I moved this Summer from a house with a shady courtyard with practically no full sun to a house with a backyard that gets exposed to the full merciless power of Helios from about 1pm onwards.

In all the moving stress I simply did not think of the cacti, put them in the backyard and in two afternoons they got hammered. Included in the carnage was this Echinopsis bridgesii monstrose.

The scarring from sun damage was quite severe as you can see but he soldiered on nonetheless and continued to put out new growth until the dormant season.

I've been wintering him outside, under cover of the verandah where he gets direct morning sun till around 10-11am. I have probably watered him only twice since May.

I'm worried because he's losing his turgidity, shrivelling a little and just generally looking a bit scabby.

Do you think this is anything more than dehydration? We have had a few frosts but he's undercover so I'm assuming that shouldn't be a worry. Any suggestions on how I can get him back on track ready to pounce into growth with the Spring? Should I water it?

My theory is that the damaged cuticle from the sunburn has led to increased dessication over Winter but as you might be able to tell I'm not exactly an expert cactus-carer just yet.





And on another penis-related problem, my very first cactus (of which i'm quite fond) is a freakish clone of Echinopsis bridgesii monstrose that pups from the apex. He's been through a lot and the latest is a couple of orange spots I've noticed on some new growth. Is this the dreaded orange rot or rust? I've never had to deal with this before.

I've changed the topic of this post in case anyone was avoiding it for potential genital content.

Hey Squil,

That sun damage is pretty horrific. No need for alarm your cacti has gone dormant due to the cold weather and that is why it looks shriveled. If it has been dry for ages you could give it a little water. Bridgesii are extremely tollerant of cold and water, not a cacti you need to worry about. Just leave it alone and it will grow

One thing I found out about the penis cactus is they bruise if you press them too firmly. One I got as a freebie is still fairly small . was very dried in the pot and covered over with weeds. it has a patch that fits exactly my finger print.
as to water, I give them a sqirt of water every now and then and when they start growing in the warmer weather Im planning on upping the nutrients . my lot have missed out on nutrients for a fair while and I was reluctant to feed them after repotting so they didnt burst with exagerated growth. I have a large clump of penis cactus in a pot as well , and brought that into the polyhouse in case of frost damage. figure better safe than sorry.