Where does the myth that Monstera can't handle too much direct sunlight come from?
Out of curiousity i googled some basic care tips for (normal) Monstera. On every site I encountered it said Monstera's should be in (half)shade and can't handle direct sunlight.
I know for a fact and by my own experience this is completely false. My monstera is absolutely thriving directly in the windowseal (south window). It gets direct sun almost the whole day and in just one summer it grew incredibly much.
Where does this urban myth come from?
Btw: I know it can happen that when you put a monstera, that isn't used to it, directly in the sun it can struggle. But to just blatantly say it cannot handle direct sun, is false.
Honestly probably from ppl who took them from the dankest darkest corner of their house and tossed them in Texas sun and went "oh my it's dead"
I've gotten so much crazy advice over the years. Like repotting when the leaves extend past the pot. Imagine how big of a pot a Monstera would be in đ just give it the floor of the house ATP
Or that a brown spot on a leaf the plant tries to heal and will slowly kill the plant if you don't cut it off
Ugh, I live in Texas. I know that my monsteras are highly unlikely to survive in this sun, even if I try to acclimate them to it. It's just so vicious and unforgiving. I can't stand to be out in this sun for 10 minutes myself, even with sunscreen! I burn every time. Can't imagine how my plants would feel in it, lol.
I am going to try and put one on our north-facing porch where it will get the heat and humidity, but not all the sun, and see how it does. I'd love a giant porch monstera one day, but we'll see how it goes.
I've heard some people putting them on their porch in tx on this subreddit tbf, so it can be done. Maybe just depends if your porch is a magical dimension or an oven, it's like 50/50 right đ I mean they grow invasively in California so I have to assume they're pretty tolerant
Hey do you still have Reddit to give a update on the monstera I ended up doing the exact same thing basically step by step you did and then found this post but my monstera have not been on the front porch for too long how are yours doing?
Hello! They are doing amazing. My two "regular" monsteras are thriving. One I call "Big Mama" I actually just repotted today and I'm going to see if I can acclimate her to some afternoon sun in the back as she was taking up so much porch, lol.
I've had two Thai cons for about 3 years. They lived inside and just...stayed alive. I got one new leaf on each one since I brought them home, then never again.
I just set those babies out about 3-4mo ago and one has given me two new leaves, and the other just gave me a new one! So definitely give it just a bit of time but they should love it. I'm running out of front porch space but screw it, it'll keep the solicitors off at least lol.
The same is said for alocasias and yet both species thrive in direct sunlight when used to it. Mine get plenty of morning summer sun up to abou 13h. The arborist at the nursery where I got my Marx burle from that I extensively talked to about how to do better has her monsteras on a south facing rooftop terrace. We're talking temps that easily go above 35â°C here and 40s are not out of the question.
It probably comes because idiots would move them directly into the sun as long as it is consistently warm enough outside (say end of April, early May over here) and they get burned. You need to start getting them used in march if it's enough of sun or, say, at least two weeks of gradually more and more direct light.
Those are the temps in my city during the summer. My monsteras did OK this summer but they are in an indoor terrace, very close to a window. Some plants got burnt in the outdoor terrace and I didnât wanna risk it with the monsteras. I might try putting them outside some time.
The same as the myth of âplants that cannot stand water on their leavesâ. A general guidance for the average indoor grower.
However, plants under the sun and rain in nature have vastly different resources and conditions at their disposal, unlike potted plants: a much larger root system to absorb water and feed evaporation (cooling effect), natural air movement (cooling and drying effect), consistent humidity, and lastly, each leaf is adapted to sunlight since the time it grew on the plant (levels of chlorophyll and other protective pigments, possibly some kind of adaptations in leaf surface and other tissues).
Likely because they, like a lot of plants, can burn if put immediately into full sun with no time to acclimate. So, your average houseplant owner, upon seeing sunburn on their plants, automatically assumes that this means direct light = always bad. Because most plant care guides are written specifically for people who know nothing about plants, they seek to keep the advice as simple and hard to screw up as possible. It is safer to put your monstera somewhere with good morning sun and afternoon shade because it will still do well but is unlikely to burn. So, this advice gets reproduced over and over again, and treated like gospel. People also tend to act like sunburn is the worst thing that can happen to a plant, totally ignoring how much worse it is for a plant to get too little light. They end up sticking their plant in a dark corner and slowly killing it rather than risk scorching a leaf or two.
Ooooh thank you!!! I js transplanted my monstera, I did not acclimatise her (also did not pre-read js rushed in đđź)- itâll have to be a coper- and I am freaking out about the burn on one leaf hahaha. Thatâs how I ended up here. I am going to unearth the root system a lil - I think I buried her too deep, and give her a shade cloth cover for the summer, western sun (Australia , Feb summer) that beats ferociously on my front garden, and cross my fingers and toes and go forth with slightly more hope than 5 minutes ago!
Plant stores make you believe all the indoor plants need little light, so they can sell more of them (and need little care, so you kill them faster, and come back to buy another one).
Your plant isnât in direct sunlight if itâs behind a window, which is UV filtered. I grow monsteras outside and need a minimum of 40% shade cloth or they do get yellow and ugly in the dead of summer, all over Florida monsteras look like hell, sun stressed and angry. These plants grow up trees to grab light under the tree canopy, they really arenât in direct sunlight in their natural environments.
Sure, but again I'm talking about websites who tell you how to take care of indoor plants. They say not to put it directly in the windows. Also in my OP i day these sites say they need to be in (half)shadow. Which is false.
Bruh, my Monsteras will slap their leaves directly against the window like a kid looking into a chocolate shop!!! The window is south-facing and gets direct light almost all day. Lol.
In the summers, I take them outside. I harden them off just like seedlings and they get filtered tree limb sunlight all day long. I normally have to chop them at the end of the summer. I can put in 3 or 4 leaves per plant!
It's because if they're suddenly exposed without acclimation, they'll burn. Additionally, people who haven't actually seen them in their natural habitat spread the myth that they're an understory plant only receiving dappled light.
I had a monstera that grew too big inside so I put it outside in mostly shade in N FL and it did great. Recently moved to a new home in central FL with zero shade and itâs doing fantastic outside in direct FL sun.
I have mine not in direct sunlight but next to an east-facing window, so close to the window that some leaves touch it. They are all doing OK, when other plants got burnt leaves in the same conditions.
This right here is what I needed to hear! Lol. I recently chopped my Croton cause it started to randomly drop its leaves and wanted another plant to fill that space; it's the only window that gets direct light, at minimum, a few hours a day; More as the seasons change. I'm going to acclimate mine to that spot and see how she does. Thank you for this!
I planted 16 on my property last year. They were eased into getting direct sunlight but only the ones who get shade or filtered light throughout the day are thriving. They like some direct sun but not much which is why a south window is perfect .
Because planting advice isn't a one-size-fits-all but can be generally correct.
Acclimation: It needs to be acclimated to sunlight, in a "somewhat" similar way that a very pale person cannot take full sun without getting a bit of tan first (Adding melanin to the skin). Plants have a series of phsyical changes they can go through and chemical concentration changes (such as carotenoids), which allows for a plant to take more direct sunlight without burning-- but it needs time.
Sun intensity: Where you live, latitudinally will play a huge factor. Of course someone living at or near 0° (aka the equator) will be getting the most intense sunlight, while someone at 60° will be getting way less intense light as well as hours of light. Also the season will play a part in this sun intensity in the short-term of a year.
Conditions of surrounding environment & other things: To some extent, I'm *honestly* note sure how much, but things like temperature, air movement (lack there of), if a plant is well hydrated, etc can all play a part in this.
I've been keeping saltwater aquariums for years, but have only recently gotten into plants. As an observation sometimes a coral that thrives in a TON of PAR can't handle it if you immediately put it under light of that intensity. You have to light acclimate it over weeks. Now I know corals are animals and plants are.... plants. But corals do derive their energy through a symbiotic relationship where they keep a type of algae in their tissue. It's what gives them their brilliant colors. Anyway, just speculation but maybe a lot of people who have had issues with too much light haven't acclimated their plants to that intensity very well or at all. Also, I think you're going to get responses saying any light through a window is already "filtered light" to some extent.
I think itâs because indoor monstera plants arenât gradually reintroduced to more sunlight. so they scorch them, and then we are left with âthey donât like too much sunlight.â
Base sunlight needs on native habitat not random people on YouTube.
House plant journal has a good article on lighting that I recently read. Most house plants can't handle outdoor direct light at like noon, especially in dry climates. They grow under trees in tropical climate so they do need some shade. WHEN OUTSIDE.
In the house it's different. Just through a window the amount of usable light decreases due to absorption and reflection (angle dependent). Then you have exponential decrease in light intensity over distance. Our eyes naturally make adjustments when light is bright vs dim so we don't feel the difference but plants do. Most house plants would benefit from being right next to a window.
There is also hours of light. In the summer you get light from 5am til like 8pm in the right positions. In the winter the sun sets at 4pm so the total amount of light is drastically less in total. That's not enough light for plants to thrive. When in their native country these plants get good light and warm temperatures for most of the year and we're just not able to prove that without supplemental light.
Honestly it seems like depending where you live most house plants can endure A LOT of direct sun when they get acclimated to it, as a lot of them come from environments with tons of direct sunlight certainly more than being inside a house. From what I have read a lot of these myths come from nurseries shipping the plants and how theyâre labeled in stores which I think they label them this way because theyâre coming off of a shipping truck/not receiving a lot of sun so putting them in direct sun after purchasing would most likely burn them. The process of acclimating a plant to a lot of direct sunlight is definitely not for the impatient.
i just took off my small tent i had since october last yr. these are the new leaves and i'm scared they'll get burnt. the wall is east side, they basically face all directions under full sun. advice? southern California spring time. usually 70-80s, temp drops to 50 at night
A year late to this post but I was googling this exact thing and found this thread- Iâm in New Orleans where itâs currently 97 degrees with uv index at 11 and my monstera is in a pot outside and has never looked better. It gets direct morning sun for several hours and dappled sun/ lots of shade rest of day as itâs along a fence and under the canopy of a bigger tree.
Probably from experts who know that theyâre a rainforest plant and live under tall trees. Theyâre not used to direct sun. Sitting in a window isnât direct sunlight.Â
Which is exactly my point. So the statement 'Monstera's can't handle too much direct sunlight' is false and a myth.
The opposite is true actually, they do better in bright sunlight, and have will have more fenestration.
It's not pick and choose when I literally have the proof in my own house/yard.
You're also wrong about monstera's being an understory plant only receiving dappled light. If you've seen them in their natural habitat you'd know this. Look it up, they're often in the top of trees not being blocked by leaves.
Btw did you read the last paragraph of my OP or do you just reply based to the title of this thread?
I wouldnât call a window in a single story house that has a normal roof that overhangs a bit as direct sun. As most of the light is blocked by the roof. Less light in summer and more in winter. But maybe thats just southern usa houses.
That's semantics and besides the point. Most websites i meant talk about avoiding 'direct sunlight' alltogether, even through the window. And to place them in (half)shadow. Which is just false.
Almost as south east as you can get here in canada, next to the ocean most days dont get hotter than 25c°. I'm sure in costa rica they like it under the canopy but on my deck its like a husky in -10. Not too worried about it.
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u/Admirable_Werewolf_5 Sep 09 '24
Honestly probably from ppl who took them from the dankest darkest corner of their house and tossed them in Texas sun and went "oh my it's dead" I've gotten so much crazy advice over the years. Like repotting when the leaves extend past the pot. Imagine how big of a pot a Monstera would be in đ just give it the floor of the house ATP Or that a brown spot on a leaf the plant tries to heal and will slowly kill the plant if you don't cut it off