Preventing sunburn question

[spikef35]

i noticed some yellowish/pale patches forming on my plants and diagnosed it as sunburn. so i decided to move my plants on that row to the lowest shelf. heres my question can i slowly let those plants get more light by pulling them out of the shade and into the light and then put them into the same spot again basically will they eventually adapt to the light?

[greenknight]

Depends on the species, even species that like full sun can be sunburned if they're suddenly exposed to more sun than they're used to. If that's the case, once the damage has healed they can gradually introduced to strong sunlight. Some others will always require some protection from the sun during the hottest part of the day.

[7george]

Most cacti will adapt even at west exposure. Yellow is not a sunburn exactly, it's a reaction to sun overexposure. Try graduate pulling out or some temporary shading.

Some of my plants stay semi-covered with mesh pieces for whole season. It's ugly but saves them from the harsh sun.

[DaveW]

One thing that can cause sunburn is turning plants to supposedly keep them symmetrical. Plants in habitat are never turned so have been conditioned to always receive the sun from the same side. I always mark the pot to indicate the sunny side, or know which side the plant label is on as an indicator which side should face the sun. Sometimes a plant leaning towards the sun, particularly in hot climates, is a protection for it. This is well known in some Copiapoa's that lean towards the sun so only their woolly crown is exposed to direct sunlight and the rest of their body is mainly in shade. A good picture here in this link if you scroll down:-

http://www.thegardenforums.org/viewtopi ... 10&t=22643" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

As you will see this is not random leaning as they all lean in the same direction, plus note none of them is producing a significant shadow since the plant is directly aligned towards the sun so keeping the rest of the body in shade.