Before acquiring a plant, it is necessary to know the lighting conditions in which it needs. The amount of light in rooms depends on the size of the windows and their location. It is most advantageous to have windows facing southeast and southwest. Plants on such windows will be lit in the morning and almost all day. Windows facing south are better lit in winter, but in spring and summer they get very hot, so in the afternoon it is better to shade the plants on them, except for the most loving sun (adeniums, pachypodium, etc.).
The west and east facing windows are almost equally illuminated, only at different times of the day and require little to no shading. For some reason, many people develop a strange attitude towards the northern windows, some even believe that it is impossible to grow plants on them at all, this is not so. There are a huge number of plants (some we will give below) that grow well on the northern windows, moreover, there are cases when cacti were grown on the northern windows (and they, as you know, are photophilous), and they not only grew beautifully, but even bloomed.
The larger the window, the more light the plants get, the closer to the window the plants are located, the better their lighting. With any arrangement of windows, you should not shade them with dense curtains (if the description of the plant refers to shading, then a tulle curtain is enough for this, you can mesh from mosquitoes if the plant is on the windowsill).
Lighting at different times of the year
A very important point: at different times of the year, the intensity of sunlight in our windows is different, conditionally the whole year can be divided into two periods, for central Russia:
-
From
- March to August, that is, spring-summer - during these months there is an intensive growth of all plants, and most bloom. During this period, the sun can be very aggressive, and all the recommendations below for the content, more precisely, the correspondence of various plants to the cardinal points, are given for this period. If we are talking about shading, this applies only to spring and summer. From
- September to February: a period of passive sun, daylight hours are greatly reduced, the sun is low, plants naturally want to slow down growth. But the problem is that they only "want," "wish," some "dream" - but usually cannot, due to the fact that the temperature at home remains high enough due to the included heating. Therefore, plants continue to grow (in the range from 14 ° C and above), but from a lack of light they stretch and disfigure. During this period, almost any plants can be safely put without shading on the sunniest windowsill. They are not afraid of the sun on the south window, because it shines rarely, briefly and the rays are oblique .
Northern windows
There are many beautiful houseplants that need diffused light and are therefore well suited to be placed on or in close proximity to the north window. Flowering plants of the north window include senpoli, or Uzambar violet, exotic hybrids of Scherzer's anthurium, cyclamens, kalanchoe. Hybrid species of begonia, such as begonia Lorrain, are also suitable for this. If there is enough space on the windowsill, then you can place on it an unpretentious, but beautiful-flowering passiflora, which, although photophilous, will bloom on the northern window (after flowering it is cut off). Most bromeliads will also grow well on the north window. Near the window, you can place some palm trees, for example, a beautiful hovea or date Lorera. On the north window, it is worth considering the temperature difference, i.e. plants standing in warmer rooms, as a rule, need more water than plants in cooler rooms.
Plants for the north window
Aglaonema, adiantum, aspidistra, asparagus, aucuba, angular begonia, eastern biota, gelxina, dracena bordered, fragrant dracena, zygocactus, saxifrage, kalankhoe, red caraguata, large-tongued cross (not variegated), Japanese ligodium, monster, maranta, peperomia roundleaf, peperomia grey and blunt, nightshade, paportniki, ivy, passiflora, sansevieria, scindapsus, spatiphyllum, selaginella, tolmia, fatshidera, fatsia, ficus, philodendron climbing, fittonia, cissus rhombolistus, cineraria, cyperus
South windows
Growing plants on the southern window is more troublesome than on the northern one, since few plants will endure prolonged exposure to direct sunlight. Often, at the hottest time of the day, you will have to create a shade, in the form of a gauze or tulle curtain. This is inconvenient because when you are at work, there is no one to do this and plants can suffer.
Therefore, it is necessary to carefully select plants on the windowsill of the south window. On the windowsill itself, you can place only the most stable and sun-needing plants, for example cacti and other succulents, hibiscus, adenium, passiflora, etc. If you read in the recommendation for plant care that it is photophilous, but needs shading, then place it on a table near the south window protected by a tulle curtain. Such a place is ideal for such decorative and deciduous flowers that need bright but diffused light, for example, ficuses, marant, myrtle, hamerops, cissus, coleus, hoya
Plants for the south window
Aloe, bokarnea, bouvardia, Sambak jasmine, Japanese camellia, coleus, coffee, laurel, mammilaria, prickly pears, oleander, stoneware, Chinese livistone, plectranthus, reo, fuchsia, hawortia, cerius, echinocactus, yucca. It should be borne in mind that each species of the same genus may have a different need for the sun, for example, some species of aloe grow well on the south window, and some burn out, the leaves become bluish.
Eastern windows
On the eastern windows there is much less illumination than on the southern ones, and they differ from the western ones in that in the morning the rays are not so scorching and shading on the eastern windows is not required. East window plants include:
asparagus, aucuba, tree-shaped begonia, hairy begonia, metal begonia, emerald begonia, griselinia, narrow-leaved dracena, dormouse dracena, needle, myrtle, ivy, cissus, pittosporum, Japanese fatsia, uzumbar violet, ficus, Roussel epiphyllum, epiphyllum dumb
Western windows
Western windows, as a rule, are warmer than eastern, shading on them does not make only very photophilous plants, because on the western window it is easier for a plant to get burns than on the eastern one, look and observe for yourself, if the leaves began to burn out, then you need to shade. West window plants include:
asparagus, begonia rex, drooping bilbergia, Anders' veronica gasteria, eugenia, low jasmine, sansevieria, strobylantes, Ackerman's phyllocactus, Gunter's phyllocactus, date palm, cissus, hamerops, eucalyptus, echmea.
All given examples of plants are designed for the fact that the plant will be placed on the windowsill, and not in the room.
And also for those who are guided not by the cardinal points, but by the illumination of the room:
Light, without direct sunlight (window sill, where direct sunlight does not fall, or a place near a very bright window):
Azalea, anthurium, asparagus, royal begonia, bromeliads, grapes, dizygotheca, diffenbachia, zygocactus, columneas, monstera, peperomia, pilea, ivy, spathyphyllum, scindapus, philodendron, fuchsi, chlorophytum, cyclamen, schefler.
Direct sun occasionally (window sill or a place in the immediate vicinity of the east or west window):
Balsamine, beloperone, ginura, zebrina, capsicum, codium, kufea, nerter, poinsettia, sansevieria, piglet, senpolia, nightshade, sparmannia, tradescantia, ficus rubbery, chlorophytum, choia, chrysanthemum.
Solar window (window sill of the south window or a place in the immediate vicinity of it):
Agapanthus, acacia, bougainvillea, bouvardia, heliotrope, hibiscus, hippeastrum, jasmine, zebrina, iresina, cacti and other succulents, callistemon, coleus, lanthanum, citrus, nerina, oleander, acidity, passiflora, pelargonia, rose, celosia
- All flowering houseplants prefer somewhat brighter lighting than ornamental species, since light is extremely necessary for them to form flower buds.
- Plants with variegated leaves require more light than plants with green leaves.
- Light walls in a room reflect light, i.e. make the room lighter.
- Plants suffer if they are often rearranged from place to place, especially with different illumination.
- In winter, plants must be placed closer to the window, or illuminate the plant additionally, if signs of lack of light appear.
- Dirty glass delays up to 40% of the light, so try to wash the windows more often. In winter, you can take advantage of the opportunity and wash the glass at any positive temperature.
- Just transplanted, and just purchased plant, need to be shaded in the first two weeks. And also most plants need to be shaded from the midday sun.
- Some plants periodically need to be turned with different sides to the light source (unless there are buds on it), for uniform formation of leaves.
- There are exceptions to all these rules, so read in detail about your plant and the rules for its content in the encyclopedia section.
| Signs of lack of light | Signs of excess light |
|---|---|
|
If the plant was standing in the sun and:
|
 |
 |
