A Calathea plant can grow in low light but that doesn’t mean no light. Like every plant, a Calathea needs sunlight to grow. However, a Calathea doesn’t like direct light or strong sunlight. Your Calathea will grow best in bright but indirect light.
With this in mind, try to avoid a south-facing windowsill unless you have a sheer curtain as the sun can be too strong and may damage your plant. (Of course this may be different if you live somewhere that is in cloud coverage for the majority of the time).
During the winter an east or west facing windowsill will help your plant to get enough light and in the summer you might even get away with placing your Calathea on a north facing windowsill.
Of course this isn’t an exact science and the most important thing you can do is to react to your plant. So if you have your plant on an east-facing windowsill during the summer, and you live somewhere that gets a lot of sun and you notice your plants suffering, don’t feel that you need to leave your plant where it is. You can move it away from the window and see how it goes. Similarly if you don’t think your plant is getting enough light then you can change it’s location or move it closer to a window.
And remember that where you live may affect this placement. If you live somewhere that gets very little light in the winter then you’re probably going to need to do some different placement to somewhere near the equator.
Reacting to your plants needs is more important than following instructions to the letter.
Problems With Your Calathea Receiving Too Much Light
If your Calathea receives too much light then some of the things you might notice is that the colouring and patterns on your Calathea begin to fade. If you notice this happening then chances are you need to move your Calathea to somewhere with a bit less sunlight.
Another problem you might face is that your plant might develop brown and crispy leaves but this can also come about from a lack of humidity so check your humidity levels as well as the light situation before you move your plant.
Problems With Your Calathea Receiving Too Little Light
Too little light can also be damaging to your Calathea. With too little light you will experience a slow in growth in your plant and it might even stop growing altogether.
To ensure your Calathea continues to grow but does not lose it’s colour or become sunburned, make sure you expose it to bright indirect light and learn how to respond to your plant if it exhibits any of the symptoms we have mentioned.
Don’t be afraid to move your plant’s location and to try and different levels of brightness to see what works for you. Just make sure that you keep an eye on your plant to see what it needs.
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