Planty 101 Light, Part 2! ☀️💡 Good evening all my plant...
Planty 101 Light, Part 2! ☀️💡
Good evening all my planty friends. 🌿 I am back with science, and Light, Part 2. Light is so important it gets two parts, and I’m just scratching the surface here! ☀️
Let’s just refresh the basics, as I said last time that light is food for plants, I realized not everyone may know the process, which is called photosynthesis. In simple terms, plants need a certain amount of sunlight particles (photons), carbon dioxide and water molecules to be able to make their own food, an energy-rich planty sugar (glucose), and, luckily for us, the by-product of this process is oxygen, which we all need to breathe. So, if you deprive your plant of light, you deprive it of food.
Okay! But now there are steps. You can’t just go blasting your plant with direct sunshine when it has had none before (it will burn, even a cactus!), and also the direction that your windows face is important, because there is a different level of intensity from each direction. There are also different levels of light (and intensity of such) throughout the day AND throughout the year.
In the Northern Hemisphere, windows (unobstructed) facing:
SOUTH: these will have the most and brightest light, with plenty of direct sun
NORTH: these will have zero direct sun, and the least amount of light of all directions
EAST: direct but gentle morning sun, indirect light the rest of the day
WEST: have direct afternoon sun, which is more intense and hotter than morning sun, but has indirect light for the morning
📝 **If you’re in the Southern Hemisphere, south and north windows are switched, with south having the least amount of light, and north the most. East and west stay the same.**
There are many more factors that influence the light coming through your window, such as window size, 🪟 window type (single pane? Double pane? Frosted?), and any obstructions like large trees 🌲 or buildings 🏢 nearby. Different plants like different amounts and intensity of light, so you must research your plant to figure out what window it might like best. Southern (or Northern in the southern hemisphere) windows are a blessing to have because while they are great for sun loving plants, you can also reduce the amount of light with sheer curtains to grow a wider variety of plants. 🌱🌵🪴
Selecting houseplants should be based on the light you have, and not the other way around. **Except if you have grow lights. If you only use grow lights, you will only have to figure out how far away from them your plant can be for optimal growth, and for how many hours per day, and you can measure this with your light meter and be happy in the knowledge that that amount will not change while the grow light is operational.** But if you’re using natural light only, you must figure out exactly what spot(s)in your house gives them the best amount of light throughout the day with the best level of intensity, and depending on the season. The sun’s path across the sky changes throughout the year in varying degrees. I find that in the fall/winter is when I risk too much light for certain plants because the sun is lower in the sky and blasting straight into my windows. But, as soon as my plants have acclimated to that sun, the majority of my collection gets all the winter sunshine they can.
Why the distance from your windows 🪟 or grow lights 💡 matters.
How far away is your plant from a window (or grow light)? In simple terms: The light intensity dramatically drops the farther you get away from a window. If you want to get nerdy, this is the inverse square law in regards to light: Light intensity decreases with the square of the distance from the source. The following is Rafelle di Lallo’s (Book-The Houseplant Warrior) light reading experiment (This is also true for those using the lux system because the percentages are the same):
The light meter reading from a point almost touching his south facing window on a sunny day, indoors: 1500 Foot candles
1 foot away: 900 FC (40% reduction!)
2 feet away: 330 FC (78% reduction from initial reading)
3 feet away: 180 FC (88% reduction from initial reading)
4 feet away: 100 FC (93% reduction from initial reading)
So a general rule of thumb, especially for beginners, is to place your plant within 1 or 2 feet from your window, depending on the plant and the window. And if you remember from my last post that 200 FC is “low light,” di Lallo’s experiment showed that 3 feet away from his southern facing window on a sunny day was LESS than the minimum for low light. The reason I use grow lights everywhere? When I put my light meter almost touching my south facing window, in the winter, in the pacific northwest, it reads 188 FC 🤦🏼♀️ . They don’t call it the long dark wet for nothing! 🌧️
Indoor vs Outdoor light intensity and acclimating plants to their spots
I hope you can see now why it’s best to keep our plants within a few feet of our windows. That plant that is 12 feet away from the window is straight up not having a good time. So here’s a thing about the intensity of light, inside vs outside. Today, in the winter, the spot touching my south facing window measured 188 FC. But when I went outside, and measured the spot touching the outside of my south facing window my reading was 417 FC. PASSING THROUGH MY WINDOW the light decreased by 55%. Because as the light hits the window it gets reflected and refracted. Our homes are considerably darker than outside, and your concern should be mostly about giving your plants ENOUGH light. Indoors, it is really hard to overdo it on the light.
But have you ever had a plant that got sunburned or bleached? It is totally possible, and I’ve seen loads of people read their data wrong and make statements like, “I guess this rubber plant/string of pearls/cactus/FILL IN THE BLANK doesn’t actually like full sun.” shrug. Well, buckle up baby, because we’re going to talk about acclimation. This is how gradually or abruptly you increase the light levels for your plant. You will also hear this referred to as “hardening off” in the outdoor gardening world. If you’ve had a plant shipped to you in a dark box 📦 , or a plant that has lived indoors for a while, you will need to SLOWLY introduce higher light levels to it. If you put a plant that has lived inside its whole life suddenly outside in the sunshine? It will burn, totally hate life, and might just give up on you. It has inside leaves. (Leaves that are sprouted and grown outside will be acclimated to outdoor light) If you’re moving it outside you must first move it into full shade outdoors, FOR DAYS, and then gradually creep it closer and closer to sunshine. Same for moving plants around inside. If you’ve realized you need to give your plant MUCH more light? Creep it closer to brighter light gradually! I really like how Rafelle di Lallo puts it, he says, “I have a pale complexion…often pasty white in the winter. What would happen if I were to suddenly go the beach without a base tan and without sunscreen? …You have to gradually increase the light… think of it as developing your plants’ base tan.”
Years and years ago this is how I killed my fiddle leaf fig. I went “oh SH*T you need WAY more light!” and moved it right next to my window, and then it 🖕🏼 and died 🪦 on me.
How to tell if your plant needs more light?
-you won’t see much growth
-the growth you do see may be a lot smaller
-fading or dull leaf patterns, variegated plants losing variegation
-stretching, leggy growth (etiolation)
You can: move them closer to the window, change to a different window exposure, add mirrors, or add full spectrum grow lights. (Did you know that if the wall behind your plant is painted green, then it won’t reflect ANY useful light on your plant because plants cannot use green light?)
How to tell if your plant is getting too much light?
-sunburned, bleached out or white areas where the sunlight touches the leaves
-leaves curling in on themselves, trying to conserve water (this could be other things though)
You can add blinds, sheer curtains, holographic window film, or move your plant a little further from the window.
The myth of “low light plants.”
These poor plants are labeled as such because they want you to buy them. Snake plants? ZZ plants? Pothos? These plants LOVE higher light. But they are just better at slowly dying in a graceful way. It’s not that they “need” low light. It’s that they will TOLERATE it better than other plants. But please give them better light. ☀️ They will be so much happier.
Join me next time and we will “dig” into Roots and soil Structure. 🤭
Links 🔗: Planty 101 Light, part 1: https://greg.app/post/e3418/planty-101-light-part-1-helloooo-planty-friends-i-am-back-with-planty-1011-while-my-first-post-was
#brunchataudreys #TheWateringHole #happyplants #hoya #Greggers #greggang #newgrowth #prayerplant #hoyahangout #TradescantiaNanouk #CalatheaCorner #AlocasiaAddicts #SucculentSquad #CactusClique #BegoniaBunch #DreamMachine #MonsteraMonday #Philodendron #tipsandtricks #EcoTherapy #crazyplantlady #PlantingOnABudget #PlantsMakePeopleHappy #PlantTherapy #PlantAddict #plantfriendsarethebestfriends #adhdplantlovers #planty101.
Good evening all my planty friends. 🌿 I am back with science, and Light, Part 2. Light is so important it gets two parts, and I’m just scratching the surface here! ☀️
Let’s just refresh the basics, as I said last time that light is food for plants, I realized not everyone may know the process, which is called photosynthesis. In simple terms, plants need a certain amount of sunlight particles (photons), carbon dioxide and water molecules to be able to make their own food, an energy-rich planty sugar (glucose), and, luckily for us, the by-product of this process is oxygen, which we all need to breathe. So, if you deprive your plant of light, you deprive it of food.
Okay! But now there are steps. You can’t just go blasting your plant with direct sunshine when it has had none before (it will burn, even a cactus!), and also the direction that your windows face is important, because there is a different level of intensity from each direction. There are also different levels of light (and intensity of such) throughout the day AND throughout the year.
In the Northern Hemisphere, windows (unobstructed) facing:
SOUTH: these will have the most and brightest light, with plenty of direct sun
NORTH: these will have zero direct sun, and the least amount of light of all directions
EAST: direct but gentle morning sun, indirect light the rest of the day
WEST: have direct afternoon sun, which is more intense and hotter than morning sun, but has indirect light for the morning
📝 **If you’re in the Southern Hemisphere, south and north windows are switched, with south having the least amount of light, and north the most. East and west stay the same.**
There are many more factors that influence the light coming through your window, such as window size, 🪟 window type (single pane? Double pane? Frosted?), and any obstructions like large trees 🌲 or buildings 🏢 nearby. Different plants like different amounts and intensity of light, so you must research your plant to figure out what window it might like best. Southern (or Northern in the southern hemisphere) windows are a blessing to have because while they are great for sun loving plants, you can also reduce the amount of light with sheer curtains to grow a wider variety of plants. 🌱🌵🪴
Selecting houseplants should be based on the light you have, and not the other way around. **Except if you have grow lights. If you only use grow lights, you will only have to figure out how far away from them your plant can be for optimal growth, and for how many hours per day, and you can measure this with your light meter and be happy in the knowledge that that amount will not change while the grow light is operational.** But if you’re using natural light only, you must figure out exactly what spot(s)in your house gives them the best amount of light throughout the day with the best level of intensity, and depending on the season. The sun’s path across the sky changes throughout the year in varying degrees. I find that in the fall/winter is when I risk too much light for certain plants because the sun is lower in the sky and blasting straight into my windows. But, as soon as my plants have acclimated to that sun, the majority of my collection gets all the winter sunshine they can.
Why the distance from your windows 🪟 or grow lights 💡 matters.
How far away is your plant from a window (or grow light)? In simple terms: The light intensity dramatically drops the farther you get away from a window. If you want to get nerdy, this is the inverse square law in regards to light: Light intensity decreases with the square of the distance from the source. The following is Rafelle di Lallo’s (Book-The Houseplant Warrior) light reading experiment (This is also true for those using the lux system because the percentages are the same):
The light meter reading from a point almost touching his south facing window on a sunny day, indoors: 1500 Foot candles
1 foot away: 900 FC (40% reduction!)
2 feet away: 330 FC (78% reduction from initial reading)
3 feet away: 180 FC (88% reduction from initial reading)
4 feet away: 100 FC (93% reduction from initial reading)
So a general rule of thumb, especially for beginners, is to place your plant within 1 or 2 feet from your window, depending on the plant and the window. And if you remember from my last post that 200 FC is “low light,” di Lallo’s experiment showed that 3 feet away from his southern facing window on a sunny day was LESS than the minimum for low light. The reason I use grow lights everywhere? When I put my light meter almost touching my south facing window, in the winter, in the pacific northwest, it reads 188 FC 🤦🏼♀️ . They don’t call it the long dark wet for nothing! 🌧️
Indoor vs Outdoor light intensity and acclimating plants to their spots
I hope you can see now why it’s best to keep our plants within a few feet of our windows. That plant that is 12 feet away from the window is straight up not having a good time. So here’s a thing about the intensity of light, inside vs outside. Today, in the winter, the spot touching my south facing window measured 188 FC. But when I went outside, and measured the spot touching the outside of my south facing window my reading was 417 FC. PASSING THROUGH MY WINDOW the light decreased by 55%. Because as the light hits the window it gets reflected and refracted. Our homes are considerably darker than outside, and your concern should be mostly about giving your plants ENOUGH light. Indoors, it is really hard to overdo it on the light.
But have you ever had a plant that got sunburned or bleached? It is totally possible, and I’ve seen loads of people read their data wrong and make statements like, “I guess this rubber plant/string of pearls/cactus/FILL IN THE BLANK doesn’t actually like full sun.” shrug. Well, buckle up baby, because we’re going to talk about acclimation. This is how gradually or abruptly you increase the light levels for your plant. You will also hear this referred to as “hardening off” in the outdoor gardening world. If you’ve had a plant shipped to you in a dark box 📦 , or a plant that has lived indoors for a while, you will need to SLOWLY introduce higher light levels to it. If you put a plant that has lived inside its whole life suddenly outside in the sunshine? It will burn, totally hate life, and might just give up on you. It has inside leaves. (Leaves that are sprouted and grown outside will be acclimated to outdoor light) If you’re moving it outside you must first move it into full shade outdoors, FOR DAYS, and then gradually creep it closer and closer to sunshine. Same for moving plants around inside. If you’ve realized you need to give your plant MUCH more light? Creep it closer to brighter light gradually! I really like how Rafelle di Lallo puts it, he says, “I have a pale complexion…often pasty white in the winter. What would happen if I were to suddenly go the beach without a base tan and without sunscreen? …You have to gradually increase the light… think of it as developing your plants’ base tan.”
Years and years ago this is how I killed my fiddle leaf fig. I went “oh SH*T you need WAY more light!” and moved it right next to my window, and then it 🖕🏼 and died 🪦 on me.
How to tell if your plant needs more light?
-you won’t see much growth
-the growth you do see may be a lot smaller
-fading or dull leaf patterns, variegated plants losing variegation
-stretching, leggy growth (etiolation)
You can: move them closer to the window, change to a different window exposure, add mirrors, or add full spectrum grow lights. (Did you know that if the wall behind your plant is painted green, then it won’t reflect ANY useful light on your plant because plants cannot use green light?)
How to tell if your plant is getting too much light?
-sunburned, bleached out or white areas where the sunlight touches the leaves
-leaves curling in on themselves, trying to conserve water (this could be other things though)
You can add blinds, sheer curtains, holographic window film, or move your plant a little further from the window.
The myth of “low light plants.”
These poor plants are labeled as such because they want you to buy them. Snake plants? ZZ plants? Pothos? These plants LOVE higher light. But they are just better at slowly dying in a graceful way. It’s not that they “need” low light. It’s that they will TOLERATE it better than other plants. But please give them better light. ☀️ They will be so much happier.
Join me next time and we will “dig” into Roots and soil Structure. 🤭
Links 🔗: Planty 101 Light, part 1: https://greg.app/post/e3418/planty-101-light-part-1-helloooo-planty-friends-i-am-back-with-planty-1011-while-my-first-post-was
#brunchataudreys #TheWateringHole #happyplants #hoya #Greggers #greggang #newgrowth #prayerplant #hoyahangout #TradescantiaNanouk #CalatheaCorner #AlocasiaAddicts #SucculentSquad #CactusClique #BegoniaBunch #DreamMachine #MonsteraMonday #Philodendron #tipsandtricks #EcoTherapy #crazyplantlady #PlantingOnABudget #PlantsMakePeopleHappy #PlantTherapy #PlantAddict #plantfriendsarethebestfriends #adhdplantlovers #planty101.
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Tags 🏷️:
@princesspitstop @idplantthat @jho @CutePolypremum @Dawgfreak @FunDeathcap83 @ZappyLilac84 @FitBrowallia @RefinedSandwort @Luckeecharm1 @IWantThatPlant @ToMuchPlants @BonusTaraire85 @MamaLinne @MariansOasis @MockingJay @StableKale82 @MusicalRedmint @Taylor702 @Luckeecharm1 @UberCoccoon22 @Ada3 @ZappyLilac84 @KeyCoccoon45 @DearBlinks58 @SweetAzurebluet @Sassylimey @FreshMirabilis @BogBody @HolyLacealoe @LightIceplant28 @Leafylulu770 @Uzi
Please let me know if you’d like to be added to my tags, and get notified of these posts 🩶🌿
@princesspitstop @idplantthat @jho @CutePolypremum @Dawgfreak @FunDeathcap83 @ZappyLilac84 @FitBrowallia @RefinedSandwort @Luckeecharm1 @IWantThatPlant @ToMuchPlants @BonusTaraire85 @MamaLinne @MariansOasis @MockingJay @StableKale82 @MusicalRedmint @Taylor702 @Luckeecharm1 @UberCoccoon22 @Ada3 @ZappyLilac84 @KeyCoccoon45 @DearBlinks58 @SweetAzurebluet @Sassylimey @FreshMirabilis @BogBody @HolyLacealoe @LightIceplant28 @Leafylulu770 @Uzi
Please let me know if you’d like to be added to my tags, and get notified of these posts 🩶🌿
@HolyLacealoe Yay!! 🙌🏼 🥰 I’m so glad to hear that because sometimes I can go off on rambly side quests, but tonight I told myself, “just get it out there!”
I’ve also made a post to keep all my 101 posts listed and linked if you want it!
I’ve also made a post to keep all my 101 posts listed and linked if you want it!
@HolyLacealoe ok I just tagged you in it, but just in case it doesn’t work, and for anyone else who wants it, that post of collected posts can be found here: https://greg.app/post/pftvn/just-making-a-post-for-links-for-my-planty101-dont-mind-meand-to-go-full-inception-the-link-to-this
Great job! I love growing my plants indoor with #GrowLights . I create "indirect light" by making a canopy over plants that needs less light with plants above that need more light.
It was a learning curve with the lights because I "maybe" went overboard with the lights originally years ago 🤣
Plants CAN get sunburn from grow lights 🫣. RIP aglaonemas 🤦🏿♀️🤣
It was a learning curve with the lights because I "maybe" went overboard with the lights originally years ago 🤣
Plants CAN get sunburn from grow lights 🫣. RIP aglaonemas 🤦🏿♀️🤣
This is fantastic. I love all the scientific details- it really helps me visualize what’s happening under the hood, so to speak! Thank you so much for taking the time to do this! 💚 I had an interesting experiment gone wrong lately- I have a laundry rooms with an east facing window that I use for my “quarantine “ room for new plants. They loved it all summer. This winter? Many of them got burn marks! The angle of the sun has changed that much! It’s probably why the plants in my south and west facing window rooms are throwing off blooms, new leaves, etc. This is their sunniest time of year!
@DreamMachine Can I be added to the tags? 👀 Your posts are helping me out a ton as a newer plant owner!
@RefinedSandwort yay! Let me know if it doesn’t have instructions, I can help you figure out the buttons and functions 🎛️
@AwesomePlants yes they can! Good point! And even if you originally placed plants a good distance from the grow light, those silly things can stretch up and burn themselves! My xanthosoma got a sunburn before I noticed, luckily I got to it in time!
@MamaLinne yes absolutely! I have so many things in flower in the winter time 😂 And what a lot of people don’t realize is that many things that go “dormant” in their native habitat go dormant in the hot dry summer. Not everything or even most, just that “dormancy“ doesn’t automatically mean winter.
@AwesomePlants my grow lights turned on, so here is my silly xanthosoma’s grow light burn. This one I will have to monitor closely because she’s even now stretching this leaf back up to the light!
@HolyLacealoe and daughters and granddaughters are a most important reason! It’s part of the reason I’ve never moved away because my mom and sisters and niece and nephews and my daughter are all here mucking it out with me 🥰 How old are you granddaughters? 🤗
@DreamMachine Please say u have a section on humidifiers!! (i was gonna go over list of items to cover; then i rememvered to whom i was speaking!!! Lol. Love ya girl!!!
@BuffCaperspurge LOL, yes I will in my humidity section 😂 it will be after my next three soil, water, and fertilizer! Love ya too Girrrrl 🥰
@DreamMachine
Yup....our Peperomia is doing the same thing about reaching up enough towards a grow light that he'll eventually get sunburned.
He did inform me of that through intuition, but now it's time to take action and move the big fella!
Yup....our Peperomia is doing the same thing about reaching up enough towards a grow light that he'll eventually get sunburned.
He did inform me of that through intuition, but now it's time to take action and move the big fella!
@DreamMachine
Another awesome tip from dear Nadia...that a plant can become dormant in the middle of summer 🌞🏝️ and dormancy doesn't necessarily mean winter ☃️❄️ and the cold season!
I absolutely no idea!!!!! Thanks soooo much. I've been stressing over nothing 😟🤠😱
Another awesome tip from dear Nadia...that a plant can become dormant in the middle of summer 🌞🏝️ and dormancy doesn't necessarily mean winter ☃️❄️ and the cold season!
I absolutely no idea!!!!! Thanks soooo much. I've been stressing over nothing 😟🤠😱
@CutePolypremum yes! AND, just because a plant goes dormant in its natural habitat does not mean it has to go dormant in ours. Going dormant is a survival mechanism . So if we keep watering, feeding, and giving plenty of light there is no reason for any of our plants to go dormant! 🩶🌿
@DreamMachine
OMG 😲😲😲😲😲😲
REALLY?????
I always though that I was doing something wrong because none of The Tribe has ever gone dormant.
I have to bow down to you, Princess Nadia 🙆👸🌷
OMG 😲😲😲😲😲😲
REALLY?????
I always though that I was doing something wrong because none of The Tribe has ever gone dormant.
I have to bow down to you, Princess Nadia 🙆👸🌷
@CutePolypremum oh my goodness no! You are doing it RIGHT my dear 😁
Except for maybe not carnivorous plants? 🤔 But I have yet to have had much experience with them so I can’t say for sure on them!
Except for maybe not carnivorous plants? 🤔 But I have yet to have had much experience with them so I can’t say for sure on them!
Yessss ☀️☀️☀️
This is why I throw all of my plants outside in the spring. You really cannot compare the growth outside under the sun to growth inside with a grow light. My lights keep my succulents alive during the dark days of December and January, but the true growth happens when they go back outside.
This is why I throw all of my plants outside in the spring. You really cannot compare the growth outside under the sun to growth inside with a grow light. My lights keep my succulents alive during the dark days of December and January, but the true growth happens when they go back outside.
@ZappyLilac84 awesome!! She’s one of the few other plant persons that I think has great information. There’s only a couple things I do disagree with her on!!
@DreamMachine wow! Fantastic article and so well written! My southern exposure windows, the FC readings can be 2000+ FC depending on time of day. I know softening that light would help tremendously. I don’t want to permanently hang a sheer curtain (brand new shades in place 💸 $$) so I’d LOVE to see what others have done to help reduce the intensity of direct sun pouring in a window. One trouble spot is in a guest room where there’s one east window & one west window so we have shades to darken the room so guests can sleep. I’d love to find like a light filtering screen or something. I’ve considered making my own screen on rollers so I can move it when guests are here. All the suggestions I see on line say use sheer curtains or move 🪴 away. There’s got to be alternatives to sheer curtains or moving the plant. Anyway Great Post!!!! Looking forward to more 🙌👍🤗. Although how you find time to be a great mom and wife, work full time, care for all your plants and pets PLUS research and write ✍️ wonderful articles is beyond me! ⭐️💫🌠
@MariansOasis Aww, 🥰 thank you my dear. I have absolutely NO idea how I do it 😂 Sometimes I think my brain just goes on without me!
And, ooh, I like your idea of a rolling screen. So are you looking for a non-permanent way to reduce light in that guest room that you can remove when you have guests? Have you ever used a Japanese rice paper screen? Very elegant. Or have you tried window film? It just sticks on with soapy water and static cling…although with my brain, even though it’s easy to apply I wouldn’t want to be regularly putting it up and down 😳😭. How many windows need to be covered?
And, ooh, I like your idea of a rolling screen. So are you looking for a non-permanent way to reduce light in that guest room that you can remove when you have guests? Have you ever used a Japanese rice paper screen? Very elegant. Or have you tried window film? It just sticks on with soapy water and static cling…although with my brain, even though it’s easy to apply I wouldn’t want to be regularly putting it up and down 😳😭. How many windows need to be covered?
@DreamMachine I was thinking of a rice paper screen but didn’t know what to call it so thank you!!!!😊. Yes I want something that I can move when guests come. 2 big windows thst make a corner 1 eastern 1 southern. I’m thinking maybe a pressure rod & a sheer curtain. Or suction cups with hooks. Nothing that’s going to leave marks on the windows. They’re fairly new double paned and with some UV protection. But the light meter still goes above 2000 FC in that corner. I’ve got a new light meter coming. No more borrowing from my daughter 😜 so I’ll have current readings this weekend 👍
@ZestyWhiteghost absolutely!! 👍🏼