What light does my plant need? On our care cards, we advise different light requirements.
Here is what they mean:
Shade/light shade – Probably a bit obvious but we simply mean no sun. So a north-facing room is fine for any plants that like this light. If it’s a sunny room you will need to make sure your plant doesn’t sunbathe, so make sure it is in a shady corner where the sun doesn’t reach it.
Plants that like a shady spot include calatheas and ferns.
snake plants (sansevieria) and ZZ plants.
Full sun – to be honest very few plants will sit on a sunny window sill. The glass can make it even hotter and of course, it can get chilly at night. Perfect plants for a sunny window sill are cacti and succulents. They mostly love to sunbathe but don’t mind a cooler spot at night. Be careful not to let it get sunburnt though, some plants including aloes and sedums can be burnt if they are in the window in direct sun. So just move them off the window sill if you can.
Bright indirect light – This is a type of light that the vast majority of plants will be happy in. It can be a room where the sun may come in but a spot where the sun doesn’t actually reach. Lots of plants will cope with a little bit of sun as long as they are not sitting in the window. So if you have a very sunny room where the sun comes in for more than a couple of hours a day you will just need to make sure plants are either to the side of the window, under the window or set back in the room to avoid the sun touching the leaves.
Plants that will cope with this kind of light are pretty much everything we have in our shops. Of course if it’s a fern or a calathea you will need to make sure there is plenty of humidity for these plants. A daily mist will help and putting ferns and calatheas together and away from radiators will help.
Morning or afternoon sun – some plants love a couple of hours of sun. Again it is difficult for a lot of plants to be in full sun all day but for some, a couple of hours of sun can help them flower. We say morning or afternoon sun because we mean that they won’t want strong sun for too long.
Plants that like a little early morning or late afternoon sun include Aeschynanthus (lipstick plant), Hoya, ceropegia woodii (string of hearts) senecio rowleyanus (string of pearls), Dracaena (dragon tree).
How to water your plant – on our care card we say ‘water your plant when...’
Completely dry – some plants need to have their soil dry out completely between watering. These include succulents and cacti. ZZ plants and sansevieria (snake plants) also need this care. We often get asked how long this takes. It’s really difficult to be precise, it depends on the size of the pot and the environment it is in, some homes are warmer than others and so the water will evaporate from the soil before the plant takes it in through its roots. But a plant that needs to dry out completely may only need watering once every 2 or 3 weeks in the summer and a bit less in the winter. Some plants in very large pots can take even longer to dry through. Watering them from below is a good way to avoid overwatering them.
Dry in the first 2cms – this applies to plants that like to be kept well watered and not to be left to dry out. So feel the soil surface and water when it starts to feel dry. Calatheas and ferns are in this group of plants
Dry halfway down – this is one of the most common watering regimes for the plant. You will need to stick your finger in the soil to tell. If you feel any moisture up to your second knuckle there is no need to water. Check again in 3 or 4 days.
Don’t let it dry out – we will always advise this for calatheas and ferns. It can be hard to get them back once they have dried out. So if you are away a lot and not able to water your plants regularly, a plant with this care may not be the one for you.
Other advice we might include on your care card…’
Water from below – we often advise this for cacti, succulents and plants that hate to be over-watered like sansevierias (snake plants) and ZZ plants. So these plants prefer to be watered by either sitting them in a couple of centimetres of water either in a sink or by filling the saucer they are standing in. To water these plants let them sit in water for an hour and then tip away any water they haven’t soaked up.
Mist – a daily mist is great for some tropical plants. They don’t take in the water this way, so it is still important to water the soil, but they will like the humidity, especially when the heating is on in your home. It will help prevent the ends of the leaves from browning.
Use dechlorinated water – this is something we often advise you to use for misting plants, but some plants are less keen on our tap water than others. Calatheas and dracaena prefer dechlorinated water for watering too. You can either use rainwater or let water stand in a jug for 24 hours before you use it in your mister. It is good in any case to get into the habit of filling your watering can or jug after watering so it is ready to go next time you need it so it allows some of the chlorine in the water to go - and it will be at room temperature too which some tropical plants like alocasias and calatheas will like.
Seasonal care, finally a note about looking after your plants through different seasons.
Lots of plants will be dormant through the winter. This will mean they use less water because they aren’t actively growing. So you may need to adjust your watering pattern and water less often.
Try not to re-pot on the winter. Plants need to rest and maybe overwhelmed with too much water and nutrients if you repot in the winter. The best time to repot is May to September. And remember, it isn’t essential to repot plants every year. Some plants are happy to stay put for 2-3 years. Check the roots, see if they are poking through the drainage holes or check by gently lifting it out of its pot, if the roots are wrapped around the outside of the soil it might need a new pot. Only move a plant up to a pot that is maybe 2 or 3 cms bigger. The pot MUST have drainage holes. Don’t repot into a pot without drainage.
Don’t feed plants in the winter for the same reason. Feeding plants is best done between May and September.
