How do you decide where to put your plant? You could put it where you think it looks best, but unfortunately that rarely works out well. A plant is a living organism with needs, each different from species to species. A good start is to look up your plant and see what its needs are. You do not need to know the Botanical name, the family is often a good start. Some plant families are originally made to tolerate a lot of light, I'm thinking of cacti, banana plants or ficus. Nature has made sure that their leaves are made to tolerate more light. Whereas other species just live in darker places, for example in the shade of trees and therefore are much more sensitive to direct light. & of course then you have the 'in-between' plants. PHOTOSYNTHESETo look back to the biology lessons of high school; plants do photosynthesis. Briefly explained, this means that they convert light into energy. We use light to perceive things, plants use light to charge their batteries. They make this energy by taking in light + carbon dioxide (Co2) and converting it to glucose and oxygen. This happens in the chlorophyll (granules) of the plant, in a 'variegated' plant little or no photosynthesis takes place in the light parts of the leaf. TYPES OF LIGHTI talk about direct light, but what exactly is this? There are 3 to 4 types of light that you can distinguish from each other.
What I find a very helpful overview is this illustration & video from TheSill.
Points of AttentionYou may have just determined what light you have where, but there are still a few stumbling blocks to consider.
DETERMINE & SIGNALSHow can you determine where your plant stands best, because say it yourself; a yellow sun on the plant stick from the garden center doesn't say much. You can look it up online or in a book or you can just see if your plant can be found in the plant database of Mother. Since Mother specializes in lamps and light I find this a very useful source to know what light intensity your plant can handle, apart from all the information sources I think your Intuition is also an important role. It is not always the case that a plant is in the right place according to 'the theory' that it is therefore happy, look at your plant. I give you a few signals you can pay attention to: When there is too much light:
Too little light:
TIP: regularly turn your plant a quarter turn to prevent it from growing crooked. INTERVENE / MOVEAll right, time for action. You now know where your plant is best placed & you want to move it. Don't do this all at once. From full sun to no sun or vice versa can give your plant a shock, with all the consequences that come with it. Move it piece by piece, every day or two days a meter backwards or closer so it can adjust to the new light situation. I often think of this as the in-between seasons, spring builds to the bright summer sun & fall softens to the dark winter months. When a spot is too dark or gets too dark as can be the case in winter, turning on a (grow) lamp can be the solution. The main difference between a spectrum lamp and our ordinary home lighting is mainly the color waves it radiates. The spectrum lamp provides your plant with the right light waves it needs for photosynthesis. When using it it is important to inform yourself about the distance and the number of light hours your plant needs, for the majority of plants this is between 12-16 hours a day. The distance of the lamp, on the other hand, is different. Putting your plant too close to the lamp is the same as putting your plant in full sun and can therefore cause damage. I'm happy to explain more about the light waves plants need and the difference between what the plant needs and what we see, in this article. NO LIGHT = NO PLANTI sometimes get the question; 'what plant can be in the bathroom/on the toilet? There is no window'. A bathroom with a window is ideal, a higher humidity, a pleasant temperature, ... But no window or light source is no plant. There are probably people who will contradict me and say that there are plants that do fine in their dark bathroom. Or people who buy two of the same plants and then switch them every week (dark - not dark). I absolutely cannot support this, the relocation and change of environment and light causes stress to the plant. I also have plants in our bathroom without a window, but they are equipped with a grow light that is on 12h a day. Did you like it? Please leave a 👍 below & follow my plant adventures on Instagram!
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AuthorCrazy plant lady who likes to inspire others! Everything I write here comes from my own experience, knowledge that I gained by reading books and on the internet. If I would literally copy someone's info, I would do my best to link it of course! Do you spot typos or do you have other concerns, let me know! Have fun reading! I've only just started writing English blogs since January 2021, that's why there are many Dutch blogs and not so many English ones.
I use DeepL to help me translate. ARCHIVES
Maart 2022
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