Question
QUESTION: hello,
     last year i put my cactus plants outside to soak up some sun. i left them out there all day . about 7 hours in 95 degree new york summer heat. when i looked at them the next morning all 3 of them had a weird looking growth at their trunks. it is light brown ,almost like a sunburn. i tried to peel it off and while it comes off it comes right back and worse. so what im asking and need to know is it possible they got too much sun and burned and will it harm them in the long run? thnak you so very much for your time, stacy :)

ANSWER: This happened last year?  Do you have a photo?  Whhat type of cacti are they and where exactly on the plants is the discoloration?

maureen

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peeled growth cactus   QUESTION: hello Maureen,
         thank you so much for your help. i do not know what kind of cactus they are. i enclosed a pic. as you can see the bottoms are affected the most because last year the plants were that height. the new growth is unaffected.the plant with the worse growth is the plant i removed the growth on last year. when i peeled it off there was fresh plant underneath but the next day it came back and it was thicker. the second cactus pic is on my photobucket ,link will follow. that plant i did not peel off the growth. i hope this helps and thanks again :)

[IMG]http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c355/saezqueen/in%20the%20pink/DSCF9223.jpg[/IMG]

Answer
Dear Stacy,

Oh dear! (thanks for the photos).  Yes, that's sunburn, won't harm the plants in the long run and is permanent. You're lucky you didn't lose them.  That's A LOT of sunburn! Trying to peel it off will only make the scarring worse.  You have to remember that your plants aren't in their natural habitat and can't accommodate sudden changes in temp and light, much like me :#. Sometimes they lose their ability to tolerate the strong sun that they might have been able to in their natural habitat and some cactus just plain don't like strong sun at all.  It's good to put the plants outdoors, but you have to do it gradually over a period of weeks or keep them under some sort of shade cloth.  As you can see in your cereus cactus above, especially the right column has narrowed part way up.  That is called etiolation and indicates the plant was looking for sun and stretching to find it, eventually got some, but the narrowing is also permanent. Put them in the sunniest window you have and turn frequently.

As for you Opuntia in the photobucket picture, the new growth is fine but I'd remove the lower shriveled, yellow pads. They will eventually invite bacteria or fungus. So that would be the three small ones on the left  and the one on the right that has a brown spot on it and any others I can't see in the picture - use tongs). You can keep the plant as is or start a new one with one or two of the healthy pads next spring when they start their active growth again.  Your plants are going into their dormant period so will need little to no water from October to March, depending on how cool your apartment is.  If it is cool enough you don't need to water them at all. In March you gradually start watering again.  So next spring you can gradually put your plants out, maybe start a new one, and definitely repot.  The pot you have your Opuntia in is too big.  As a rule, cactus like to be a bit crowded.  Have you ever had it flower?

Good luck and live and learn,
Maureen