When you hear the word “succulent,” what kind of plant comes to mind? Most likely, you are thinking of flower-shaped desert plants like echeverias and sempervivums.
But the word “succulent” refers to more than a thousand different types of plants that grow in a wide range of climates worldwide. Because of this, there is no one-size-fits-all way to determine how much light your succulent needs.
What’s a Succulent?
Succulents are plants that store water in their leaves and/or stem so they can live in dry climates or soil. You can find succulents worldwide, in places like tropical rainforests, hot deserts, and snowy mountains.
Cacti, echeveria, aloe, haworthia, hoya, sempervivum, sedum, ZZ plants, snake plants, jade plants, and many more are all types of succulents.
Succulent Light Requirements
Different species of succulents need very different amounts of light. Some succulents, like ZZ plants and snake plants, can grow well in low light, while others, like cacti and some desert plants, need several hours of bright, direct sunlight daily. Therefore, knowing what kind of succulent you have is essential to figure out how much light it needs.
Direct Light
Direct light means the sun’s rays come in through the window and hit your plant directly. Succulents that need natural light should be put in front of a south – or west-facing window, where they should get six to seven hours of sunlight every day (although this can vary depending on your variety). Desert cacti, echeveria, sempervivum, jade, aloe, aeonium, Senecio, agave, sedum, hoya, and many other succulents need direct sunlight.
It is important to remember that direct sunlight inside is not as strong as direct sunlight outside because it is still filtered through a window. This is important only if you plan to move your indoor succulents out for a while since the sudden change in sun exposure can burn the plant’s leaves. Make sure to move the plants into direct sunlight outside gradually. The plants should be in primarily indirect light for a couple of weeks.
Indirect Light
When the light comes to a plant’s leaves indirectly, the sun’s rays are filtered in some way. Even though the light is not straight, the area is still bright.
Many succulents do well in indirect light, such as haworthia, holiday cacti, snake plants, ZZ plants, the string of hearts, Rhipsalis, gasteria, kalanchoe, peperomia, and more.
Low lightÂ
Many kinds of succulents can grow in low light. The word “tolerate” makes a big difference here. When grown indoors, most plants do best with bright, indirect light, but a few can live or thrive with less light. You might notice that succulents grown in low light grow more slowly or look leggier than those grown in indirect sunlight.
This usually means that plants are at least a few feet away from a window and don’t get any bright filtered light or direct sun rays on their leaves.
As a result, snake plants, ZZ plants, kalanchoe, mistletoe cactus, the string of hearts, holiday cactus, fishbone cactus, and many other types of succulents can grow in low light.
Light Stress Symptoms
Succulents show signs of light stress when they don’t get the right amount of light. Light stress can happen when there is too much or not enough light.
If succulents get too much light, their leaves may change color or get brown spots or crispy edges. In addition, succulents that need less or indirect light instead of direct light are more likely to get stressed out from too much sunlight, especially if their lighting changes quickly and drastically, like when they are moved from a low-light spot to a direct-light spot.
Stress can also show up in succulents that don’t get enough light. This is common in succulents and cacti that need a lot of bright, direct sunshine daily, like those in the desert. Keep an eye out for shaky growth, leaves falling off, and development that stops short.
Using Grow Lights for Succulents
When growing succulents indoors, it’s usually easier to keep low-light succulents happy than high-light succulents. If your home doesn’t get a lot of natural light, grow lights are a great way to keep succulents that need a lot of direct light healthy.
People often use full-spectrum LED grow lights to grow succulents indoors. These lights come in a wide range of prices.
