Amazon Has a $20 Sunlight Calculator That Checks If Your Veggie Garden Is Getting Enough Sun
Published July 16 2025, 12:45 p.m. ET
(L) Luster Leaf Suncalc sunlight calculator (Cover Image Source: Amazon) | (R) Man placing a plant in a sunlit spot in his outdoor garden.
Just like the difference in ingredients in our foods has different effects on the body, the different patterns and intensities of light have different effects on the plant’s growth. A flowering bed of sunflowers, blanket flowers, and marigolds would need more intense light than the shade-loving snake plant or a veggie garden. To help gardeners calculate the exact mathematics of light their plants need in a given moment, the Luster Leaf Store has rolled out SunCalc that Amazon is selling for just $19.51.
Person planting seedlings in a row in morning light
When these rays of pure white-golden light come in contact with the plant’s surface, the proteins studded in the plant’s green body become triggered and activated. Like a domino, the excitation triggers one protein after the other until the light reaches the plant’s “reaction center,” as MIT scientists explained in a post. Inside the reaction center, the light acts as a prompt for chemical reactions that convert the light energy into sugar or carbohydrates that plants eat to grow. Due to a unique electrochemical gradient, each plant has different light needs. This is where SunCalc jumps in.