Wrinkled Gymnocalyciums

[cjbaker]

I scrubbed the peat-based soil from the roots of all my cacti early this Spring and repotted them in a mostly mineral-based mix with a handful of organic compost. I put them in the shade starting this March until they started to show some new growth, then slowly moved them to full sun. Despite putting out plenty of new growth and more flowers than ever, the bottom half of my Gymnocalyciums (especially horstii and chiquitanum) have gone from wrinkled to caved-in. Several weeks ago I moved the chiquitanum back to the shade and started watering every time the soil was dry, but it didn't help much (see pic). Is there anything I can do to encourage more root growth (and eventually re-inflation)? Shade? Sun? More or less frequent water? Or are they stuck like this? I've heard that infrequent watering actually encourages more root growth when the water finally comes, is this true? Thanks for your suggestions!


^ G. chiquitanum (as IDed here) a few days ago


^ G. horstii (the photo is over a month old, it is still wrinkled but has put out three new areoles)


^ G. chiquitanum in March, after removing the peat-based soil from its puny roots

[CactusFanDan]

They look a bit scorched or sunburnt. You might want to shade them or put them in a more ventilated position.

[oldcat61]

Gymnos need a bit of shade and an fair amount of water in the heat. I bought one like that thinking it would recover. The new growth is perfect but the older part stayed wrinkled. Guess it was too damaged but will grow out eventually.

[cjbaker]

Thanks for the replies. I'll give them some shade, and more water. I suppose I could add some top dressing pebbles in the chiquitanum to hide the caved-in part.