Monstera plants are known for their beauty of leaves. It has broad and expanded leaves which make it worth seeing and worth buying. If you have the monster plants in your home, garden, or office then it is quite sure that they are easy to carry and handle. They require no special care for their growth. But in some conditions, if you neglect their care they can easily get damaged.
Monster plants usually do not like cold weather or the winter season but it doesn’t mean that they like to survive in hot weather. Fastly growing this indoor plant usually does not survive in hot weather. They can easily get sunburnt when exposed to direct sunlight.
Like our skin, monstera leaves are also sensitive to sunlight. Long-time exposure to direct sunlight can easily cause a sunburnt montera.
In this blog, we will be able to know how monstera gets sunburn or can monstera gets sunburnt or not?
Can monstera get sunburn?
Yes, monstera can get sunburn. These plants are so sensitive like human skin. Long time exposure to sunlight can easily damage their leaves. Black, brown, and yellowish spots begin to appear on the leaves. The soil becomes bone dry and leads to plants wilting and drooping.
They are native to rainforest areas and usually love to live in a humid environment. Therefore, direct sunlight is harmful to them. Try to avoid direct exposure. Keep them in a cool humid environment.
Causes of monstera sunburn
If your home or garden where you keep your all plants is a shady place and there is not so much interpretation of sunlight. In spite of all these, your monstera is still alike sunburn.
At that time it is crucial to know the possible causes of monstera sunburn. Other factors that can damage the monstera leaves are :
Dehydration
Dehydration of your plant’s soil can cause this sunburn. Monstera love to live in watery conditions. Shortage of water can easily burn their leaves.
In case of dehydration, leaves look droopy and wilt. Black and brown spots begin to appear at the edges.
Their leaves become crunchy crispy and begin to lose their freshness. Yellow spots begin to appear on the leaves.
When dehydration occurs, you will notice that the soil becomes bone dry and the plant will appear thirsty.
In severe cases of dehydration, there will be a leaf drop and loss of vigor in foliages.
Overwatering
In case of overwatering, the plant’s stem loses its strength and develops root rot.
Root rot in plants is a very serious cause of leaf damage. Due to overwatering, oxygen cannot be properly supplied to plants’ roots due to which plants cannot receive the required nutrients. Hence results in the leaves’ death. If detected early, you will notice brown spots on the leaves which are often mistaken for sunburn.
Fertilization Burn
Fertilization supply is important for plants. You must provide fertilizers to plants for their happy growth. But overdoing so is a big mistake. Fertilization to your plants is just like adding salt to their growing medium.
Excessive fertilization results in leaf damage and leaves will look like sunburn.
In case of overfertilization, your plants will receive an excessive amount of potassium. Potassium is very notorious for plant leaves. It has a high salt index. Overuse of potassium, and fertilizer can make the soil dry hence leading to dehydration.
Inappropriate temperture
Your monstera plants usually survive best in a temperature range of 60- 85 °F (15-29 °C). In my garden, I always keep my monstera’s temperature between 50 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit.
But if your room temperature or weather conditions are below this temperature range, then monstera will easily become damaged. Keeping monstera in a low temperature will cause the leaves to look “Scorched” or “sunburn”
The same will happen when exposed to high temperatures. Direct exposure to sunlight for a long time can also be a cause of monster sunburn.
Monstera sunburn may be due to some diseases
If you are growing monstera in their favorable conditions, but still noticing some black, brown, and dark-colored spots on their leaves. It might be an infection like bacterial leaf spot disease.
Bacterial leaf spot disease is a very common cause of leaf burn. In this disease, your leaves begin to develop some brown or black spots on the edges or maybe in the center.
Signs and symptoms of sunburnt monstera
1- Yellowing of leaves
The first signal you will receive after sunburn is that their lives turn yellow. You will notice yellow patches on the leaves.
Due to excessive sun exposure, dehydration will result in plant leaves yellowing. When you keep your monstera most of the time in direct sunlight, they will absorb more water. It is due to evaporation and respiration. When plants absorb more water will always remain thirsty. Dehydration causes the yellowing of leaves ad it may be due to a long time of exposure to sunlight.
2- Brown spots at the edges of leaves
Usually, brown spots on the edges of plants are crispy and crunchy to touch hence leading to leaf drops. This browning of leaves’ edges is due to direct exposure to sunlight.
If you have monstera in your home keep it in a cool indirect light or shady place. Excessive heat will cause dehydration due to more transpiration and respiration.
Other causes for this browning of leaves may be fertilizer burn, heat or cold stress, and root rot.
3- The soil becomes bone dry
If the soil of your monstera plant is completely dry then it indicates dehydration or loss of water and moisture from the plant.
If you are watering your monstera regularly but still the soil is dry and hard then it may be due to excessive heat. Keep in mind that if you expose monstera to hot weather or conditions it absorbs more water and remains always thirsty.
This combination of excessive heat and dry soil makes the leaves drop and wilt. The leaves become crispy and crunchy hence leading to leaf drops.
4- Leaves become bleached
Exposing the monster to direct sunlight for a long period of time will cause the leaves to become bleached or turn pale.
The leaves will look bleached and turn pale due to excessive heat. In severe cases, the leaves will turn white and like paper. The injured foliage will also your brown and yellow.
In this case, move your monster from direct sunlight to a shady place. It means that your monster will survive well in light weather. When your monster has got a sunburn, then it will save your remaining healthy monster plant.
Ways to save a sunburnt monstera
You can save your monstera from sunburn by taking some easy steps. But when your monstera has got sunburnt it cannot be saved however the healthy remaining plant can be protected.
Step 0ne:
Move your monstera to a shady place
The first thing to do for saving your monster from sunburn is to move it from hot areas. if you are growing your plants outside and exposing them to direct sunlight, they can easily get sunburn.
So in order to save them from burning the first thing to do is to move them from a hot place to a cool or light place. In hot weather, always keep your monster inside in some humid place like the kitchen. After taking a bath keep the washroom door open so that it will increase humidity.
Always make sure that the monster receives a shady light and diffused sunlight. It will be best to keep them near a window with having sheer curtain so that they will receive filtered sunlight.
Step two:
Trim off the burnt leaves
Once your monstera plants have got sunburned and the leaves turn yellow and brown. In this situation, trim off those damaged leaves.
Burnt leaves consume a good amount of nutrients from plants. Whenever your plant’s leaves burn, it is good to remove those leaves to keep safe the remaining healthy leaves.
Always use a sterilized scissor to cut the brown leaves. By doing so you will also protect your healthy leaves.
Step 3
Proper temperature and humidity
In the winter season monsters do not show any growth. Moreover, they will also lose their immunity in winter or cold conditions, it will be best for these plants to keep them in hot conditions in winter.
In hot weather or summer, the air is usually dry outside which can easily dehydrate your plants. Try to maintain humidity in hot weather. Keep your plants near a kitchen so that humidity is maintained. After taking a bath, keep the washroom door open.
Step 4
Proper watering according to season
In the winter season, monster plants do not show any growth. Most plants lose their immunity at this time. Moreover, excessive watering can also damage them.
Make a watering frequency according to season. In hot weather water once every week. In the winter season water once every two weak.
Step 5
Fertilization
Monster need fertilization for their proper growth but excessive fertilization can easily lead to sunburn.
Your monster plants need fertilization to sprinkle once every year. Excessive fertilization increases the potassium content of plants which in turn causes the stem to be damaged.