How to Coordinate Houseplants With Your Home’s Natural Light
3 pros!
Greenhouse managers shed light on how to pick houseplants for your home and where to place them.
While you may be tempted to pick a houseplant based purely on its beauty and how it fits into your home’s decor, it loses its good looks without the proper amount of natural light. Even if you don’t have the greenest of thumbs, understanding your houseplants’ needs can keep them alive and thriving.
To put your plant in its best light, experts say nothing works better than the sun rays. Plants need mostly blue and red light for photosynthesis and infrared light to produce flowers, all of which are what the sun naturally emits. “Plants want what’s in nature,” says Brandi Mosley, greenhouse manager of TLC Florist and Greenhouses in Oklahoma City. “With natural light, they’ll grow more; in artificial light plants will only grow a minimal amount.”
While you’re shopping for a houseplant, ask yourself the following questions:
How much light does my houseplant need?
As a general rule, Jodi Dawson, greenhouse manager of Oakland Nursery in Columbus, Ohio, says if you can read a book without turning on the light in a room during the day, that’s medium to high light. Dark corners or rooms without many windows make the best homes for low light-loving plants.
You can also use a light meter to determine the level of light in areas of your home. Purchased at relatively low cost from garden centers or from garden catalogs, their “low,” “medium” and “bright” readings can eliminate a lot of guesswork.
Dawson recommends taking the plant’s native origins into consideration. “Know from what region and climate the plant came,” she says. “Nearly all houseplants from tropical environments, for example, need high light.”
Where should I place my houseplant?
Inadequate light can cause plants to have spindly stems, yellow foliage and leaf drop, while too much can lead to leaf burn or pale foliage. One of the best ways to avoid these outcomes is to consider the natural flow of sunlight coming through your windows.
South-facing windows provide the brightest conditions for the longest amount of time, making them most suitable for plants that need bright and direct sunlight. In winter, any plant will benefit from a position near a southern window, but low-light loving plants may get sunburned by the bright light in late spring, summer or early fall, Dawson says.
East and west windows, on the other hand, suit many plants in the medium light range. Only plants requiring low light levels or no direct sunlight should be placed by north-facing windows.
How close to a window you place your plant also matters. While distance varies, Dawson recommends putting a plant 3 to 10 feet away from a windowsill.
What other factors might affect the amount of light my houseplant gets?
Some decorating choices you make may also affect how much sunlight your houseplants receive. Light-colored or reflective surfaces on the walls and floor will increase the intensity of light available to your plants, while darker surfaces decrease light intensity.
If you want to add a sun-loving Bird of Paradise in your living room, consider painting your room a lighter color or hanging a mirror opposite a window to up the light intensity. For plants that flourish in low light, consider a darker shade for your walls or investing in some thick curtains to block light.
Houseplants for any kind of light
Dawson and Mosley recommend these houseplants for various home lighting situations:
Low light
Aspidistra (cast iron plant)
Dracaena (all varieties)
Chamaedorea (all varieties)
Sansevieria (snake plant)
Rhapis (lady palm)
Aglaonema (Chinese evergreen)
Zamioculcas zamiifolia (ZZ plant)
Medium light
Dracaenas
Bright light
Fichus
Bird of paradise
Work in a variety of light
Nepthytis (arrowhead plant)
Philodendron (all varieties)
Fittonia (nerve plant)
Cissus (all varieties)
Chlorophytum (spider plant)
Maranta (prayer plant)
Calathea (peacock plant)
Spathiphyllum (peace lily)
Anthurium (flamingo flower)
Ficus pandurata (fiddle leaf fig)
Arborcola (umbrella plant)
