Houseplant Care: A Beginner's Guide to Light from Costa Farms

Knowing how much light your houseplant needs can sometimes be a bit tricky, especially so if you're a beginner with indoor plants. It's important to us here at Costa Farms that you succeed with your houseplants --- so we've put together quick guides to help.

We're starting with light, because light affects many other aspects of plant care. If all the science with foot candles, light meters, and fall off confuses you, we have you covered. We share a simple, straightforward method of determining how much light your space has: a shadow test. If you enjoy digging deeper, it can be a lot of fun to run around your home and measuring how much light you have in one room versus another, and what plants are getting more or less light than others.

If you're not blessed with big windows, we also talk about natural light vs. artificial light for your plants, so you can determine if fluorescent lights, LED lights, or grow lights are best for your houseplant collection.

Keep an eye out for more videos in this beginner's series!

[Riendeaux]

GIVE THIS MAN A RAISE!!! I loved this!! I received an O2 6 pack of plants from Amazon today from Costa Farms and it was in great shape. 😍Love this series. I’m watching all of these.

[HinaHeather]

Thank you for the great and gentle explanation about light. I can feel you have TONS of experience dealing with beginners and customer service 😂

[vickiandKi]

I agree with Hina. I have been binge watching Costa Farms videos on you tube and your way of explaining what I am sure you believe is elementary is so informative! (and caring and easy to understand) Love Costa Farms!

[JustJnathan]

People always ask me how I keep my plants so lush and healthy. I tell them one thing - move them right in front of a window. If you live in the northern hemisphere, keep tropicals a few feet away from south or west windows and never let them get more than a couple of hours of direct afternoon sunlight; for north or east windows, move them directly in front of it. Tropicals can handle gentle morning sun from the east. For succulents and cacti, move them right up to a window regardless of the direction, but preferably west or south.

[jeanniechristy]

Thank you so much! Great great video and so much information. I am new to the hobby, but am developing a little bit of a green thumb and over the past 4 years have grown my collection to about 15 plants, and they are all doing fairly well. Will continue to watch and learn.

[Chiquitina]

I really came to the comments section to hopefully find others who felt how I did and I was not disappointed lol 😝 it was well done, witty, cute, simple and I love his vibe 🥰 🪴

[KDFantastic]

Yes you did a good job explaining light. You are enLIGHTening. Although realistically beginners or pros tend to lose plants during the fall and winter season. It does not matter how good you care for them. But for beginners take heart.. you can always go and buy more Costa Farm plants 😂😂😂.

[CC-pxdy]

I LOVE him. He’s great guys. Intensity and duration with the porno music in the background LMBO! Hahahaha You’re killing me.

[AmberNicola]

This guy is amazing, what a great video

[CC-pxdy]

By the way. I really need more snow queens here in Round Rock Texas. Can I ask why as in demand as they are that we barely get any? I want lots! We are seriously fighting over what few we get here. I’m heart broken I have to search 4-5 stores every week and nothing. Help please. Love you guys. Love your quality and the prices. Keep up the amazing work!

[mindanicholas]

Wht u do after the order plants arrive to the house.?? Take off of the box and water them and put where the lights