests, there’s a lot to monitor when it comes to raising happy, healthy indoor plants. But most plant issues stem from one thing (or lack thereof): light. Light enables plants to photosynthesize, which creates the sugars they need to grow and thrive. It’s no exaggeration to say that light is a plant’s lifeblood—no matter what their preferred environmental conditions, they quite literally can’t survive without it.

If you’re concerned about the light conditions in your home or apartment, you’ve come to the right place. 

various types of plants prefer different lighting conditions based on their natural habitat. Succulents and cacti, for example, are native to deserts and extremely dry climates and therefore love hours of sunlight and minimal watering. Tropical plants like ferns, bird of paradise, and philodendrons, on the other hand, prefer bright, indirect light and more frequent watering in order to mimic a rainforest environment. Here’s how to position different plants for each type of lighting condition.

Direct light

Plants native to wide, open terrains like cacti, herbs, and many succulents fall into this category. Generally it’s best to aim for six or more hours of direct sun, meaning the sun’s rays are hitting the plant’s leaves, each day. The type of placement to obtain this lighting is somewhat limited for indoor plants.
– Place your plant within a few feet of the window where it can soak up as much direct sunlight as possible.

– For theses that need more hours we advise putting them Outdoor. For Example Potted Roses, Hibiscus, Desert Roses, Herbs among others.

Bright indirect light

Plants that gain height as they grow, like climbing vines, small trees, and cane-type plants generally enjoy bright indirect light. Many houseplants that fall into this category are native to tropical rainforests, where they grow high enough to gather bright light but are still protected from direct sun thanks to larger trees overhead. A few examples of plants that enjoy this environment are Heartleaf Philodendron, Dracaena, and most Ficus species. There are many options to recreate this in your home:
–  Place your plant very close to the window. For such plants within a few feet of the window, they will receive some direct sunlight either in the morning or late afternoon, which is OK since the sun’s rays are far less intense when it’s low in the sky.

– Your Orchids , Peace lily ,palms among others will thrive in this positioning.

Medium indirect light

Many low-growing tropical houseplants like ferns, calatheas, and pothos do great in medium indirect light. These types of plants have evolved to thrive on a forest floor, where light is abundant but highly filtered through the canopy of trees, vines, and shrubs overhead. The guidelines to recreate this in your home follow the patterns of bright indirect light but allow placement farther from a window:

Low Light

Some hardier plants that prefer indirect light are also adaptable to low light. A few examples of plants that can tolerate low light include the ZZ plant, pothos, and snake plant. If you have small windows, windows that are obstructed by buildings or trees, or are dealing with only artificial lighting, you’ll want to seek out plants in this category. These types of plants actually prefer brighter conditions, but can tolerate less-than-ideal conditions such as low light. Keep in mind that plants in low light will not need nearly as much water, since they are able to photosynthesize far less.

Is Your Plant Getting The Right Amount Of Light?

Fortunately, your plant will tell you if it’s getting too much or too little sunlight. Those with not enough light will grow slowly, if at all, and sport sickly, light green leaves that seem to reach for the sun. You might even notice your plant’s stem “stretching,” or growing long and spindly, in its attempt to get closer to a light source. On the other hand, plants exposed to too much sunlight may begin to turn purple or red, have brown tips and edges, or develop sun-scalded spots that look bleached or white.

Tolerating a different light means the plants will hold their shape and color for a long time, but will grow very slowly and probably not thrive.