My cactuses do not like the sun!

[Moh]

Hi all,

I have a couple of aloe veras and some other cactuses. I bought all of them from IKEA.
I started putting them on my balcony where they can get direct sun and supposedly grow better.
But every time I do it, after a couple of days their green color fades.
Any ideas? Should I keep them indoors or should I wait a bit longer to get the green color back?

Thanks,
Moh.

 

[Chuck]

Hi all,

I have a couple of aloe veras and some other cactuses. I bought all of them from IKEA.
I started putting them on my balcony where they can get direct sun and supposedly grow better.
But every time I do it, after a couple of days their green color fades.
Any ideas? Should I keep them indoors or should I wait a bit longer to get the green color back?

Thanks,
Moh.

Aloe vera is not a cactus, it is a succulent. It does not like a lot of sun. Keep it inside next to a south or west facing window. All cacti are succulents but not all succulents are cacti. If all of your cactus plants turn pale it probably isn't a cactus at all.

 

[Moh]

Aloe vera is not a cactus, it is a succulent. It does not like a lot of sun. Keep it inside next to a south or west facing window. All cacti are succulents but not all succulents are cacti. If all of your cactus plants turn pale it probably isn't a cactus at all.

Very interesting point, Chuck. Thank you for sharing this useful information.
My other plant seems to need more light because its new leaves are not as strong as the first ones, as you can see in the attached pictures. Any suggestions?

 

[Chuck]

Very interesting point, Chuck. Thank you for sharing this useful information.
My other plant seems to need more light because its new leaves are not as strong as the first ones, as you can see in the attached pictures. Any suggestions?

That is another variety of aloe. The same applies to this variety as the aloe vera.

 

[Belmont]

Can you post a picture of your aloe vera? In all my research, and the experience I have on the subject, aloe veras do not turn white in response to too much sun. They will take on a reddish hue, and begin to wither, but Ive never heard of them turning white.

Its interesting to me because my girlfriend gave me her aloe vera to save (Theres 2 in a pot, theyre root bound to the point theyre dying), and the leaves are also turning white. Theyve spent the last 4 months in her basement well away from direct sunlight.

Also, how often do you water that plant you did post pictures of? hard to tell but it looks kinda unhappy.

 

[Moh]

Can you post a picture of your aloe vera? In all my research, and the experience I have on the subject, aloe veras do not turn white in response to too much sun. They will take on a reddish hue, and begin to wither, but Ive never heard of them turning white.

Its interesting to me because my girlfriend gave me her aloe vera to save (Theres 2 in a pot, theyre root bound to the point theyre dying), and the leaves are also turning white. Theyve spent the last 4 months in her basement well away from direct sunlight.

Also, how often do you water that plant you did post pictures of? hard to tell but it looks kinda unhappy.

Well, it is not turning white actually. I would say more brownish, reddish. You can see in the attached picture. What is your suggestion?
Ops, I also have 2-3 aloes in one pot. Should I separate them asap??

 

[Belmont]

Yes, that's definitely too much sun. Filtered sunlight. The redness will likely go away after a couple weeks. You know they aren't getting enough sunlight if the plant sort of flattens out. The leaves lean away from the plant instead of standing straight up. You should probably separate them soon, but it won't cause any real health issues for a while yet. However, the sooner you separate them, the easier it will be for the plants to recover from it. They don't seem to like being repotted a whole lot.

The sunburn is minor, except in the 3rd picture, the plant on the right, has a bit more severe sunburn. Don't let him get much direct sunlight at all until he recovers, the redness may take a long time to go away (My aloe got sunburned a little worse than that about a month ago, it still has red spots on 2 of its leaves)

One last bit of advice, don't overwater. If you repot, there is a good chance they will start to thin out, and look like they need watering. You can very, very easily kill an aloe by overwatering them. I did that to mine, the entire root system rotted out. They can go 3-6 months without a drop of water depending on the humidity.

If you have any other questions, I'm more than happy to help.

 

[Moh]

Belmont thank you very much for the advices. Very helpful.

I put them back in my room and now they have recovered from sunburn. I repotted them in March, do you think when is best to repot them? I think I cannot get filtered sunshine but I can put them in my balcony where they get the light but not the direct sunshine, hopefully that would work.

Wow, it's amazing to know they can last this long without any water. Then, how can I know when it's time to water them? I also have some similar types of plants and some cacti as well. Do you think they can last that long as well? Here we have a beautiful lake, so I guess it is quite humid.

Yes, that's definitely too much sun. Filtered sunlight. The redness will likely go away after a couple weeks. You know they aren't getting enough sunlight if the plant sort of flattens out. The leaves lean away from the plant instead of standing straight up. You should probably separate them soon, but it won't cause any real health issues for a while yet. However, the sooner you separate them, the easier it will be for the plants to recover from it. They don't seem to like being repotted a whole lot.

The sunburn is minor, except in the 3rd picture, the plant on the right, has a bit more severe sunburn. Don't let him get much direct sunlight at all until he recovers, the redness may take a long time to go away (My aloe got sunburned a little worse than that about a month ago, it still has red spots on 2 of its leaves)

One last bit of advice, don't overwater. If you repot, there is a good chance they will start to thin out, and look like they need watering. You can very, very easily kill an aloe by overwatering them. I did that to mine, the entire root system rotted out. They can go 3-6 months without a drop of water depending on the humidity.

If you have any other questions, I'm more than happy to help.

 

[Belmont]

I dont know what time is best for repotting

Balcony should be fine, just keep an eye out for sunburn coming back.
A healthy well-watered aloe plant will be really firm in the leaves. It uses that fluid in the leaves to survive in between waterings, so the leaves get much thinner, and soft. If the leaves are firm before you repot, I wouldnt worry about watering it for a month or so after. The humidity definitely helps.
In general cacti and succulents can go longer without water, but I wouldnt want to bet they could go as long as the aloe. Im sure some can go longer, but I know many succulents cant.

 

[Moh]

I dont know what time is best for repotting

Balcony should be fine, just keep an eye out for sunburn coming back.
A healthy well-watered aloe plant will be really firm in the leaves. It uses that fluid in the leaves to survive in between waterings, so the leaves get much thinner, and soft. If the leaves are firm before you repot, I wouldnt worry about watering it for a month or so after. The humidity definitely helps.
In general cacti and succulents can go longer without water, but I wouldnt want to bet they could go as long as the aloe. Im sure some can go longer, but I know many succulents cant.

Unbelievable, I put them in a spot in my balcony where it gets the minimum sunshine. They again got sunburnt! I don't know what I should do, for now I put them back inside my room.

 

[Belmont]

Theyll probably be fine in there. Maybe try to put them out later in the year, when theres less sun. I know people who've kept theirs in the basement with minimal light and they did fine.