Keeping your plants as lush, green, and healthy as the day you picked them out from the nursery can be a little more complex than you thought. Besides getting the watering routine down, you need to make sure your plant is getting adequate amounts of light as well. After all, sunlight is a plant’s food, and if they receive too little, or too much, it will show in their outward appearance. Before it gets too extreme, Staten Island’s top florist, Moravian Florist, wants you to keep an eye out for the below signs of light issues with your plants.

Look for These Clues of Insufficient Light in Your Plant

Leggy

A term that refers to skinny, sparse stems, if your plant is leggy, then it is not getting enough light. Besides being thin, leggy plants also have wide spaces in between the leaves. This space is called an internode and stems with large internodes are not lush looking.

Smaller Leaves

Plants that are growing leaves much smaller than they should could benefit from more light. If it appears the new leaves aren’t growing in size to match the larger, older leaves, then relocate the plant to a sunnier spot.

Leaning

If your plant has become unbalanced with one side clearly leaning to reach more light, then it needs to placed closer to the light and rotated on a regular basis to ensure all of the leaves get equal amounts of sun.

Abnormal Leaf Color

A plant’s leaves are supposed to be a rich and vibrant green. Chlorophyll is what gives them their green color, and sunlight helps plants produce chlorophyll. Without proper light, leaves will become pale, dull green, yellow, and eventually fall off. With variegated leaves, the coloring will revert to all green in the plant’s attempt to absorb as much light as possible.

Slowed Growth

Plant growth should be obvious on healthy and thriving plants that get plenty of sunlight. If you’re not seeing significant growth or no growth at all, then your plant is probably not getting enough light. Light is food for plants and without it, they will not grow lush and big.

Getting the Light Right

Plants can actually get too much light as well and scorched, dying leaves will result. Only sun-loving plants such as cacti, palms, and succulents should be in direct sunlight for most of the day. For other indoor plants, indirect bright light is fine. An example of this type of light is a well-lit room that gets dappled light or sunlight diffused by a sheer curtain.

Sometimes it may not be possible to have a plant in a spot that gets enough light, in which case you should invest in a grow light that mimics natural light and allows you to grow plants in any lighting condition.

Finding the right amount of light for your plants could take some time and patience, but as long as you know what to look for, then your plants are in good hands.