Why is Sunlight Important?
Plants use energy from the sun in a process we call photosynthesis to make their leaves, stems, roots and every other bit of themselves. So light for plant growth is crucial.
Without light, a plant will die (quickly). Without enough of the right kind of light, a plant will struggle and do it’s best to find more… and then die if it can’t.
What is the right kind of light? It depends on the plant, and it also depends on the stage of growth that the plant is in.
Plants use different types of light when they are seedlings, when they are in their growth phase, and when they are flowering and fruiting.
Examples of when it is important.
If your plant is growing in the exact region and habitat that it evolved to grow in, then the natural light it receives at every season is just right. That’s what we mean when we say the plant exactly fits its environment.
However, that doesn’t happen very often with plants we want to grow in our houses and gardens. We might need to add a grow-light to give a bit more light to a struggling plant, or move a plant that is burning from too much light back from a window.
How to tell if your plant isn’t getting enough light.
One of the biggest signs is what plant people call ‘legginess.’ If a plant is ‘leggy,’ this means that the stems are very long between successive leaf nodes. This is called the internode, and it means that the plant is throwing all its energy into getting taller to find more light. In nature, the plant that can do this will grow taller than all the others and get to shade them out when it throws out leaves at the top.
But leggy stems are thin and weak, and won’t hold up the full-grown plant very well (there’s always a trade-off).
What to do for Indoor Plants
If you’re growing plants inside, and you see that they are leggy, they need more light. You can give them this by moving them closer to a window, moving them into a room that has more natural light, or by giving them a grow light. Adding lighting might seem expensive, but it needn’t be. There are some good examples of inexpensive grow lights that will give your plant a boost available online (there are also examples of very expensive ones).
What to do for Plants in Your Garden
If a plant in your garden is growing leggy, there are a couple of options. You can look at what is shading it and do some pruning to give the plant more natural light. You can also think about shifting the plant. Digging up a plant is not always successful, so if you go this route, you might want to think about a backup plan. Either by propagating cuttings from your plant, or by locating a replacement plant in a nursery or garden centre.
Finding out Beforehand How Much Your Plant Needs
The plant will be giving you indicators of how much light it needs. Have a look at its leaves. Are they very large, or very small.
Think of a plant’s leaves as if they are solar panels. Does the plant have giant solar panels for collecting a ton of very dim light? Chances are, it is the kind of plant that grows underneath other plants, and won’t thank you for giving it full sun. Examples of these plants are: Elephant ears, Calatheas, Monsteras, the plant called Tractor Seats (Ligularia), and Spiderworts.
Plants that can take full, harsh sunlight have little leaves, like Olives, Eucalyptus trees and Acacias. If your plant should have large leaves and is growing small ones, this could mean it has too much light. Monstera leaves are solid and unbroken when they grow in dim light. When they have enough, they develop the lovely holes that give the plant its common name; Swiss Cheese Plant.
How to get more light in your house.
Most homes have the light they have. Either it is sun-drenched or it is not. However, there are a few things that you can do to increase the amount of light available to your indoor plants.
Painting your walls a light colour will increase the amount of light that reflects around the room, bringing diffuse light further from the windows.
Your window treatment might be blocking light unnecessarily, so check if you have curtains that block the light. Even sheer curtains will reduce the amount of light available to your plants.
If you can’t change the amount of sunlight available to your plants, then you might be able to add grow lights. These are available online at Amazon and other online retailers. LED grow lights do not use much power and can be quite economical, especially if they have a timer function.
Now You
Do you have any plants that are looking leggy? What did you do to fix the problem? Have you ever used a grow light, and how did it go? I love to hear about other gardener’s experiences. Let me know about yours in the comments.
I'd love to know what you thought of this blog post.
Do you think you'll recognise legginess when you see it in your plants now?
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