Sun, Water, And Little Thing Called Photosynthesis
Remember learning about photosynthesis in school? This is the process by which plants make their ‘food.’ In other words, the green leaves convert chemical substances with the aid of light and water into carbohydrates. Photosynthesis is more complicated than this, involving carbon dioxide, oxygen and chlorophyll. But it’s enough to know that with sunlight or water, photosynthesis won’t occur.

Let There Be Light
Plants require certain light conditions to carry on food production. They can’t have too much or too little. A sun-loving plant needs enough sun to carry on its flower production reach its proper height. And a shade-loving plant can result in scorched leaves and prevent the plant from creating enough food to continue its life-cycle.

Light is a major requirement of any plant but not all plants require the same amount or intensity of light. You can therefore lend variety to your plant collection by placing plants in different locations according to their light preferences.

Helping Your Plant Adapt To Its New Environment
Many plants will survive in less than recommended light, but they may become weak, pale and leggy if left there too long . Insufficent light will cause growth to be slow and spaced out, making plants lose their compact and full leaved form.

If light is insufficient you may wish to experiment with artificial light. Incandescent or fluorescent tubes can be purchased from local plant equipment outlets. Even a few 40 walt bulbs clustered together will help perk up a slightly drooping member of your collecition.

For example, do not move from shade to very bright light or any other extremes. If the plant does well where you put it, leave it there. Constant moving of a plant will be detrimental to its establishment in any location.

You may wish to keep flowering plants in bright light until they bloom and then relocate them for display. If you do this, give them an occasional lift by placing them in bright light.

It is good daily practice to rotate plants slightly in the same direction. Some varieties are very light sensitive and high intensity light or insufficient light will cause them to lean toward the light souce. If the plant isn’t turned, it will refuse to stand upright.