---
title: "Someone asked a question about “full sun, or not full sun” with…"
description: "Someone asked a question about “full sun, or not full sun” with regard to cactus. My answer is that I’m still figuring it out. Most of my plants are still…"
url: "https://getplanta.com/community/vOLjreBcQ-OpqrHIhVSc4w/64c40a0f19c8a2dc17b611e0"
community: "The Cactus & Succulent Circle"
author: "Dave_opuntiaface"
published: "2023-07-28T18:33:51.37Z"
language: "en"
image: "https://images.getplanta.com/v1/resize/gFKgBIDtQUSoNHyzAXA4pLM-wYI4yLGXFPAMGDtMt3o/3c78cbf86c534a1293a9cdcb20a4279e.webp?size=large"
---

[Community](https://getplanta.com/community.md) / [The Cactus \& Succulent Circle](https://getplanta.com/community/vOLjreBcQ-OpqrHIhVSc4w.md)

# Someone asked a question about “full sun, or not full sun” with…

_Posted by Dave\_opuntiaface on 2023-07-28_

Someone asked a question about “full sun, or not full sun” with regard to cactus. My answer is that I’m still figuring it out. Most of my plants are still young, and I’m maybe guilty of under-sunning due to that. I am also not trying to prove anything or win best in show ha.

After putting this Cholla in the sun today - a plant that I know loves to bake - I took a look around and noticed the mid-day shadows. It was a “no duh” moment of the best spot for these who, yeah they can take 98 degrees and full sun but aren’t supposed to be in Northern Utah elevation etc.

Instead of my fever dreams of fake foliage and screens, use what’s already there. The bonkers screenshots below are light meter readings of the mid-day sun (high number) and subtle relief the shadows offer when the sun is a magnifying glass.

See me in a week when I change my mind.

A little help to translate the above (from leafandclay:

“Succulents do best when exposed to between 3,000 and 4,000 fc (foot-candles), where as cacti do best when exposed to between 4,000 and 5,000 fc. Sounds great, but what in the world is a "foot-candle"? Foot-candles are defined as "a unit of illumination equal to that given by a source of one candela at a distance of one foot (equivalent to one lumen per square foot or 10.764 lux)," which is basically a fancy, old-fashioned unit of measurement.”

![Attachment 1 of 1](https://images.getplanta.com/v1/resize/gFKgBIDtQUSoNHyzAXA4pLM-wYI4yLGXFPAMGDtMt3o/3c78cbf86c534a1293a9cdcb20a4279e.webp?size=large)

## 2 comments

### Dave\_opuntiaface commented on 2023-07-28

I will one day figure out how to post images in order

### Cherrybergher commented on 2023-07-28

Very interesting!

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