What to do about sunburned succulents in summer? I'll teach you the correct way to handle it
The succulents that were just moved outside for open-air growing a few days ago have developed sunburn spots - what should I do? Gardeners in the north who grow succulents outdoors, take note: after a winter of indoor care, succulent leaves are relatively tender and especially prone to sunburn, just like greenhouse flowers suddenly moved to the wild, which can easily be scorched to death by the sun.
A sunburned Pachyphytum 'Peach Egg'
If succulents moved outdoors get sunburned, don't worry too much. You can take different measures depending on the degree of sunburn.
Mild sunburn needs no treatment. Healthy, strong succulents can slowly adjust and adapt to the new environment on their own, and the newly grown leaves will show no signs of sunburn.
A mildly sunburned Echeveria 'Daye Xiuyan'
Severely sunburned ones must be moved back indoors for care and recovery! Especially young seedlings - if a seedling is severely sunburned, it can easily die, so seedlings are still best kept indoors. Once they have grown bigger and become hardier, then consider open-air growing. If the central growth point in the middle of the leaf rosette is sunburned, it needs to be cut out manually to stimulate new shoots, otherwise it will never grow well. For example, as shown below:
A severely sunburned Sedum adolphi (Golden Sedum)
Sunburn is an irreversible process. Leaves that have already been sunburned can only be replaced through metabolism and cannot recover. For severe sunburn like the one below, do not pull off the sun-dried leaves at the bottom by hand, because there is still a little moisture in the leaves that can be used for the plant's recovery and adjustment. Once the leaves are completely dried out, they will fall off on their own.
A severely sunburned Pachyphytum 'Xing Meiren' (Star Beauty)
Of course, if you don't want your succulents to get sunburned in the first place, and the environment allows it with enough space to install a shade net, then you can use a shade net for protection during open-air growing, which can help avoid sunburn as much as possible. Succulents that have just been moved outdoors for open-air growing may show wrinkled, water-deficient leaves within a few days - at this point, just replenish the water in time.