How To Avoid Indoor Plant Sunburn

While humans deploy the slip, slop, slap method when venturing out for a day at the beach, what can houseplant lovers do to avoid indoor plant sunburn at home?

Considering that many of us are spending more time at home than ever before, it comes as no surprise that many of us are trying to bring the outdoors in. While indoor plants at home or in the office are of course a great way to brighten up any room, keeping plants indoors can do more for you than just look good. 

In fact, just a handful of the proven health benefits include the removal of air pollution, toxins and allergens, stress reduction, a boost to productivity and creativity, and assistance in balancing humidity levels. However, that all depends on your ability to keep your houseplants healthy and happy, and avoiding dangers such as indoor plant sunburn. 

Prevention Is Key For Managing Indoor Plant Sunburn 

Also known as leaf sunscald or scorch, plant sunburn can occur when a plant is abruptly exposed to a brightly-lit area. This can happen when you’re moving your house plants into different positions, or when you first bring them home from a nursery or outlet that provides different lighting than what your home has to offer.

Many indoor plant lovers make the mistake of assuming that their leafy pals want a position with as much sun as possible. Just like us, all plants do need access to light and are indeed quite fond of it – but too much of a good thing can be damaging. 

While sunburn for humans means red skin, the leaves on your houseplants will also change colour if they get too much direct exposure. To identify if your indoor plants have fallen victim to plant sunburn, their leaves will often turn yellow or white, with severe cases seeing brown and crispy leaf edges. 

Although plant leaves will often change colour if they’re not getting enough light or are getting too much water, the distinction with plant sunburn is that only the top portion exposed to too much sun will indicate any damage, as the leaves closer to the soil are usually protected. 

Unfortunately, there’s no such thing as aloe vera for plants, and there isn’t much you can do to treat plant sunburn other than trimming away any damaged parts of the plant. While you can’t cover them in sunscreen or a hat to let them safely enjoy the rays, there are plenty of things you can do to protect them.

Steady Transitions – Instead of moving a plant straight from your bathroom or or a dark corner of your house and moving it into bright sunlight, ease it in. Allow the plant time to transition into different conditions, as this will help to avoid any damage related shock as it readjusts. 

Do Your Research – The right level of sunlight exposure will always boil down to the type of houseplant you’re working with. While some cacti and succulent varieties will happily bask in the sun all day, other low light varieties like ferns will require far less. 

Consider Filters – If space restrictions mean that you need your plant to reside in front of a sunny window, you could also filter the light by adding a sheer curtain. This way, your houseplant will still get bright light, but it won’t be exposed to enough to cause plant sunburn. 

Aside from protecting your indoor plants from too much sun, try to embrace forward thinking and proactive measures instead of reactive ones for keeping them in tip top shape, especially when it comes to things like watering, weeding, fertilising and tackling pests. As such, one of the most effective means to do so is to ensure that the soil in your pots are at its best. 

Caring For Your Indoor Plants Chemical Free

While there is a wide range of solutions available on the market for outdoor plants and gardens, our indoor varieties can suffer due to poor soil health that stems from living in a confined space. As a unique liquid soil conditioner, Indoor Plant Booster is a plant food that’s perfect to keep your indoor and potted plants in tip top shape, including those that reside in pots, hanging baskets, and even those nestled on the verandah. 

An organic, natural product like Indoor Plant Booster has the unique ability to increase your soils cation exchange capacity (CEC). This is what we refer to as the soil’s ability to hold on to the nutrients that are vital for your plant’s growth and overall health. Indoor Plant Booster is able to kickstart your plant’s CEC, as it’s packed full of nutrients like humic acids, fulvic acids and seaweed extract. 

At Bioweed, we specialise in organic solutions to ensure that your garden reaches its full potential the natural way. Our range of products, such as Indoor Plant Booster, are all natural, and are providing Australians with safer products to use both in their gardens and in their homes. Based on the Sunshine Coast, our range has been embraced by people from all walks of life, and are backed with twenty years of research and industry knowledge.