It does not matter if a plant is an indoor or outdoor plant, all plants need light, its nothing but food to them, just as water and food are essential to human beings. Plants are of different categories; some needs it more than the other. The process of light getting to them is called photosynthesis which uses chloroplast as the energy that helps a plant to survive. Aside chloroplast, photosynthesis also uses sparkling multiple metabolic reactions to help plants grow, these reactions are in the form of sugar that the plant recognizes as food to help it gain strength and in the process grow healthy.
However, if your plant is a house plant, it needs to photosynthesize to grow; such plants may not need so much light unlike those that are exposed to sunlight directly. Nevertheless, we need to be scientific so that we can have a better understanding of the amount of light that plants need to germinate.
Things to consider for optimal outdoor growing
There are two things to consider when we look to find the right amount of light a plant needs. The first one is light intensity while the second one is the light amount:
- Light intensity – can be measured using Lux.
- Light amount – depends on the nature of the plant itself and the area where it grows.
For example:
Cannabis plants need at their vegetative state 18 hours of light during the day and at least 6 hours of night time. At their flowering stage the cannabis needs 12 hours of light and 12 hours of night time. You need to make sure they get that.
How to find the perfect light spot for your plant
Placing a plant in a particular spot depends on the ability of the plant to receive a certain amount of sunlight. Here are four categories of light exposure for plants
Sunny location
If the location of your room is directly facing the sun, keep the plant two feet to the south; flood the window with sunlight. If you have a Room directly exposed to the sun, then your challenge is minimal.
How to know if an indoor plant is not getting enough light
Knowing that your plant is not getting enough light is not hard; it does not require the use of lux. There are some things you need to observe that will guide you because knowing whether your plant is getting enough light or not is crucial as it can either help it to grow or die.
First of all, the growth rate is what you will study; new leaves will be smaller to the old ones. There won’t be slow or quick growth. New ones will grow and form their leaves towards the direction of sunlight.