After bringing your new, wonderfully lush, vibrant green plant home from the nursery, take the proper precautions to keep it healthy and growing. Just as we do, plants also need air, water, and food. Plants get their food from light; getting enough light is just as important as ensuring your plant gets adequately watered. Columbus’ best florist, Griffin’s Floral Designs, is here to help you recognize signs of distress in your plant and ways to ensure it’s receiving enough light to thrive.

How Your Plant Lets You Know, It Wants More Light

Leggy

Leggy plants have stems that have grown long and skinny due to insufficient light. Another sign is the wide spaces between the leaves. The space between adjacent leaves is called the internode, and large internodes indicate a lack of light.

Smaller Leaves

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

Leaning

Since light is food for plants, and they need food to grow properly and thrive, plants with insufficient lighting will lean toward the primary light source. If you notice one side of a plant leaning toward the light, it’s a sure sign the entire plant is not getting enough food. Move the plant closer to the light source and give it a quarter of a turn at least once a week so all of its leaves can get ample light.

Abnormal Leaf Color

The chlorophyll in a plant’s leaves makes them vibrant green and enables the photosynthesis process, where light is converted into food for the plant. When there is not enough light, the chlorophyll stops working as well as it should, resulting in leaves that become pale and yellow and eventually fall off.

Slowed Growth or No New Growth

If you suspect your plant is not growing as quickly as it should, move it closer to a window and watch what happens.

Getting the Light Right

If your plant has any of the above signs of light deficiency, improve the amount of light it’s getting. This could be as simple as moving it closer to a window, opening the blinds or curtains more, or moving it to a window that gets more sun naturally, such as a southerly or westerly facing window.

Remember, only sun-worshipping plants such as succulents, cacti, or palm trees should be in direct sunlight. Indirect bright light or medium light that is somewhat diffused is better suited for most indoor plants — except shade-loving varieties such as ferns and orchids.

It may take some trial and error, but paying attention to your plant’s signs is all you need to ensure its happiness and health.