What 'Bright Indirect Light' really means: using a Light Meter | House Plant Journal

The LTH Meter: the first meter that measures light, temperature, and humidity

List of "bright indirect light" requirements by plant:

It's time to stop fooling around with light - your plant's life depends on it: buying a light meter will save you money in the long run - fewer plant deaths and you'll avoid buying plants beyond your KNOWN indirect light levels - "high, medium, low" just doesn't cut it!

My book on houseplant care 'The New Plant Parent', which contains a lot of info on how to assess and understand light in an indoor environment well beyond the generic ways of explaining light by window directions:

The light meter used in this video:

[miahdavis]

This is probably the most useful video I've ever watched regarding lighting.

[catmarie]

This comment section makes me feel so much better. I have been walking around my house asking all animals and plants what indirect light means and now I know I wasn't alone.

[marygreene]

For almost 50 years I've grown houseplants. But have always felt unsure, just trying to keep them from dying. As a teen the 70s, I bought Crockett's book on houseplants where he used the term foot candles and never completely understood. Finally! Some clear information. I really appreciate your simplistic approach to explaining lighting. Thank you.

[Applegal]

Because of your earlier video on light, I actually squatted down on my balcony imagining I'm a plant looking up at the sky 😂 Seeing you move your pothos every day makes me feel better about moving mine every day too! I put them closer to the edge of the balcony to see more sky but pull them in at night in case it rains heavily

[AdamTillontheWeb]

I bought and read your book after watching an older video that mentioned this concept, and bought the same meter you show. Made a HUGE difference in the happiness of my plants, and let me add appropriate levels of supplemental lighting. From an engineer that loves techie solutions, I thank you.

[shrewkumar]

Best 8 mins I spent on a plant care video ever. Thank-you!

[dinaoctavina]

Some says that 'if you could read a book with that kind of light, then it'll do with your plants too' NO ONE explained it like you did. Thank you. As a new plants mama; this helped me SO MUCH...

[Hopsterr]

You just made my life 8000 times easier !! Thank you (: I had no idea what “ bright indirect light “ was until I saw this video . I have been moving my plants around willy nilly! Love your video. Straight to the point .
AMAZING CONTENT 🌞🪴

[lysandrady]

This is so helpful! Especially when you used the fish eye! Everything makes sense! Thanks !

[adilyamarie]

I love ur very specific way of explaining things!

[lastcastproduction]

Finally someone who understands plant basics👍🏼👍🏼! People just buys plants not even knowing where their natural habitat are! This is the best explanation ive seen on youtube about light and plants!

[blackhoney]

Thank you, for clear precise definition of indirect light for plants

[SmOkdOutShoDy]

This is by far the most helpful video I've watched. Thank you so much!

[governmentrape]

This was so informative, thank you. I just watched this video through an article, but I had to come to your channel personally so I could like and comment. Thanks again, I know my little green dudes are gonna love it! 😃

[Klayhamn]

this was a revolutionary video for me --- it made me re-evaluate all my plant positioning and try to make the most of my space close to my window.
I have a huge window in my living room but because of a big tree outside - it really narrows the vertical "angle" that the light is coming in - illuminating only a short distance from the window.

However, that space was unused by me.

I tried to place plants well within the living room and supplement them with artificial light with limited success.

After I saw your video i decided to utilize all my window space and the little natural light that i DO get - and bought a bench and moved some books and other decorations to make room for plants right by the windows.

While it is not the "ideal location" in terms of how i would decorate my apartment if i had complete liberty --- it is much better for the plants themselves and allows them to thrive instead of barely surviving under forced agendas...

Thank you so much <3

[jessyflores]

I bought the exact same light meter as you and I'm walking around my house at different times of day to measure how much light my plants are getting! THANK YOU! This video is very informative and helpful!

[becky]

I really appreciated the multiple ways throughout this video that you explain the concept of white for plants because it meant that people who understand information differently all could get some value out of this. Thanks for a great and informative video!

[shannonetling]

I love this video! I have never seen anyone break down light for plants this way. The tags can be very ambiguous. I think the next helpful step would be to provide a video which breaks down the foot candle ranges for the different light type combinations (bright, indirect, bright, medium, low). I would love if you did that!

[GardeningInCanada]

I’m a soil scientist and just did a video on the idea of a window refracting light. For northern climates (like Canada) right in from of the window is best.

[jillclifford]

Thank you so much for such an informative video. I also loved how you patted the plant in the beginning of the video! All the best to you !