You cannot grow a plant in the absence of adequate light in the house. Plants like monstera can survive in low light and in bright indirect light.
But we do not grow plants at home for their survival. We grow monstera for its beautiful foliage. Houseplants are a natural piece of home decoration.
If you want to grow monstera then before that you need to know about the monstera light needs.
It needs 10 to 12 hours of indirect light daily. The source of the light can be natural or man-made artificial.
In today’s article, we’ll discuss the light needs of monstera and know if your monstera needs more light.
At end of the post, you will find a section on Signs of extra bright light and how it affects the monstera plants.
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Relation between light and monstera
Light is the most important part of plant life. Nature designs plants to grow in open fields. But we humans like them to grow in our houses.
Their beauty makes our houses bright and beautiful. To grow any type of houseplant, first, you need to know about its light requirements.
Monstera plants need indirect bright light for a minimum of 8 hours per day. Whereas for best growth they need light for 12 hours.
Monstera absorbs light through their leaves and uses it to make chlorophyll. Then they convert it into glucose with the help of light.
This everyday process takes 10 hours to complete. This clears that they need light for long hours.
Unfortunately, growers put more focus on fertilizers than on the light. Plants make their food from water and carbon dioxide that they absorb from their surroundings.
Light is required for converting water and carbon into plant food.
Fertilizers are used to support the plants. Outdoor growing plants need fewer fertilizers because they get everything from soil and the sun.
Whereas indoor plants need a few fertilizers to grow healthy.
Soil and water are the next important factors after sunlight. You will get information on soil and water in our other articles.
The best source of light for monstera
To understand this, we need to first know about the natural growing conditions of monstera. It is naturally found in tropical forests.
This means the plant grows under the canopy of trees. Plants under the canopy do not get enough sunlight.
They develop their genes that can grow and stand stable in low light.
Moreover, the monstera grown in the jungle develop large size leaves to absorb more sunlight. This clears that light directly affects the leaf size of the plants.
Now that we know monstera do not need direct sunlight.
It can damage the plant and burn the leaves. Brown leaves with dots are the first signs of over-sun exposure.
Therefore, put the plants in bright but filtered light. In simple words locate a place in your house.
Where the direct sunrays cannot fall on the plant leaves. But the room is bright enough to full fill the monstera light needs.
It can be any sunny window but put the plant pot 3 feet away from the sunny window. This distance will protect your plants from direct sun rays.
Some growers use grow lights for houseplants. In this case, do not use HPS or other high-intensity grow lights.
LED grow lights are best for normal houseplants. They need less maintenance and also consume less electric energy.
Monstera light needs
10 to 12 hours of indirect light is compulsory. But this does not mean your plant cannot survive in a low-light environment.
This is the peak value monstera light needs in its active growing season.
In winter it can survive in low light. Because winter is the dormancy period of monstera plants. They take a rest and do not need much light energy.
Because they are not growing, they are in a state of hibernation.
Stunted growth in the winter season is normal. In fact, it is healthy for them. They use 80% of their energy to save themselves from the cold environment.
This is the reason they do not grow on cold days.
Even if you use grow lights in winter your plants will not show signs of growth. Because they know the temperature is below 18 degrees C and this is the rest time.
To trick them I use grow tents. They are designed to control all-growing factors for 365 days. With the help of growing tents, you can grow summer plants in the winter season and vice versa.
Signs that tell your monstera needs more light
Now that you know about the light requirements of the monstera. You will also need to know what signs indicate your monstera is suffering from low light.
Below are the signs of low light in the monstera grow room.
Soil does not dry between watering
Plants absorb water from the soil with the help of light. When the monstera soil stays wet for more than 10 days.
This means it needs additional light to absorb water from the soil. Also, to transport water to its leaves.
Soil that stays wet for longer invites root fungus diseases. Root rot is not good for the monstera growth.
They are prone to root rot disease. A little extra cup of water can lead your plant roots to fungi.
Move the plant pot to a bright location. The light rays falling on the potting soil keep it warm. This gives warmth to the plant roots and they start absorbing water.
Lack of holes in plant leaves
Plants absorb water from the soil with the help of light. When the monstera soil stays wet for more than 10 days.
This means it needs additional light to absorb water from the soil. Also, it transport water to its leaves.
Soil that stays wet for longer invites root fungus diseases. Root rot is not good for the monstera growth.
They are prone to root rot disease. A little extra cup of water can lead your plant roots to fungi.
Move the plant pot to a bright location. The light rays falling on the potting soil keep it warm. This gives warmth to the plant roots and they start absorbing water.
Stretched growth
Monstera plants growing towards the light means they need more light energy. In low light, they develop small leaves and long petioles.
This is due to the lack of light and food. I have already explained above that plants need light for making food.
When they do not get enough light. They stretch their stems and leaves toward the source of light. Leggy growth is a sure sign of low monstera light.
In indoor monstera, it develops small leaves. Because it needs a high amount of energy to make beautiful long leaves.
Due to a lack of food plants keep their leaves small in size.
Slow growth
Slow growth is another common sign of low light in monstera rooms. When due to lack of light the plant becomes unable to make proper food.
It slows down its growth. Because it needs 50% of the energy for the other essential processes.
Under ideal conditions, monstera can grow up to 8 feet tall and spread about 2 feet. Provide enough light to grow it tall and strong.
Monstera grows from spring to fall then it goes into the dormancy period.
The best location for monstera
Any location in your bedroom, kitchen, or living room will be the best for monstera. The only condition is the grow room should have a sunny window.
Because it needs 10 hours of bright light to grow.
Do not put it directly on the window sill. There should be 3 feet distance between the plant and the east-facing sunny window.
The North window is not suitable because your monstera cannot handle the high intense sun rays of afternoon.
The morning light is good for it. But after 10 am you need to move the pot in the indirect light.
On the other hand, if you are using grow light. Then 100 watts LED grow light is good for plant growth and safety.
Keep in mind that the light should emit 100 watts of light energy.
For this, you need to choose the 150 watts led grow light.
What if you do not have a sunny window?
In this case, you need to use artificial grow lights. Again, LED grow lights are best to use. Because they emit light energy waves similar to the sun.
Plants cannot differentiate between the source of light. They need a full spectrum of light. This means the light energy that has all the light wave spectrums.
Only LEDs emit full-band light energy.
Do not use HPS/MH grow lights to grow soft houseplants. Because they emit a high amount of heat. This heat releases the temperature of grow room.
The high temperature puts a negative effect on your plants.
Signs of too much light for monstera
Leaf burn
Brown spots
Brown edges
These are the common signs of over-exposure to light. The potting soil also becomes dry quickly and you need to give water plants more frequently than normal.
Move the plant pot to a less bright place to save it. Also, remove the yellow and brown leaves. This will encourage the plant to produce more healthy green leaves.
I hope now everything is clear about monstera plant light needs. If you are still confused, write us.
