The Money Plant, scientifically known as Pothos or Epipremnum aureum, is one of the world’s most popular and resilient houseplants. Its trailing vines and heart-shaped leaves make it a favorite for adding greenery to indoor spaces. While often praised for its ability to tolerate neglect, the quality and quantity of light it receives is the single most important factor determining its growth rate, leaf size, and overall appearance.
Defining the Money Plant’s Natural Light Preference
The ideal light environment for the Money Plant is bright, indirect light, mirroring its native habitat on the tropical forest floor. In the wild, the plant grows beneath a dense canopy of trees, receiving sunlight that is naturally filtered and diffused. This provides plenty of illumination without harsh, direct rays that can cause damage.
To replicate this indoors, the plant requires a well-lit location where the sun’s actual disc never touches the leaves. A good indicator of bright, indirect light is a spot consistently bright enough to read a book comfortably throughout the day without an overhead lamp. This filtered light supports robust photosynthesis and vigorous growth.
Light is particularly important for variegated varieties, such as the Golden Pothos or Marble Queen. The white or yellow patches lack chlorophyll, making these areas less efficient at capturing light energy. Variegated plants thus need more overall light to compensate for the reduced green area. Insufficient light prompts the plant to revert to solid green, maximizing chlorophyll production to absorb available light.
Practical Indoor Placement Strategies
Achieving bright, indirect light depends on the orientation of your windows and the plant’s distance from them. East-facing windows are often the best option, providing gentle direct sun for a few hours in the morning. This milder light is less likely to scorch the foliage, making it safe to place the plant two to three feet away from the window glass.
South-facing windows receive the brightest and most intense light throughout the day, requiring caution. Placing a Money Plant directly in this window will almost certainly lead to scorched leaves. To use this orientation effectively, the plant should be pulled back five to ten feet into the room. Alternatively, protect it with a sheer curtain that acts as a light diffuser.
West-facing windows present a challenge because they deliver intense, hot afternoon sun. The plant must be positioned several feet away from the glass to avoid the peak heat and light of the late afternoon. The light should be filtered through a curtain or structure to prevent leaf burn, especially during summer.
North-facing windows offer the least intense light, providing consistent but low illumination. A plant placed here can usually sit right on the windowsill without risk of burning. While the plant will survive, growth will be noticeably slower. If you have no windows, supplemental light from an LED grow light is a viable solution. Position the light about 6 to 12 inches above the foliage and run it for 10 to 12 hours daily.
Recognizing and Correcting Light Stress
Observing the Money Plant’s leaves and growth pattern is the most accurate way to diagnose light-related issues. Too little light causes etiolation, where the plant stretches in search of a light source. This manifests as “legginess,” meaning the vine develops long, bare stretches of stem with large gaps between the leaves.
Another sign of insufficient light is a pale, faded appearance of the leaves, which may also be smaller than normal. The plant sacrifices energy needed for new growth, leading to a general slowdown in vine extension.
Conversely, too much direct light leads to sunburn, appearing as distinct, irreversible damage. Sun scorch presents as brown, dry, or crispy patches on the leaves, often concentrated on the side facing the window. The foliage may also appear bleached or washed out because the intense light destroys the chlorophyll.
To correct low light issues, move the plant closer to an appropriate window or introduce a supplemental light source. If the issue is too much light, immediately relocate the plant to a more shaded position, pull it further back from the window, or install a sheer curtain. Damaged, scorched leaves will not recover but should be left on the plant until they yellow completely. This allows the plant to reabsorb any remaining nutrients before they are pruned off.