Wrinkling Oreocereus

[akcheat]

Hi everyone, a few weeks ago I planted this oreocereus celsianus in the ground and it started to wrinkle as seen in the photo. I'm wondering if it's just some shock at the new environment, but I've watered it a few times after letting the soil dry and it doesn't seem to be fattening back up so I figured I'd check to see if something else might be wrong. It is not squishy, and there's no foul smells coming out of the base, so I don't think it's root rot. Any advice is greatly appreciated, thank you!!

[jerrytheplater]

No experience growing cacti in the ground, but a lot growing general plants in our garden and yard.

A saying regarding transplanting trees and shrubs: Dig a ten dollar hole for a one dollar plant. Now, I guess that kind of shows the antiquity of the saying. Nowadays it'd be, dig a thousand dollar hole for a hundred dollar plant. But, the point is the same-dig a much bigger hole than the rootball of the plant you are planting. Amend the soil in the hole somewhat, but don't make it much different from the soil the plant is going in. Also, I make sure the sides of the hole are not glazed over from digging. I will poke them with a garden fork. Don't dig deeper than you want your plant to sit, just wider.

Application to you: it seems like you have a highly organic potting mix around your plant and pretty much desert soil all around it. There are huge texture differences there. Good chance your plant is not draining well. Another thought is that the potting mix is not covered by the soil the plant is in. By leaving the potting mix exposed, the water in it can evaporate very fast. We always cover our transplants with at least a half inch of soil when planting out. I'm speaking of bedding plants and vegetable transplants.

If I had the chance to grow plants outdoors like you, I would unpot all of the plants I'm planting outside, remove all of the potting mix, and let them dry out for a week in shade. Even washing off the mix won't hurt. The plant will dry. Now you can examine the roots for mealy bugs. After the week of drying I would plant them in a nicely prepared bed. And the preparation would be to loosen up the soil and not add much, if any, organic material like Peat Moss or potting mix.

You might need to stake your plants to keep them upright till they root in after a few months. And you might need to shade the plants for a while to adjust them to full sun. My friend built a house in the Phoenix area and he had to remove certain cacti prior to construction, set them out temporarily in the exact orientation to the sun, and then replant in their final spot, again in the correct solar orientation. It all had to be done under supervision of a professional.

Let's hear from others on here that grow their plants in the ground to see their thoughts.

[anttisepp]

Looks like grown indoors/ GH, probably reaction to direct sun. Give it a light shadow for 1-2 months.

[akcheat]

Thanks for the responses, I'll definitely follow through on the advice I've gotten here. Would a shade cloth work for giving him a little bit of sun protection? And should I remove it after it's plumped back up?

[anttisepp]

I use light white garden tissue.

[akcheat]

Understood, thanks!

[akcheat]

Just wanted to say thanks for all of the advice! It seems that the culprit was too much sun too sun. I set up a shade cloth and now it's looking like this:

[anttisepp]

Looks great! Now it's real Cactus.