How much light is enough?
Most colorful, rosette-shaped succulents — echeveria, graptopetalum, sedum — want at least 4–6 hours of direct sun. A handful, like zebra plants (haworthia) and snake plants, cope with bright, indirect light.
Indoors, light drops off fast as you move away from a window. A spot that feels bright to your eyes may get only a small fraction of the light outdoors. Your eyes adjust; plants can’t.
Reading your windows
These directions are for the Northern Hemisphere. In the Southern Hemisphere, swap north and south.
- South-facing: The best spot for most succulents. Strong light for most of the day.
- West-facing: Hot afternoon sun. Great for sun lovers. Watch for scorching in summer.
- East-facing: Gentle morning sun. Good for haworthia, string of pearls, and burro’s tail.
- North-facing: Usually too dim for most succulents without a grow light.
Signs of too little light
- Stretching (also called etiolation): the stem gets taller with wider gaps between leaves.
- Leaning toward the window.
- Fading color: pinks, reds, and purples revert to plain green or pale green.
- Leaves pointing downward or the rosette flattening out.
Stretched growth doesn’t shrink back. The fix is more light for new growth, and you can cut and re-root the top to reset the plant’s shape.
Signs of too much (sudden) light
- Brown, tan, or white crispy patches on the sunniest side of the leaves. That’s sunburn, and those marks are permanent. New growth will be fine.
Plants adapt to stronger light over time. When moving a plant outdoors for summer or to a sunnier window, start with a few hours of morning sun. Increase it over 1–2 weeks.
Grow lights
If your home doesn’t have a sunny window, a full-spectrum LED grow light works well. Place it 6–12 in (15–30 cm) above the plants and run it about 12–14 hours a day. A plug-in timer makes this effortless. The grow lights guide covers what to buy and how to set one up.