Although Philodendrons have the breezy reputation of being low-maintenance plants that are great for almost any room in your home, they still need the basic elements of plant care, especially good lighting. In fact, one of the best things you can do to ensure your Philodendron continues to grow happily is to ensure you have provided it with enough sunlight. But how much is the right amount?
Although some varieties of Philodendron can handle varying degrees of light exposure, the general goal should be to provide your plant with as much bright, indirect sunlight as possible. Even though Philodendrons are sometimes considered low-light houseplants, they will only reliably grow when provided with at least four to five hours (or more) of bright, ambient light.
We understand that some of these terms associated with light requirements can be somewhat loose and generic, but hopefully, over the course of this article, you’ll gain a better understanding of the type, intensity, and duration of light exposure that Philodendrons generally need to do well indoors.
How Much Light Philodendrons Need?
I’ll go over different signs your plant has been under or overexposed to sunlight in a bit. Still, it is also just as important to be able to identify how much light your Philodendron actually needs in order to function and grow day in and day out.
Like many houseplants, Philodendrons are native to tropical forests and rainforests, where larger trees often shade the forest floor. They’ve adapted to climb trees to rise above the other shrubs to secure light sources for growth, but as you can imagine with thick forest canopies, this light source is often partial or dappled, at best.
In part, that’s actually what makes Philodendrons such great houseplants. Unless they’re pushed right up against a window, most plants in our homes stay out of the path of direct sun and rely on lots of indirect or ambient light. Because this is the type of sunlight Philodendrons are already used to, they easily thrive indoors.
More specifically, most varieties of Philodendrons prefer the ambient light that bounces around our living and bedrooms. However, because it is less intense than direct sunlight, they need access to it for longer periods of time in order to fulfill important duties, like photosynthesis.
At a minimum, you’ll likely need to provide at least four hours of indirect light for your plant. In most cases, this should provide enough sunlight for your Philodendron to continue growing, albeit at a slower rate.
If you can provide six or eight hours of ambient light for your plant, that is where you are going to see it living its best life. This allows extra time each day when the plant is photosynthesizing, creating and storing food, and absorbing water and nutrients. All of these things translate into growth!
Sometimes this optimal light level is hard to achieve for every houseplant in your home. And, although Philodendrons can tolerate a wide range of light exposure, if it ends up being too low or too high, you will likely start seeing signs that your plant is in distress, and you’ll need to make changes to correct the issue.
Signs Your Philodendron Isn’t Getting Enough Light
Although many of us dream of having a climate-controlled atrium to house our plant collections, the reality is that there are often only a finite number of spaces in our homes that have great lighting. Those fill up quickly with our prized specimens, and we begin to make concessions on where to place everything else.
Luckily, Philodendrons are pretty flexible plants that can handle relatively low-light situations. Placing them in a darker corner of a room doesn’t usually phase them all that much. However, there is such a thing as not enough light, so you still need to keep an eye on your Philodendrons to make sure they aren’t suffering.
One of the first warning signs you may notice is that your Philodendron’s new growth has slowed significantly. To some extent, this is to be expected any time you place your plant in a spot that doesn’t have the optimal growing conditions, but in extreme cases, your plant could stop growing altogether.
On the other hand, you may notice that your plant is still growing, but the new stems look scraggly, leggy, and weak. This is another serious sign that your Philodendron is being deprived of too much light. Any time leggy growth begins, this is the plant using its dwindling energy reserves to put out exploratory growth in order to secure a stronger light source.
Another telltale sign that your plant needs more light has to do with leaf size. Because they tend to tolerate lower light levels, many Philodendrons will continue to grow almost normally, but over time, you might notice that the leaves on the new growth are actually smaller than before.
When there isn’t an abundance of resources at the plant’s disposal, it has to make sacrifices somewhere. If it isn’t the growth rate slowing down, the amount of biomass the plant can produce often takes a hit.
In any of these cases, your plant isn’t performing at its best, and a change of exposure could be very beneficial. All it takes is a move to a brighter location where your Philodendron can access mild or bright ambient lighting more.
Signs Your Philodendron is Getting Too Much Light
Earlier, we said that Philodendrons thrive on as much bright, indirect light as you can give them. This is because they have adapted to grow along forest floors and up trees, where direct sunlight is a limited commodity in dense rainforests. Because of this, most Philodendron varieties do very poorly when exposed to direct sunlight.
Just like we can feel the sun’s warmth on our skin when we are outside or even through a window, plants experience that same heat. And, just like with our skin, too much of that UV exposure ends up burning the tender tissues of the leaves. Very severe cases of sunburn will actually dry the leaf tissue up and crumble away, making it beyond repair. Even less intense exposure can cause enough damage that the plant ends up spending a tremendous amount of energy trying to repair its leaves, to little avail.
One early warning sign of too much sun exposure you should keep an eye out for is if many of your Philodendron’s leaves start turning yellow all at once. Although yellowing leaves can mean several things to these types of houseplants (including overwatering and nutrient deficiencies), leaves are usually affected one at a time, often working up from the bottom.
However, if several leaves start yellowing all over the plant, a good assumption is that an exterior condition, like too much light, is impacting the entire plant. By relocating your Philodendron to a more protected spot, you may just be saving it from a harsh burn.
A Note on Variegated Philodendrons
One of the things that make Philodendrons such awesome plants is that many varieties have variegated or colorful leaves, which add tons of character to the look of the plants. These unique varieties are, generally, just as susceptible to both low and high light exposure, but they also have the added vulnerability of losing their variegation or bold colors if they are placed somewhere too dark.
In most cases, variegation or bold coloring is the result of a distribution of different colored pigments throughout the leaves. As a result, these plants usually contain much less chlorophyll, the pigment that makes leaves green and is essential to photosynthesis.
In a low-light situation, as photosynthesis slows down, the plant will start over-producing chlorophyll in an effort to fix the lack of food production, creating greener leaves that begin losing their variegated patterns. If you find that your variegated variety is fading to green, we recommend moving the plant to a brighter location in order to restore the variegated pattern or coloring.
The Best Location for Your Philodendron
Now that you know what can happen to your Philodendron when it receives too little or too much light, you can confidently pick the best spots in your home for your plants. Consider which rooms in your home provide the most amount of ambient light. Usually, rooms that have south or east-facing windows will be the brightest, but even west-facing windows often provide enough light to sustain a Philodendron.
Within these rooms, look for spots to place your plants that receive this bright, indirect light for several hours a day. More is obviously better, but strive for at least four to five hours each day.
Be sure to avoid any spots too close to the window, where your Philodendron may be in danger of catching direct sunlight. If you can feel the heat of the sunlight on your hand, it’s likely too direct for your plant, so move them back from the window or pull a sheer drape for protection.
Feel free to move these plants around often, too. Philodendrons have optimal lighting conditions, but they have a big range that they tolerate well, so they’re easy to mix, match, and reshuffle when you want a change.
Philodendrons and Grow Lights
Whether you’ve run out of good spots for your plants or your home doesn’t exactly have the best exposure, you can always supplement your Philodendron’s growth with a grow light. Artificial lighting is a great option when, despite your best efforts, your plant is still struggling to reach its potential. By mimicking natural sunlight, these bulbs provide constant light intensities to ensure your plant has enough exposure at all times.
They are also great to get plants through the winter season when days become shorter, and the sun intensity drops. I’m in the Pacific Northwest, and by January, our daylight hours are restricted, so having a few grow lights on timers really helps my collection of houseplants stay healthy and strong until spring hits.
Grow lights come in many different shapes and sizes. You can buy a bulb to screw into a table lamp or spend a little more money and get full rigs that you can adjust for bigger plants.
We use an LED Bulb that fits into a standard lamp, which is easy to move from spot to spot. If you need something a little bigger, an LED Floor Lamp Glow Light puts out a good amount of light and is still incredibly portable and versatile.
Final Thoughts
Although sometimes touted as low-light plants, Philodendrons prefer lots of bright, indirect light to thrive in our homes. Of course, they will tolerate a range of light exposures, but in order to really grow at an optimal level, they prefer to have several hours of exposure every day. Keep an eye out for signs that your plant is receiving too little light, and move it to a brighter location if you see growth slow significantly, small leaves, loss of variegation, or leggy growth.
On the other hand, be sure you’re protecting your plant from direct sunlight and sunburn by keeping it away from windows with lots of sun exposure. It might take some trial and error or the assist from a grow light, but once you find the right spot for your Philodendron, you’ll be surprised at how much healthy growth it can push out in one season.