After a long winter indoors, even the most sun-loving tropicals will burn at the slightest hint of afternoon sunshine.
Those first warm days of spring are so exciting when you have a house stuffed with tropical plants, but my biggest mistake is giving these plants too much light too quickly. They need to be adjusted back into sunshine over the course of about 3 or 4 weeks starting with dappled shade or late evening sun.
My Orange Bird of Paradise sees about 3 hours of direct light.
I’ve studied the shadows in my new yard all year long to scout out the best spots. It’s important to remember that the shadows are getting shorter as we move through spring. Parts of my yard that were full shade a month ago are now baking in the sunshine.
Unfortunately the Chamadorea microspadix has already been burned as you see above.
I have noticed that the plants that spend the winter going in and out of the garage like my citrus and ensete banana are well adjusted to the sun already and can go out in full sunshine.
My Musa Sikkimensis "Bengal Tiger" was growing in the house and turned into a wind-torn crisp after this photo. No worries though - new leaves will grow in soon!
My Sabal uresana spent most of the winter outside. It’s in the ground now and received some fertilizer. It’s a very slow grower, but I love the novelty of it!
My Clivia is in bloom. I love this time of the year. Happy gardening!
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