This is a common question I always see asked: can my plant take full sun?
This isn’t just a airplant thing, it’s across the board for several plants. It’s a lesson I learnt with my dendrobiums when I first attempted keeping them, and it’s a lesson I’m still learning with airplants and orchids.
Acclimatisation is important. Repeat after me, acclimatisation is important.
To answer the question: can my plant take full sun?
It’s a solid ‘it depends’. It depends on the species, it depends on the sun you have, and it depends on what you’re thinking when you think full sun.
I’ll define it: full sun is sun that is completely unsheltered or minimally sheltered at midday. If you get sunlight in the morning, I’d call it morning sun, if you get sun in the evening, evening sun, you get the idea. But my definition of full sun means midday, with at most one layer of shade netting. It’s the condition I’m currently using as a benchmark at the plot, you see.
Now, the next one: It depends on the species. T. funckianas (not funckiana var recurvifolia) take sun very well. The more unshaded, the better. From my experience, I haven’t had to acclimatise mine, I just punted them out there and they were fine. I also chucked a buchlohii out with my vandas (and it turned pink – but more on blushing indicators later), along with the elongata, flexuosa and capitata Marron.
I’ve found that certain species really do take full sun without acclimatisation well, whereas for others, acclimatisation is important.
If you don’t acclimatise your plants, you run the risk of burns. Burns aren’t good in general, and can weaken the plant enough to kill them. Especially if the plant is small. (I’ve killed orchids this way, trust me).
So, how do I acclimatise my plant?
First, check that the plant you want to acclimatise to full sun can take it. Certain plants, like the softer-leaved ones, might not like it. Some less fuzzy ones might not like it either, but this isn’t a hard and fast rule. Watch your plants carefully.
Next: place it in a shaded spot. Attempt to mimic where it came from initially; if you bought it at a local nursery you need to observe the conditions there. I normally place mine under shade first (bright, shaded), before inching them out over a span of a month or two. Or three, depending. I normally move them a foot into the brighter spot, wait a week, if I don’t see sunburn spots developing, I leave them there.
Third: Inch them out into a brighter spot. Monitor for damage. If sunburns appear, reverse direction and place at the initial location. It might be that the plant isn’t ready yet to go out into full sun. An epsom salt spray might help to boost plants that have taken damage.
Repeat step 3 as much as you need until the plant is in full sun. Be patient. This might take months, partly because I normally wait a month to shift the plant an inch or a foot into sun. Impatience breeds plant damage.
Bonus hint: Now if your plant starts to blush, and the colour isn’t anything you’ve ever seen on that species, take in into shade immediately. Fun fact: leaf damage can also cause intense blushing…
Essentially Epiphytes by Gwen 