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Most houseplants are actually considered low-light plants. Out in nature, most are found in the understory. They don’t need a lot of light and are chosen because most homes do not have a lot of light. These particular plants, however, need as much light as you can possibly give them. Put them up in those sunny windows and watch them thrive.
Hoya
Hoya is a beautiful epiphytic plant that likes to grow on trees. They like to grow in moss and bark. They like to dry out and do not need a lot of water very often. Very easy care plants.
When you have them in bright direct sunlight you will see the color of the foliage start to change. Some will have pink foliage while others will turn redder. Others will have more variegation, more speckles, or more silver as they get more light and become sun-stressed.
Another effect bright light has on Hoya is to encourage tremendous growth. They will start to reach out and climb searching for more light. This makes Hoya really fascinating to grow.
There is a wide variety of Hoya with many leaf shapes and colors. So you can always one find to fit your aesthetic and they are always fun to grow when they get enough light.
Tradescantia
This next plant absolutely loves heat as well. They do not need a higher humidity although they can grow in it if needed. If you have a drier home this might be the plant for you.
Tradescantia has a wide variety of other names it can be found under and come in a plethora of colors as well. They can be fuzzy or not. They can easily be found in green and white variegated forms. There are also golds, purples, and pinks. These plants do like to dry out as well.
The one caveat with these is that they are creeping plants. This means that they will creep and trail and the tops will lose energy and kill the upper foliage. The ends need to be regularly chopped and propagated on the top of the pot in order to create a very full-looking pot.
Another option is just to place it high on a shelf so the top cannot be seen and just enjoy the long curtains of vibrant color. They will glitter and glow in the sunlight and it is absolutely a gorgeous thing to see.
Monstera Deliciosa
This is a very versatile plant and one of the things that it can handle is bright direct sunlight. You will grow more quickly if it gets more light. It is s climbing plant but if you do not give it something to climb on it will creep out. It is a very large plant for the most part unless you purposefully go out of your way to get a smaller variety.
They all absolutely love their light regardless. The one thing that people do with Monstera is to try to mature the plant. They want to get these leaves to grow bigger and get more fenestrations. That way they can see those huge iconic Monstera leaves. The best way to do this is to give it something to climb and give it as much light as possible. So fearlessly shove it into your big windows and let that light shine on it. The Monstera will definitely grow for you.
Monstera Deliciosa like to dry out. They are a hemi-epiphytic plant which means that they can grow in soil and eventually evolve to just using aerial roots to sustain themselves and eventually do not need to be connected to the soil anymore. An aroid mixture usually works really well for this plant. But if you do choose to leave it in the soil or do a 50/50 mix with perlite try not to give it too much water.
These are easy care plants and can handle a lot of neglect. It is just that being in bright direct light the Monstera may be using more water each day.
Cacti and Succulents
Arguably these are the number one plants that most people think of when they think of light-loving plants. They would be right.
Cacti and Succulents love their light and are made to thrive in it. Succulents will develop a dusty coating over them called Farina. It is basically light dust covered with a waxy substance and essentially a Succulents version of sunblock. As they get more sun they will get more color and their ferina will get thicker.
Another think to note with most Succulents is if they turn green inside and revert they will not get that coloration back. They will stay green but any new growth in the right amount of sun would come in colorful.
And cacti absolutely need light to grow. Cacti can receive too much light at times and start to burn slightly. This can be fine but if it is concerning you can pull it back k from the window slightly. Generally, cacti love as much light as possible. They love the heat and the warmth. Cacti come from deserts so of course, they are going to be very sun tolerant.
The one caveat with these plants is that they can easily rot if watered too often. So if you are heavy-handed with the water or one of those folks who show their plants love through watering and attention this might be something to consider.
Lipstick Plants
These plants grow beautiful flowers after which they are named and they come in a variety of colors. There are variegated and non variegated as well as cultivars like the Black Pagoda Lipstick Plant that has a pattern like lightning bolts on its foliage and then on the underside, it almost looks like a leopard print with its coloration. It’s a very interesting plant.
All of these plants grow beautifully in direct sunlight. They also like higher humidity. Think tropical conditions and you will be fine. They also like to dry out and in direct light, they can dry out fairly quickly so just something to keep an eye out for when caring for them.
Ceropegia woodii
This plant had been almost everyone’s favorite for the last few years. Ceropegia woodii (a string of hearts). There are a lot of different shapes in the foliage of Ceropegia but the heart is the most well-known.
These plants love to dry out as well and are native to South Africa. They are a little colder tolerant because they grow on mountain cliff faces. This also means that they do not need a lot of water and need a lot of light. The water they get is running down a cliff face and does not really pool around their bulbous roots. Just like with cacti these plants will rot if given too much water too often.
The one thing they absolutely need though is as much light as you can give them. They grow very slowly or not at all if not given enough light. However, they are known to be prolific growers when they have direct light.
With all of the plants on this list if you mimic the environment they can form you will be able to grow them better and all of these naturally have a lot of direct light in their native environments.
