Plant Care: Understanding Your Lighting
The extra cute diagram (pictured above) shows the different directions the windows in your house may face and what light intensity that light source may provide. Let’s start with the highest amount of light and work our way down.
SOUTH: Direct sun all day long. This window direction typically receives 4+ hours of direct sun, meaning that you can literally feel the sun intensity through the window. Perfect place for Cacti, Succulents and all your other sun-loving babes.
WEST: Usually when you hear “medium light,” this is what they might mean. Direct sun in the evening only but, bright filtered sun throughout the rest of the day. Crassula Ovata aka Jade trees love this direction of lighting, certain species of Hoya and Aloe also can thrive here.
EAST: Could be considered “low/medium” light but, when you hear “bright indirect” this is typically what they’re referring to. Direct sun in the morning only, though usually not as intense as late evening (western) and very bright filtered light the rest of the day. Most tropical plants thrive here including Monstera, Philodendron as well as Rhipsalis and so many more.
NORTH: If you have a north facing window, you never receive any direct sun but rather, filtered light all day long. Keep in mind the intensity of light here is very very low. Very few plants can thrive here with the exception of the reliable ZZ, Sansevieria or Spathiphyllum aka “Peace Lily.”
GROW LIGHTS: Want to place your plant in your window-less bathroom? Do you only have north facing windows but really want that succulent? You still have options! These days, grow lights can be found at most hardware stores and at fairly affordable prices! You can also choose if you want just a bulb to screw into an existing lamp or an entire grow light fixture. There are so many options so do some research and determine what’s the best solution for you!
Contact Everything Grows today if you would like to add living plants to your workspace. We service the entire San Francisco Bay Area, with our expertly trained plant care technicians taking Amazing care of the plants in your facility.