Watering through the monsoon
Why plants that were thirsty in April can drown in July.
Reading the light in your flat
North, south, east, west: what each window means for your plants.
The single most important question for any indoor plant is light, and most of us overestimate how much we have. A room that looks bright to our eyes can be quite dim for a plant three metres from the window.
In Bengaluru, south- and west-facing windows get the strongest light, with direct sun in the afternoon. They suit succulents, cacti and sun-loving plants like crotons. East-facing windows get gentle morning sun, which almost every indoor plant enjoys. A Monstera or fiddle-leaf fig is happiest here.
North-facing windows give steady, indirect light all day without direct sun. They are excellent for ferns, calatheas, snake plants and pothos. They are not enough for succulents, which will stretch and fade.
A simple test: at midday, hold your hand a foot above where the plant will sit. A sharp shadow means bright light; a soft, blurred shadow means medium light; barely any shadow means low light. Light also drops quickly with distance. Two metres back from a window can mean half the light. When in doubt, move the plant closer.
