Having plants inside your home is a great way to provide a cozy, pleasing, and welcoming environment. Not to mention the proven health benefits of plants is a nice bonus. To make sure your plants thrive and stay lush and green, it’s imperative you provide them with enough light. Since light is their food source, when a plant is “light-starved” it shows it by marked changes in its appearance. Mission Viejo Florist wants to make sure you know how to identify signs of insufficient light in your plants so they continue to thrive and look lush in your home.

Visual Signs Your Plant Needs More Light

Leggy

Leggy is a word that refers to plants with stems that have grown long and skinny because they are in dire need of more light. Accompanying the skinny stems are usually elongated spaces between the leaves. This space is called the internode, and large internodes indicate insufficient light.

Smaller Leaves

In addition to getting skinny and leggy while searching for more light, smaller than usual leaves are another symptom of inadequate light. If you are not certain new leaves are smaller than they’re supposed to be, compare the new growth with older growth to see if there’s a difference in size.

Leaning

Plants that hunger for more light will begin to lean towards its primary source of sunlight in order to absorb as much of it as it can. Before it ends up this way permanently, move your plant closer to the light source and give it a quarter-turn at least once a week so all of its leaves can get plenty of even light.

Abnormal Leaf Color

When the lack of adequate lighting prevents chlorophyll from enabling the photosynthesis process, the result will be pale, dull green leaves that eventually turn yellow and fall off. This is a sure sign that your plant is not receiving enough light.

Slowed Growth or No New Growth

Since light provides the energy for a plant to grow, insufficient light will cause stunted growth or slower than usual growth. If you suspect your plant is not growing as quickly as it should and it’s not the winter months, where growth slows down anyway, then move it closer to a window and see what happens.

Getting the Light Right

If your plants have any of the above signs of light deficiency, then the next step is to improve the amount of light they’re getting. This could be as simple as moving them closer to a window, opening the blinds or curtains more, or getting a grow light.

Just be careful to not move your plant really close to a sunny window, though, because it is possible for plants to get too much light. Only sun-worshipping plants like succulents, cacti, or palm trees should be in direct sunlight. Indirect bright light or medium light, which is somewhat diffused, is suitable for most indoor plants.

It may take some trial and error but paying attention to the signs your plant gives is all you need to make sure it remains happy and healthy.