ZZ Plant Sunlight Requirements

ZZ Plants are popular in the houseplant world. They are often considered one of the easiest plants to care for and are great for beginners. They sport dark glossy leaves on plump stems. ZZ Plants can grow quite large, but they grow relatively slowly. I have a large one and it's close to four feet in diameter (see below). An important factor in helping your ZZ Plant grow large is to provide it with the proper amount of sunlight. In this post, I'll cover what you need to know about ZZ Plant sunlight requirements.

ZZ Plant Sunlight Requirements

ZZ Plants grow well in ample indirect sunlight. The best way to provide your ZZ Plant ample indirect light is to keep it near a window that is facing north or east. North-facing windows receive no direct sunlight, just ambient light from other directions. East-facing windows are where the sun rises so the light is less intense from that direction compared to the south and west.

If you put your ZZ Plant in a brighter spot, there are some ways to make sure the light is indirect and therefore less intense. If it's by a window with bright direct light, that window could have sheer shades or some trees outside that filter the light a little bit to make it indirect. Providing indirect light is especially important if you have a south-facing window. A south-facing window gets the most intense sunlight for the longest amount of time compared to other window directions. You could keep your ZZ Plant further from the window to help reduce the sunlight's intensity as well. One of the reasons ZZ Plants are considered easy to care for is their ability to survive in lower levels of light, which many people have in their homes and offices.

ZZ Plant Light Changes

Anytime time you move your ZZ Plant to a different location, you need to think about whether it will be getting a different amount of sunlight. If it will receive more or less sunlight, then you need to know about acclimating it. An example of when you might need to acclimate your ZZ Plant would be when you're bringing it home from the store. Another example maybe if it is next to a window and you want to move it further away. Moving your ZZ Plant to a spot where it receives drastically more or less sunlight too quickly may cause it to exhibit signs of shock.

Shock may manifest in many different forms which I'll discuss in the next sections. To avoid shocking your ZZ Plant, you should move it gradually to its new spot. A good rule of thumb to follow is to move it about a foot a day toward the new spot. If you want to move your ZZ Plant outside for the summer then follow these tips. You must expose your ZZ Plant to the outdoor levels of sunlight for only a few hours a day at the start. Then you gradually increase the number of hours each day until it can be left outside 24/7.

ZZ Plant Sunburn

Sunburn is less common for ZZ Plants that are kept indoors full-time, but it can happen. Sun damage is most likely to happen to a ZZ Plant that has been moved outside for the summer. If you choose to summer your ZZ Plant outdoors, you must acclimate it to the outdoor sun gradually. Sunburn is not ideal but it's not typically something that will completely kill a ZZ Plant. What does sunburn look like? Sunburn will appear as scorched-looking spots on the leaves. Scorched spots will happen anywhere on the leaf surface, not just the tips. If you're seeing discoloration just on the tips, that's more likely a water issue. Sunburned ZZ Plant leaves can even look pale or bleached out. Sunburn is most likely to show up on the topmost leaves that are receiving the most direct light.

ZZ Plant Low Light

ZZ Plants are known as lower light plants, but it is possible for them to not receive adequate light. When a ZZ Plant has not been getting enough light the stems will look stretched out. There will be a lot more space in between the leaves on these stems compared to others on the plant. A plant that is growing or stretching towards the light source and this unhealthy growth is called etoliation.

Some people worry that lack of growth means their ZZ Plant is not receiving enough sunlight. That could be the case, but I want to stress that ZZ Plants grow quite slowly. In a growing season, spring through early fall, a ZZ Plant may only put out one or two new stems and that would be completely normal.

Plant Light Meters

If you truly are interested in determining light levels where you live, I highly suggest this light meter. This plant monitor measures light, moisture, and nutrients. In its price range, it is superior to most light meters because it lets you track the amount of sunlight your plant receives by the hour. So you get to know how intense the light was each hour of the day, for however long you want to track. That's important, because both intensity and duration matter. Other light meters only give you the light measurement at a single point in time, like when you're physically looking at the meter, rather than recording it in an app. Read my in-depth write-up on this plant monitor if you're interested in learning more.

Do you have other ZZ Plant questions? Share in the comments.