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Let there be light | Ottawa Citizen

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Many of our favourite houseplants began life on the floors of forests or jungles, where light is dappled at best. Others, like cacti or plants with bright-coloured leaves like draecena or croton, came from the desert or the tropics, where the sun shines all day long. h
As a result, the light requirements of popular houseplants vary widely, and one size does not fit all. In order to keep your plants healthy and happy in the long run, you need to understand the light conditions that they were born to and at least try to reproduce those conditions.
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When you buy a new plant, it will usually come with a label (or a sign on the display) listing basic care requirements. But if it was a gift or it’s a mystery plant for some other reason, try looking it up online, or download an app. (My favourite plant identifier app, Picture This, does a great job of IDing not just houseplants but also garden plants and wildflowers, along with care info, but there are a few other good ones too.)
Next, scope out the different places in your home that are suitable for growing plants – generally speaking, on or near windowsills – and estimate the intensity of light each receives and for how long per day.
Generally speaking, most houseplant light requirements fall into one of the following categories.
Direct light is unfiltered, south-facing light throughout most of the day. Very few houseplants can actually tolerate this much sunlight. If this is the only light you can offer your green friends, consider putting up a sheer curtain, or place your plants back a few feet from the window to reduce the risk of burning or scorching leaves.
Bright filtered light is just that: direct sun softened by a sheer curtain, or tree leaves outside the window. It’s also the light that comes in from an east- or west-facing window, with direct sun for approximately two to four hours a day. This is the sweet spot for a wide variety of popular plants, since it’s nice and bright but not as strong as direct south-facing sunlight. However, avoid spraying or wetting leaves when the sun is shining directly on your plants, to avoid spot burns.
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Medium light is the soft, even light from a north-facing window, or a location set back several feet from windows with other exposures. It’s also what you get from a window placed next to trees, buildings or deep eaves that cast shadows. Plenty of houseplants are just fine with medium light as well.
Now there are a lot of other variables to consider besides window exposure, and whether the light is tempered by curtains, trees or nearby buildings. Rooms with white or light-coloured paint tend to be brighter than dark rooms. Dirty windows reduce light as well. And as mentioned, setting the plant back even a couple of feet from the window, or off to one side, can reduce the amount of light it receives considerably.
If you have more plants than windowsill space, or not all your plants are getting the light they need, you can always switch them around from one place to another occasionally, so that each plant gets at least a couple of weeks per month of adequate light. Also, you might rotate your plants a quarter-turn every so often, especially if they start leaning towards the light.
Fortunately, most popular houseplants are fairly tolerant and will accept a range of light conditions, even less-than-ideal ones – at least up to a point. As long as you do your best to give them the light they crave, they’ll do their best to grow.
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