Sunburn

Like people, plants can also get sunburn! Plants that naturally grow in shade, like understory plants, are more likely to suffer from sunburn if they are grown in areas with 6 or more hours of direct sunlight.

Symptoms

Leaf edges or whole leaves will start to turn yellow or white, and the edges of the leaves will turn brown and dry.

Sunburn is usually also accompanied by wilting from heat stress.

Treatment

Damaged leaves will not recover. Prune off damaged leaves and move the plant to a shadier place, or cover it with shade netting. Use fertilisers high in nitrogen to encourage the plant to replace the lost leaves.

Prevention is always better than cure. Choose plants that are suitable for the amount of light you have and prepare hardscapes like shade netting to help reduce the amount of light reaching your plants.