--- title: "Ummmm. The Sun? Am I crazy or is the Sun just a bit…different this…" description: "Ummmm. The Sun? Am I crazy or is the Sun just a bit…different this year. So hear me out, I plant Mammoth Sunflowers and this year I took to planting American…" url: "https://getplanta.com/community/lKxUkhzRR_aIJD7o1QvtwQ/Ol18eIMyYSjLASOgXui7Nu" community: "Pests, diseases and problems" author: "Salem Owen" published: "2026-06-29T17:41:50.031631Z" language: "en" image: "https://images.getplanta.com/v1/resize/Iy9MTRzPuOQmqN23s_BjaDVJsyOC3vt6pP0sfcXc__A/0XppJd_pQ9mlRnJoXmhJ-g.webp?size=large" --- [Community](https://getplanta.com/community.md) / [Pests, diseases and problems](https://getplanta.com/community/lKxUkhzRR_aIJD7o1QvtwQ.md) # Ummmm. The Sun? Am I crazy or is the Sun just a bit…different this… _Posted by Salem Owen on 2026-06-29_ Ummmm. The Sun? Am I crazy or is the Sun just a bit…different this year. So hear me out, I plant Mammoth Sunflowers and this year I took to planting American Giant Hybrid? Sunflowers. My Mammoth seeds are generational, so I never repurchase those. The sun is literally baking them alive but the AGH seems to not be as affected. My cactus got burned. Fernando and I go way back we do and he has never been burned in a single afternoon. I’m located in Lubbock Texas on the High Plains. I can soak the soil and by midday it’s cracked. Im not crazy I swear. Is anyone else of the same mind???? Christ on a bike it’s hot out here. ![Attachment 1 of 2](https://images.getplanta.com/v1/resize/Iy9MTRzPuOQmqN23s_BjaDVJsyOC3vt6pP0sfcXc__A/0XppJd_pQ9mlRnJoXmhJ-g.webp?size=large) ![Attachment 2 of 2](https://images.getplanta.com/v1/resize/Iy9MTRzPuOQmqN23s_BjaDVJsyOC3vt6pP0sfcXc__A/FCtHx0ptQiWnr0bidxiQrA.webp?size=large) ## 15 comments ### Avai M commented on 2026-06-29 Yk, this other person on Planta named Shellie is concerned of a phenomenon at her place (she lives in the UK) and saying that she waters her plants (I think indoor) and by the time she wakes up, the soil is bone dry. This may be a coincidence but I just thought that your situation and hers oddly correlate very well ### Salem Owen commented on 2026-06-29 I really don’t get it. ### Nikiller commented on 2026-06-29 The sun do be really cooking it this year. My backyard here is Florida hits a heat index of 117°F almost every day, I had to get a cardboard box propped up on a chair to give my outdoor carnivorous plants some shade. I’ve been refilling their water daily for the past 2 weeks now because of the heat. I can’t exactly build a shade mesh like they have at the nurseries because of my apartment so we’re currently just battling the heat by watering at the peak of the heat so it lasts the evening and into the morning. This keeps everything moist longer I’ve found than if I water early in the morning. My gourd plant has grown to over 7’ tall during the hottest days of its life though and it’s creating a nice shade umbrella for our hibiscus and bush daisy at least. I can’t wait for the full trellis to become covered in vines so we have adequate shade for our outdoor plants. #### Salem Owen replied on 2026-07-11 Water at peak heat? With your carnivorous plants? I just barely got a Venus fly trap. I got rolley poleys from out side and tossed them in there. Charles is busily breaking them down. So much fun! Any tips for keep VFT healthy? ### Nikiller commented on 2026-06-29 Put down some straw mulch to keep the soil moist and cool in your in ground plants ### LadyTenorJD commented on 2026-06-30 Central Florida here. Zone 10a. The sun is straight Satanic. I feel like it is worse than last year, and I am plenty more knowledgeable about plants now than I was this time last year. And yet, my sunflowers look like they're about to give up the ghost. ### Plant Guy commented on 2026-06-30 My cacti that I put outside for the summer burned all to hell this year here in WV also .. #### Salem Owen replied on 2026-07-11 In West Virginia?! Holy hell brother ### Salem Owen commented on 2026-06-30 What in the Bill Gates is going on yall?! ### Bonzoid commented on 2026-06-30 It seems hotter/frypan like in TX this year I agree. I water in the morning and again lightly in the evening and it helps; just watch that the soils aren’t still wet in the morning from the evening before. #### Salem Owen replied on 2026-07-11 I’m up here on the High Plains in Lubbock. I’m originally from the Permian Basin (Odessa). What in the Hot, Krispy, Kentucky Fried F@\