Understanding Your Plant's Light Needs
Light is the single most important factor for indoor plant health. Learn to match your home's light conditions to the right plants.
Every other care factor — water, soil, fertilizer — is secondary to light. If the light is wrong, nothing else will fix the problem. Understanding your home's light patterns is the foundation of keeping plants alive.
Key Points
What to Do
Walk through each room and note which direction the windows face
At midday, check each window spot with the hand-shadow test (see the bright indirect light guide)
Match each spot's light level to plant categories: low light, medium indirect, bright indirect, or direct sun
Choose plants that match your actual light conditions, not the conditions you wish you had
Reassess in winter — natural light drops significantly and some plants may need to move closer to windows