What can I do when a small cactus gets burnt from being in direct sunlight too long?!
Hi reader! Thanks for your question.
Let’s say you bring home your new plant buddy and you are looking for the best place to put it. In Vancouver, we tend to stick our cacti in the sunniest spot in our house. After all, they are desert loving, right? Doesn’t your new baby needs all sun it can get?
Caroline, our author today, is a well known dessert-loving cactus.
No, not dessert loving.
The answer is no!
We start to run into issues if they have been growing in a shady nursery. Cacti have a number of different defenses against light damage, like white hairs, lots of spines, or even a tougher skin! However, if it never needed to defend itself against light, a cactus might not bother to grow these additional defenses. Much like how you might regret skipping gym class when it’s time to run away from an angry mama bear, your cactus suddenly realized it had been living life all wrong when you moved it into the sun.
As with any plant, big changes in environment can be extremely stressful; acclimation is key. Sunburn can actually happen to a lot of houseplants, especially ones that have been trapped in the store for a while. However, cacti can be especially at risk to damage due to poor acclimation. Other plants can adapt to high or low light by growing different leaves or developing more protective pigments. Cacti tend to be slow growing, so they adapt and recover from stress a lot slower.
So, how do we fix this? Is sunscreen really one weird trick for saving your houseplants?
Well prevention is the biggest step! Take note of where your cacti has been growing and place it in a similar spot in your home, which will probably be a little shady at first to start out with. If you know that one side of the cactus has been facing a sunny south-facing window, try keeping that side pointed at some sun.
However, what if the damage has been done? The fix is pretty simple: move it to a shadier area. Get your cactus out of that sun and give it some time to recover. Also, make sure you are watering the amount appropriate for your plant friend. A little bit of R & R goes a long way.
Once your cactus has recovered a little, you can try slowly introducing it to some more light. Rotate your cactus into a sunny position and then back into the shade from day to day or consider sunscreen. Or rather, a sun screen. You can drape a shade cloth (any cloth that allows some light, but not all light through) over your cactus to reduce the intensity of sunlight and leave it in the windowsill.
Sunburns are an ugly problem with a simple solution. Hopefully your plant can recover! Happy gardening!
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