This is my Old Man of the Andes or Oreocereus celsianus. Let's just call it the Old Man! (Oops! I can't! There's another one of that name.) It hasn't grown much from when I bought it about 2 years ago but the book says it can reach ten feet tall and four inches in diameter. That's probably if you plant it in the ground in a sunny spot. I did plant it in the ground for last winter. It did fine, kind of dormant. But, I was a little worried when it didn't perk up with the warmer weather so I transplanted it back into a nice pot.
It needs very little water and full sun but, here in Las Vegas, full sun in the heat of the day is too much. So, I have it where I keep all of my potted cacti outside during the summer. It gets a few hours of sun in the morning and a little in the evening but not in the middle of the day. If the heat reaches over 110-115 degrees F, I will probably bring most of the cacti inside. There is no need to stress them out that much. Even though cacti have a reputation of being a hardy desert plant, there are species that take a lot of heat and there are species that don't like it so much. The "desert" part of their existence just means that they can survive without water for some time. It doesn't mean that they prefer that!
This is my Old Man of the Andes or Oreocereus celsianus. Let's just call it the Old Man! (Oops! I can't! There's another one of that name.) It hasn't grown much from when I bought it about 2 years ago but the book says it can reach ten feet tall and four inches in diameter. That's probably if you plant it in the ground in a sunny spot. I did plant it in the ground for last winter. It did fine, kind of dormant. But, I was a little worried when it didn't perk up with the warmer weather so I transplanted it back into a nice pot.
It needs very little water and full sun but, here in Las Vegas, full sun in the heat of the day is too much. So, I have it where I keep all of my potted cacti outside during the summer. It gets a few hours of sun in the morning and a little in the evening but not in the middle of the day. If the heat reaches over 110-115 degrees F, I will probably bring most of the cacti inside. There is no need to stress them out that much. Even though cacti have a reputation of being a hardy desert plant, there are species that take a lot of heat and there are species that don't like it so much. The "desert" part of their existence just means that they can survive without water for some time. It doesn't mean that they prefer that!
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