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While looking for information about caring for Monstera deliciosa, I've sometimes read that they prefer shade. It seems this is the case for other plants as well, but I find it puzzling and I haven't found any explanation for it. Why would a plant prefer to receive less light? (NB: I'm not talking about how Monstera deliciosa finds a tree when young by growing away from light, but rather in general for adult plants.)

My theory is that the culprit is actually heat, but then why just not say so? Has anyone tried to grow a shade-loving plant under intense light?

I want my Monstera to grow well, is a shady spot really better than under a general-purpose LED light?

Bence Kaulics
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comeauch
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1 Answers1

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To understand the needs of any house plant, you need to take a closer look at its natural habitat. In our homes, we try to mimic those conditions as well as we can and breeders have been working hard at developing cultivars of very sensitive plants that will thrive under less-than-ideal conditions, aka. your living room. Just see the many orchids that are cheap and robust enough to be sold even in grocery stores and later bloom happily on some windowsill.

One particular group of house plants is at home in the shade of larger growth, e.g. on forest floors. If we place these in direct sunlight (meaning well, of course) they simply get "sunburned" and suffer. They lack the biological mechanisms to cope with the amount of solar energy that hits them. The culprit is typically not the heat, but the UV light. As I said: sunburn.

So for your forest-dwellers, just put them out of direct sunlight and they should be fine.

Stephie
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