Growing plants require a lot of effort and patience - do not let them go to waste because of heat stress. Your plants need light and heat to thrive; however, too much of anything can be a bad thing.

When your plant is overexposed to heat, you may notice that the leaves start turning brown and dropping. The signs of heat stress are often easy to miss, but this guide will help you identify them.

Once you identify them, you can follow our instructions to treat the heat stress so that your plants continue to flourish.

Why should you care about Heat Stress?

Your plant can suffer from heat stress because of prolonged exposure to the summer heat. Some plants are better than others when handling the heat these include Succulents and Pentas.

Those not blessed with this feature can suffer dangerous, often fatal, repercussions of the stress. Let us look at what makes them especially dangerous for your garden.

Effects of Heat Stress on Your Plant

In order to avoid irreversible damage, it's important to take action before things get worse!

A sure sign of heat loss is wilting, which indicates water loss in your plant. Wilting tells you that your plant is losing more water than it is taking in, causing the leaves to appear droopy. In extreme cases, wilting can even cause your plant leaves to curl up and die off completely.

Another sign of heat stress is evident in fruit-producing plants. These plants will be unable to flower due to the strain on your plant, while those able to produce fruit will fall victim to bud rot. If left on its own, the stress can completely wreck your garden, causing irreversible damage.

Let us get into the specifics of what exactly causes heat stress.

Temperatures that cause Heat Stress

The best way to detect heat loss in your plant is by measuring the temperature in the garden or grow room. If the temperatures exceed 85 Fahrenheit, your plant will exhibit signs of wilting.

You can check the temperature on the weather app on your phone for outdoor plants, but for the plants growing indoors, you will need to invest in a thermometer for your grow tent.

If you are on the budget, you can use a $20 Hygrometer, but check out grow room environment controllers if you need something more sophisticated.

Can Plants Recover from Heat Stress?

Your plants can recover from heat stress, but only if you are not too late. Intervening at the right time can save your plants from succumbing to heat.

Typically plants can recover from the damage caused by heat stress if they are overall healthy and adequately cared for.

What Plants Can Weather Heat Stress?

Some plants can withstand the stress caused by overexposure to heat. These plants are more acclimated to the dry and arid temperatures of the desert than the other plants.

Some of the plants that fare well include sedums, salvias, aloe, lantana, marigolds, and euphorbias.

Identifying Heat Stress in Plants

The most difficult thing about identifying heat stress in plants is that there are so many signs and symptoms. You can easily confuse the signs with diseases or pest attacks, which makes prevention all-important for a productive garden!

As a general rule, it is safe to assume that your plant is heat stressed if your plant has wilted and the leaves are yellowing and covered with brown spots.

Some plants may appear burned from direct exposure to the sunlight. Even those indoors are not safe from the burning as grow lights placed too close to the plant can result in the same fate.

How to rule out other plant problems?

Discoloration and curling can be an indication of several diseases or problems due to overwatering. However, you can rule this problem out if the soil around your plant seems spongy to the touch. Similarly, overwatering does not because the plant drops leaves if that is the case, it is safe to assume its heat stress.

The plants often fall victim to a pest attack if the leaves fall or appear to be weak from the stems. In Hydroponics, root rot is also a sign of heat stress, which is a severe condition that can be difficult to overcome.

Low humidity levels can make things worse, as that makes your plants more susceptible to heat stress. Even if the temperatures are not that high, your plant can become heat-stressed in a low humidity setting.

Treating Heat Stress in Plants

Treating heat stress is not impossible. To make your plants thrive, you can try these few things for both indoor and outdoor plants.

Heat Stress in Indoor Plants

With indoor plants, you have a lot more control over the growing environment. You can do this by:

Changing up the grow light settings

By adjusting your grow light settings, you can reduce the amount of heat exposure your plant gets. You can also use cooler LED - grow lights to achieve the same. 

Automating and Optimizing the Grow room environment

To achieve more control over your grow room environment, you can install an air conditioner. You can choose between a portable air conditioner or more commercial ones, such as the Quest IQ series. 

Suppose the air conditioning does not sound like your thing. In that case, you can bring in circulation fans to battle the high temperature and humidity inside the grow room. 

To avoid the hassle of manually controlling the environment, you can invest in a grow room controller. Grow room automation with the best grow room controllers is an easy way to get a job without any effort. 

Set Up a Ventilation System

Setting up a ventilation system is also a good option. You can invest in an exhaust kit to remove the heat from your grow room. 

Some growers even use basic intake filters to tackle the problem, bringing in your plant's fresh CO2 and preventing odors in the grow room. 

When looking after a grow tent, your plants will likely suffer from the heat sooner or later. A useful tip is that if your grow room is too hot for you, it is probably just as bad for your plants. 

Heat Stress in Outdoor Plants

Growing outdoors means that you do not have as much control over your plants. However, there are a few ways you can tackle the problem.

These methods include watering your plant early in the morning to limit water loss due to evaporation. You can also try them more than you usually would and cover them with a cloth to provide shade.  

Transplanted plants and those grown in containers require additional watering - up to twice a day. To learn more about outdoor growth, read our guide on soil for your plants for outdoor conditions!

Mind your Plants' Root Zones Temperature

It's essential to keep the roots of your plants cool. To do that, you can try growing them in fabric pots - A calmer, more breathable material.

Decrease your plant's susceptibility to root rot by using a water chiller to keep your hydroponic reservoirs cool. 

Plant Nutrients and Additives vs. Heat Stress

Whether you are growing indoors or outdoors, a few nutrients can make your plant withstand many stressors.

One such superfood is Silica. Please read our guide on Silica for plants to find out the strengthening effects of Silica on your plants. 

Final Thoughts GroIndoor.com has got your back

Treating Heat Stress in your plants can be very stressful - especially for beginners. Hopefully, this guide helped you work through some of those problems. 

If you need anything for the control of the grow room environment,  GroIndoor.com has got everything for your shopping needs. Visit our website today to get shopping!