How many times have we bought a plant and as soon as we got to the garden or patio we put it directly in the sun? I admit that not one, many, especially when the new acquisitions have been cactus or crass. This, if it is done in spring, when the sun's rays are still not very strong, nothing usually happens, but if it is done in summer ... the next day we will find our new plants quite bad.
To prevent this from happening to you, we will explain you step by step how to acclimatize plants in the sun and in the cold.
Adapt them to the sun
All the heliophilic plants, that is, those that grow exposed to the sun, such as cacti, many succulents, seasonal flowers, most trees and shrubs (olive, cherry, mastic, carob, cicas, among others), and many palm trees (Phoenix, Sabal , Livistona, among others), when they are grown in nurseries, they are usually in what we could call semi-shade. They are often grown in greenhouses, where the sun does not reach them directly, and when they are taken outside they are placed in sheltered corners from the sun.
What to do? Buy them in spring. And although we know that they must be exposed to the sun, it is best to place them in an area where direct sunlight gives them one or two hours in the morning when it dawns or in the afternoon when it gets dark. We will keep them there for two to three weeks, until we see them growing. From the third or fourth week we can give them one or two more hours of direct sunlight, and gradually increase the number of hours as the weeks go by at a rate of 1-2 hours every seven days.
Adapt them to cold
This costs a bit more, but it is not impossible. If we have recently acquired plants, and even if they are resistant to cold, we have to protect them, at least during the first year, since otherwise they could have a bad time and could even perish. For it, in autumn-winter you have to:
- Put a padding on them: you can use barks, herbs, decorative stones ...
- Protect them with a thermal blanket: if they are a bit on the edge, they should be covered with a thermal plant blanket.
- Put them in a greenhouse: if they are very sensitive to cold, there will be no choice but to put them inside a greenhouse.
- Pay them: well, rather it is a matter of adding a tablespoon of Nitrofoska once a month so that their roots do not get cold. It works 😉.
Those that you know that withstand the climate of your area well, the following year you will not need to protect them. To know this, it is highly recommended to get a Weather Station.
I hope these tips help you to acclimate your plants to the cold and the sun.