Medium-light plants require moderate light, either natural or artificial, to grow healthy and perform photosynthesis. They thrive in environments with low-light and high-light conditions, and are best placed near a west or southeast window. Most low-light houseplants require medium indirect light, which can be achieved by placing the plant near indirect sunlight from a window.
Medium-light plants prefer bright, but indirect light, so they should be placed near a window but not directly in the window itself. The soil needs to stay moist but not soaking wet, and the humidity around the plant should be high. Setting the plant on a pebble tray can help maintain this.
Mid-light plants can survive in some direct sunlight, but they prefer their light to be indirect. They prefer their soil to be moist but not waterlogged, as overwatering can lead to root rot. Place certain plants directly in front of a window that receives lots of direct sunlight, as a sharp shadow indicates bright light and a softer shadow indicates medium light.
All houseplants need some natural light, but they don’t all need the same amount. In environments with less light, plants grow more slowly and use less water. To avoid overwatering, feel the soil and adjust the frequency of watering in winter when plant growth is slower and temperatures are lower. Houseplants typically require high light (six or more hours a day), medium light (four to six hours a day), or low light (less than three hours).
In week two of our five-week series, we will discuss a variety of medium-light plants, how to care for them, and tips and tricks from experienced plant experts.
📹 Indoor Plant Care For Beginners | Avoid These Lighting and Watering Mistakes
Hey Quarantine Plant Moms and Plant Dads I’m excited that you decided to bring houseplants into your home and start your plant …
How often should you water a medium sized plant?
Water lawns deeply once or twice a week instead of short spurts every other day, according to gardener Lauri Kranz. Lawns are not the problem, as they help keep neighborhoods cooler and reduce energy costs. Instead, people should focus on “deficit watering” to keep water costs low and lawns healthy. Learn how to use your sprinkler timer and turn off irrigation in cool months between November and April.
Do windows block sunlight for plants?
To ensure the best lighting for your plants, consider the size of your windows and the amount of sunlight they receive. Larger windows allow plants to be placed farther away, while smaller windows provide limited sunlight. Place plants near the window, especially if there are obstructions, or no more than 2-3 feet away. Low-light tolerant plants can be placed farther away as long as they can still see outside.
Invest in a light meter to measure the amount of sunlight dispersed from the window, typically between 100-200+ foot candles. Low-light tolerant plants can withstand as low as 50-75 foot candles.
If your home lacks ideal lighting, consider adding artificial light to help plants thrive. Grow lights are essential for plants to survive in areas without windows, such as basement offices or bathrooms without windows. By considering these factors, you can ensure your plants receive the necessary sunlight for their growth and thrive.
How many hours is medium light?
Medium light plants thrive in east-facing windows due to less intense morning sun. Minnesota winters bring shorter days and less intense light, so moving plants to west windows is acceptable during low-light months. Medium-bright plants require 6+ hours of light per day, and west-facing windows are best due to the intense afternoon sun. South-facing windows can be used as long as plants are kept several feet back.
How to get indirect sunlight for plants?
To ensure optimal lighting for plants, consider placing them further away from windows and in rooms with less direct light. For bright indirect light, plants should be a foot or two from a window with direct light, such as western or southern exposure. For medium or low indirect light plants, they should be placed further away or in rooms with curtains drawn or no windows. Grow lights can be used to maintain optimal growing conditions in rooms with insufficient light, offering adjustable timers and light intensities. Monitor your plants for signs of excessive or too little light, allowing you to adjust the lighting accordingly.
What does medium light mean for a plant?
Medium light, also known as filtered sunlight, is light that is diffused between a plant and a sunny window, or “dappled sunlight”. Ferns and aroid plants, such as ZZ and Philodendron, prefer medium light conditions due to their adaptation to living on the forest floor. Low light, on the other hand, means no direct sunlight is reaching the plant, resulting in less energy and food. Some plants can survive in low light conditions but will not thrive. It is important to monitor the sun’s position throughout the year to adjust the amount of light your plants receive, as the sun changes locations in the sky depending on the time of day and season.
How to tell if a plant needs water?
Plant cells are like water balloons, forming stiff structures when filled with water. When they are dry, they deflate, indicating a need for more water. Plants produce cellulose, which helps maintain their shape, but water pressure is more effective than cellulose alone. When watering, transpiration occurs, where the sun evaporates water from leaves through stomatal pores, allowing it to go where it’s needed most.
Ideally, water is drawn from roots, but if roots are dry, water is taken from the leaves. To determine the appropriate watering frequency, consider your houseplants’ natural environments, such as hot and dry or rainy and tropical.
Can plants get too much LED light?
Placement of LED grow lights too close to plants can lead to light burn, wasted energy, and light stress, reducing plant growth and preventing healthy flowering. Overexposure to LED lights can cause discoloration in leaves or stems over time. Plants require sufficient hours of light for optimal health and development, so the intensity of light matters. A distance of at least a foot between lights and plants is recommended. Placing lights closer than this could result in poor results without providing enough benefit to compensate for additional costs.
It is best to err on the side of caution and never place lights directly above plants unless the correct distance has been established. This ensures proper lighting benefits for plants and avoids costly mistakes caused by improper placement.
Does glass filter sunlight for plants?
SHGC (Sunlight Heat Gain Coefficient) does not impact the sunlight intake of plants, as it measures heat, not light. The quantity of visible light that enters a window is referred to as visible transmittance (VT). This is dependent upon the type of glass glazing and the presence of tints. A higher visible transmittance (VT) indicates a greater amount of visible light entering a residence.
How to take care of medium light plants?
Medium-light plants are suitable for east-facing or west-facing windows, but require artificial lighting for seed starting. They dry out faster than low-light plants, so avoid overwatering. High-light plants are suitable for brightly lit locations like south or southwest-facing windows. Seeds that need more indoor time may become leggy without extra light, and high-light areas can be warm, making plants dry out faster. Regularly check and water these plants when soil is dry.
Do indoor plants need UV?
Plants do not need ultraviolet (UV) light to grow, but rather blue and red light. Blue light promotes chlorophyll production, allowing plants to create strong stems and leaves. Red light aids in seed germination, bulb development, root growth, flowering, and fruit production. Plants also need infrared (IR) light, which can encourage blooming and healthy stem growth. However, too much infrared light can damage leaves, stems, and flowers.
Window films filter out some infrared light, providing energy savings for homeowners. Glazes that block a low or moderate amount of IR energy should not deprive plants of the far-red light they need. Window films that block up to 70% of heat energy can be safely chosen.
Should you let plants dry out before watering?
It is recommended that the top few inches of soil be permitted to dry completely before watering, in order to ensure that the water soaks down to the roots for the majority of plants.
📹 What “Bright Indirect Light” really means: using a Light Meter | House Plant Journal
It’s time to stop fooling around with light – your plant’s life depends on it: buying a light meter will save you money in the long run …
WOW! This was SO helpful! I didn’t realize the direction of the sunlight had such a huge impact on the plant growth! Also, your tips for watering were amazing! I never knew how much water was enough/too much so thank you for that. I also just watched another one of your articles and you talked about the potting mix composition you used when potting your plants. Do you have any recommendations on what brand/mix to use? I realize I definitely potted my plants wrong and I had a feeling I did which is why I say a prayer every night and wake up to frantically check on them in the morning lol. Especially my chinese money plant. One of my snake plants is on the verge of collapse. I just found your website so I’m so excited to get into the articles and hopefully save my babies since I’m a new plant mom! Your plant sanctuary is absolutely breathtaking! Can’t wait to watch!
Wish this was the first article I saw when I first started my plant journey. Super helpful tip…use your phone compass (which I didn’t even know i had!) to help figure out what window you have…east, west, north or south. I never understood what east (w,s,n) facing windows meant and almost gave up. I promise I graduated high school! 😂
Plant guy-please please help! I am relatively new to plants (1yr) and have made a lil collection in my home which I am so proud of.This summer I bought an unusual tuscan yellow jasmin for our front window, and noticed immediately that it has mealybugs. I have spent the last few months trying to get rid of them but cant! Please do an episode talking about what to do when you just cant get rid of a mealy bug infestation.I keep the jasmin seperate from my other plants so as not to spread them, but worry its just a matter of time. I even baught specific mealybug killer online and have been dousing the plant every few weeks with it but no soon does the plant start to grow new shoots do i see the eggs on a stem.i realy dont want to throw the jasmin away because it was expensive and hard to find.what would you do? And how would you prevent them spreading to my collection (can i spray succulents/cacti with pesticide?) Thanks!
I know this sounds crazy (so you’re the best person to ask!): 1) Do plants need friends? Would they do better with at least another plant nearby or are they OK alone? 2) Do they need complete darkness at night? I see online that trees are affected by street lights. 3) Do you play music and talk to your plants?
For almost 50 years I’ve grown houseplants. But have always felt unsure, just trying to keep them from dying. As a teen the 70s, I bought Crockett’s book on houseplants where he used the term foot candles and never completely understood. Finally! Some clear information. I really appreciate your simplistic approach to explaining lighting. Thank you.
Because of your earlier article on light, I actually squatted down on my balcony imagining I’m a plant looking up at the sky 😂 Seeing you move your pothos every day makes me feel better about moving mine every day too! I put them closer to the edge of the balcony to see more sky but pull them in at night in case it rains heavily
this was a revolutionary article for me — it made me re-evaluate all my plant positioning and try to make the most of my space close to my window. I have a huge window in my living room but because of a big tree outside – it really narrows the vertical “angle” that the light is coming in – illuminating only a short distance from the window. However, that space was unused by me. I tried to place plants well within the living room and supplement them with artificial light with limited success. After I saw your article i decided to utilize all my window space and the little natural light that i DO get – and bought a bench and moved some books and other decorations to make room for plants right by the windows. While it is not the “ideal location” in terms of how i would decorate my apartment if i had complete liberty — it is much better for the plants themselves and allows them to thrive instead of barely surviving under forced agendas… Thank you so much <3
I love this article! I have never seen anyone break down light for plants this way. The tags can be very ambiguous. I think the next helpful step would be to provide a article which breaks down the foot candle ranges for the different light type combinations (bright, indirect, bright, medium, low). I would love if you did that!
This is the second article of yours I’ve watched. I initially found you after looking for help for my orchid. Now I’m off to see what you have to say about caring for succulents. For a long time I couldn’t keep plants alive but after keeping quite a few succulents (but only certain types) and what’s supposed to be a bonsai tree (?) alive for 3 years now I want to step up my plant parent knowledge.
Excellent article! I also want to point out that most plant sellers are lazy when it comes to this. “Bright, indirect light” is basically boilerplate text, every plant is sold the same way mostly because no one knows what it’s supposed to mean. They’re kind of relying on this to be able to sell any plant to anyone. It took me a while to work out that it’s basically a myth. All of my plants now either live by the window, or under a (nice looking) LED lamp in the right spectrum. I only move them around or add shade during the height of summer when there’s a risk of them being scorched.
If you want to get serious about lightning for plants, you should use PPFD and DLI instead of FC or Lux. BTW, 189FC is actually still very low for most plants. Pothos is a plant that grows outdoor high up on the trees and it can take direct sunlights for a few hours. It will survive beside your window but it will not be that happy. It is about the same needs as Monstera, if you gives it 100-200ppfd it will be happy, which is maybe around 600FC
Well, I finally realized that when we purchase plants, we’re given only basic guidelines for care. But water, fertilization, potting medium, even the type of pot/planter and especially light have to be adjusted or tweaked based on the plants new home. I think that some plants were lost because of the lack of or too much light. I wonder how many plants out there are just existing and not truly thriving…. thank you👍🏽
Thank you so much for your article and the superb explanation to this very pressing issue. Let there be light and the constant flirting of the term bright & indirect light. I love how you put things into perspective on the visibility of the sky from the view of the plant. I just got this huge ficus lyrata for my upcoming birthday and I am thrilled but after going through a few care tips the term bright and indirect light kept popping up and I actually had to decipher the term, “bright and indirect light” with much confusion. I am so glad that you covered this topic to shed some shed light for all of us 🙂
You have explained it so well! Wow! I have a big window but afternoon sun comes thru so I worry that my plants leaves will burn bc it seems that all indoor plant’s cannot be exposed to direct sun. What I did was put sheer curtains in both rooms where the sun is the strongest so I can still leave the windows open in hopes that the plants will get enough light. 🥺 i don’t know for sure if that is helping my plants. I truly loved your articles! I subscribed immediately to you website and will continue to watch your articles. Thanks so much
the only window in my apartment that gets light is a south facing window but my neighbors above me patio blocks some light so i really can’t tell if that’s a good spot for my plants 🥲 the suns not super strong and kinda filtered from that patio. so ty for this article i’m going to try using a light meter
I just had to install some led grow lights and I’m sure i bought the wrong ones but its ok. Ill still work with them. My apartment only gets 3 hours of evening sun and its not very powerful sun. I did put a green house in my apartment and the Hoyas, Begonias and orchids love it. Oh i live in USA btw and in Maryland we have all four seasons.
Thanks for this great article! I have an unobstructed south facing window behind which I have several plants lined up in a row. In the front are very young weeping fig and stromanthes in 4″ pots at around 220 FCs 3ft from the window, behind them is a spring snow aglaonema at about 190 FCs, a year old monstera behind that at 175, then a tineke rubber tree at 145 roughly 5.5ft away from the window. Measurements are taken at 11am on a sunny, cloudless day in the PNW on April 17th. Thinking about rigging up a shelf on the window sill and moving these guys over right by the window, along with 2 other burgundy rubber trees that seem to be doing really well downstairs directly along a south facing window that clocks in 4.5k (behind the mosquito mesh) and slightly <7k FCs without mosquito mesh. Upstairs windows are about the same. Are 4.5k and 7k just way too bright for these other plants?
Gahhhhhh!!! I am so happy i found your website!! I recently brought in my wondering jew for the fall/winter months and it did so well outside this summer. Its probably 2×2 ft. (In rectangle deck rail flower pot). But i am also curious how much light for my bonsai (which ive managed to do well) & I have been wondering where to put my bamboo plants. Those i have trouble with. So I will be perusal a lot of your articles!! I love how you break it down with math etc
Totally understand. Situation 1: My Mandevilla needs full sun but the FL sun I have is wilting it and it stopped vining. IFCI move it yo my linai that gets sun most of the day but it is screened. Q1: Would the screening cut the sun intensity? Would the plant do better or the same? S2: My house plants get indirect sun from the window BUT my windows have a sun sheild on them. Q2: What effect does window sun sheilding have on the plants amount of actual sunlight? Hopefully these questions generate interest and a response. Looking forward to answers. TY. Joanne
Hi just found your article after a lot of googling and trying to understand light requirements. I’m a beginner to owning houseplants. Your article is the only one I found that helped me understand better bright indirect sunlight. But I have a question or rather 3 scenarios and if you could help out that would be great: 1) plant is in shadow of something but has full view of the sky – bright indirect sunlight? 2) plant has full view of the sky but not the sun bright indirect sunlight? 3) plant has full view of the sky and the sun – bright direct sunlight? 🙏 tia
Thank you for the great information. I have a question about photosynthesis, I have a big schlumbergera with an LED grow light on each side (no natural light is available) but I am still finding it difficult to get light to the outer leaves(clades) . My question is two fold, at what angle and distance would I get a bigger arc with the grow lights? And, if most of the plant gets sufficient light but an outer leaf gets very little but it is on the same structure will the outer leaf decline or be ok? Thank you!
SO GREAT! Thank you for addressing the moving of decimal. I was confused lol. I have a new MASSIVE Monstera Albo and I am struggling to know what FC to put her at. I have floor to ceiling windows and west facing so it’s a LOT of light in the afternoon. 2k fc + the “darker” areas with no window light is about 350fc. I can move her around to avoid the brighter light (also windows are UV coated hurricane glass) but I am terrified to burn it. Any advice? I’ve seen one guy say 1200fc for an Albo is ok. That’s a LOT!
Thanks but I need more help with my peace lily, I put it about 3 meters away from my south-facing glassdoor to my balcony (which is definitely not direct light at all), but the flowers get floppy in the day and back up at night. So I have to put it behind a shelf in the shade, where it seems much happier. But that spot is so hidden that hardly can be seen, which means the flower lost its decorative function. Is my peace lily just too weird? I’ve never encountered a plant that hates light this much.
I am really enjoying your book and it lead me to find this article. Thank you so much for this type of content. I am trying to find content that is more scientific and I found yours. My question is the following: is there a place to find the amount of light each plant needs in foot candles? I am concern about giving to much light to some expensive plants, but I would also like to try to place them closer to the window and see if they perform better. Ex: philodendron gloriosum
I just bought the exact same light meter as you and cannot tell if it’s working properly. On a bright, sunny day, at 330 in the afternoon, I get just 96 FC standing in front of a south facing window that is 10 feet high and 14 feet wide. Hitting the Range button only makes those numbers drop. Also, something I don’t understand about this particular article is why do you bother putting the plant back on the shelf? Just to get it out of the way? I guess what I’m asking is that, in theory, if you had a good place to display it in front of the window, would you put it there for good and if that’s the case… doesn’t that mean all plants should go in the same spot? (I know they shouldn’t but the article makes me think they should.)
Very helpful! Now I am curious, when someone says a plant will burn if it is kept in direct sunlight is that because it is too bright (too many foot-candles), or because of the heat, or some combination? If I measure the direct light to be under a certain amount of foot-candles, will a “bright direct light intolerant” plant be able to handle it?
What about prayer plants, dieffenbachia or agleonemas that can’t take any view of the sun, as they live in the understory? I have my finicky geoppertias in this exact scenerio and they’re thriving. Get 0 time of direct sun per day but i have them encased in a corner behind my white closet door swung open + 3 white walls under a south facing window, garden zone 7
Hand gesturing is so distracting. If you are (it seems you are) holding your camera at arms length, in essence you are one arms length from the viewer. When you start hand gesturing it is the equivalent of waving your hands in my face. One would never do that in a person to person (one arms length away) conversation. Excellent information, easy to understand concepts.
Hi. Love your articles. My peace lily is suffering from some serious problem and I can’t seem to figure out what. It was thriving the first month after I got it from the nursery, it bloomed too. Now even the new growth is turning black from tips taking over entire leaves. I’m so stressed that it might die. Can you help please. I’m in India btw.
I still dont understand what they mean by indirect. I use a grow light on my office plants because while I have a larger window in my office, and its even south facing, its mirrored on the outside and just isn’t enough. I recently added hoyas and I am afraid of hurting them does the furhter distance from the grow light make it indirect?
this is super helpful. Question. i’m considering 2 rooms for a monstera deliciousa. Room one: west facing, upstairs with a large sliding glass door. It gets direct sun in the afternoon at an angle given a small covered porch. The direct sun coming into the room makes the room look bright in the afternoon. When i measure with your android light sensor app the light is only bright (over 1000 FC) when there is 1. direct sunlight OR 2. right by the window. The corner across from the window that looks bright actually is like 30-50FC during the day. On the other hand i have room 2 with a north facing upstairs window. it never really gets direct sun which means plants wont get burnt. BUT the room LOOKS darker. When i measured it throughout the day i get 200- ~400FC from that window which seems good. Does this mean that my monstera may actually be happier in the darker looking room right by the window where it gets 200-300FC all day vs the bright west facing room where it would either get direct sun or on a wall with 30-50FC? i was wondering if my light meter was wrong. it’s not intuitive that the darker room could be a better fit. Am i understanding this correctly?