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Gardening

Find tips and tricks to make your garden or allotment flourish on our Gardening forum.

Is my cactus dead or *mostly* dead?

16 replies

Nannymaggy · 26/07/2022 22:50

Soggy and rotten looking at the bottom. I suspect somebody (me) has done something (overwatered) to it.
it’s got this funky thing growing on the right side…… can I salvage it?

Is my cactus dead or *mostly* dead?
Is my cactus dead or *mostly* dead?
Is my cactus dead or *mostly* dead?
OP posts:
ClownSchool · 26/07/2022 22:53

Are there any root looking things appearing at the ‘join’ of any of the leaves? (None of these are technical terms obviously! 😄). Just wondering if it would be possible to pot one of the leaves up and start again with a new plant?

Nannymaggy · 26/07/2022 22:56

Thank you for your answer! By leaves do you mean the rabbit ear bits (technical term) or the spiky extension on top of the rabbit ear???

OP posts:
Georgeskitchen · 26/07/2022 22:58

Let it dry out completely and see what happens 😀

Nannymaggy · 26/07/2022 23:00

Thank you for your reply! By dry out do you mean literally leave it in the soil and dry out? It’s flopped over and looking soggy and rotten at the bottom 😬 but worth a punt to see if it’s salvageable!

OP posts:
ClownSchool · 26/07/2022 23:05

Yes I meant one of the rabbit ears. See the “how to propagate from a pad” section on here:
succulentsbox.com/blogs/blog/how-to-propagate-cactus-easy-fast

But it wouldn’t harm to try @Georgeskitchen suggestion first to see if the whole thing can recover.
Could the spiky extension be some type of flower? 🤔

NanTheWiser · 26/07/2022 23:09

You’ve probably drowned it. It’s an Opuntia of some sort. Photos are a bit dark, but the mix it’s in looks very organic, and these plants really need a very gritty mix. Plus, if it’s kept in a dark (ish) corner, that won’t help at all, they need full sun (some growers put them in the garden for the summer). The side shoot in the last pic shows that it’s struggling for light, too.
it also doesn’t help by keeping it in a cover pot, as water collects in the bottom (unless you remove and drain each time you water it) a main cause of root rot, I’m afraid.
Sorry to sound so critical of your growing expertise, OP, but as a long-time grower of thousands of cacti, I can see the problems!

Nannymaggy · 26/07/2022 23:35

Thank you so much for the critique! If I can’t rescue this one I know where I’ve gone wrong, and can do better going forward. Thanks again for the feedback x

OP posts:
MereDintofPandiculation · 27/07/2022 06:34

The “rabbits ears” and flat pads are stems.

Yes, it’s easily rescuable. Firstly, take it out of the pot. Does it still have healthy looking roots? If so, re-pot in a gritty compost and follow all of Nan’s advice.

If not, then detach the basal pad. Make up a pot of gritty compost, leave the rest lying on top-of the pot. It should start rooting at the base. you can then pot it up. Don’t bury the pad, so you’ll need to prop it up. It’ll be horribly top heavy so you could separate all the pads and propagate them all separately.

You can also take the basal pad, cut it above any rot, leave it lying for a while until the cut edge has calloused over, then prop it up on a pot of gritty soil, and it will likely root.

These things propagate themselves by falling over and rooting from the nodes between the pads. They are basically invasive weeds in the right climate. So you have a very good chance of success.

From September onwards this needs very little water (if indoors) or none at all if ina porch, conservatory or greenhouse. It can stand cold provided it’s bone dry. There used to be a couple of collectors, the Lambs, who had the Exotic Collection near Worthing - all their Opuntias were outside over winter, but shielded from the rain. I’m not recommending you try this, just illustrating that it’s the wet that kills them, not the cold.

NanTheWiser · 27/07/2022 09:50

More good advice from Mere!

(I remember the Lambs! I used to subscribe to their Exotic Collection, and still have a couple of plants from them!)

Nannymaggy · 28/07/2022 15:40

This is brilliant! Thank you. Where would I actually source gritty soil? Garden centre? Does it have a name or I just look for that?

OP posts:
Gardeningdream · 28/07/2022 15:47

The pics are so dark it’s hard to tell op. Here they are lightened. I think it’s over watered and has root rot. Leave it be now.

Is my cactus dead or *mostly* dead?
Is my cactus dead or *mostly* dead?
Is my cactus dead or *mostly* dead?
MereDintofPandiculation · 29/07/2022 09:30

Garden centre will sell tiny bags of “cactus compost”. If you have more than one cactus,a cheaper option is to buy a bag of John Innes compost (it’s a formula not a make) and-a bag of horticultural grit and add the grit to the compost till it feels ok. @NanTheWiser will tell you the proportion. Somewhere a bit more than 25% grit.

The pads themselves are healthy, it’s only the bottom pad with a problem. You should have no problem getting the upper pads going.

Once you’ve got it going, let the soil dry out completely before watering again. Go by weight - the soil can be quite wet underneath even though dry on the surface.

NanTheWiser · 29/07/2022 09:42

Yes, as Mere says, for only one plant, a bag of Cactus compost is the best bet, but with the addition of about 50% horticultural grit would probably do. If you have any John Innes compost that would be better, again with 50% grit.

MereDintofPandiculation · 30/07/2022 08:53

@NanTheWiser If cactus compost needs as much grit added as JI, what does it actually contain? (I’ve never bought it as I’ve never had that few cacti to repot’

NanTheWiser · 30/07/2022 09:57

@MereDintofPandiculation i don’t really know what the composition is. It’s not usually recommended by the cactus fraternity, but probably the best thing for someone who only requires a small amount. It still needs an addition of grit, as I don’t think it contains nearly enough. JI 2 or 3 is still the go-to for most of us, even though the quality has gone down a lot in recent years.

BiancaRivera · 30/01/2023 14:58

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