Weird little cactus dicides to lean over pot for some unknown reason.

Discussion in 'Cacti and Succulents' started by jreidsma, Dec 31, 2009.

  1. jreidsma

    jreidsma Active Member

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    Hi I have a cactus I know what type it is I just forgot right now but um it was bought at a goodwill which was one of the weirdest places I have seem catcuses. It is in a pot with 2 other cactuses a ball shaped one and a branching one they are in my book to I just forgot their name right now to. But the tall one just out of nowere dicided to lean over the side of the pot and it is now bent over the side and is touching the counter it is on. Could there be anything wrong with it?
     
  2. togata57

    togata57 Generous Contributor 10 Years

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    Well, could be, or maybe it just got too lanky to support itself. Does it show any signs of discoloration, squishiness, or other bad stuff? Has it been exposed to cold? How much and how often are you watering it? Under what conditions is it living? (Light, temp, etc.)

    Photo(s) would help!

    Agree that Goodwill is an odd place to find cacti for sale...but, I guess, why not?
    (Wish mine would have some!)
     
  3. K Baron

    K Baron Well-Known Member

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    We need photos please!
     
  4. jreidsma

    jreidsma Active Member

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    They might be alittle blury but I got my camera to focus alittle more.
     

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  5. togata57

    togata57 Generous Contributor 10 Years

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    Dunno a whole lot about cacti, but yours look pretty good to me! I think that your leaner just decided to grow that way. Gotta get some input from cacti folks on this. (Yo, mandarin!)

    Wow! Quite the Goodwill find, I must say! Luxuriant, even.
     
  6. mandarin

    mandarin Active Member 10 Years

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    As togata57 has indicated: if it isn't soft at the base it has leaned over because it is top-heavy. For some cacti it is the natural way to grow like (they creep along the ground), but I think your plant has grown in too low light and become unnaturally elongated.

    (BTW: the other one is Mammillaria elongata, which does not grow in Arizona. I think the leaning one is a Mammillaria too, but a different species)
     
  7. jreidsma

    jreidsma Active Member

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    Thanks it helps me alot to know that it doesint have a disease or anything I was getting a little worried. It isnt a pot of arizona plants but a arizona pot with random plants stuck in it. I found the pot on ebay and a website that makes them. Sorry I didnt get the little ball one its in between the other ones. O ya I dont think its soft it has a bald spot were it got me in the palm of my hand when I was trying to water it. I poked it with a spoon and it wasnt soft.
     
  8. togata57

    togata57 Generous Contributor 10 Years

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    Whoa, jreidsma...thought you got the cactus at Goodwill?
     
  9. jreidsma

    jreidsma Active Member

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    I did I just reaserched the pot it was in. I got curiouse about the way they were potted so I looked them up.
     
  10. togata57

    togata57 Generous Contributor 10 Years

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    Interesting! Mystery still remains...how did the cacti and their pot meet one another and end up at a Goodwill in Michigan?
    Whatever the case, they are fortunate to have been found by you---sounds as if you are a good and attentive plant owner. Keep up the good work.
     
  11. K Baron

    K Baron Well-Known Member

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    Have you had the top heavy cactus ever bloom? and whar colour? It looks like a Mammillaria spinosissima?
     
  12. jreidsma

    jreidsma Active Member

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    I havent got any of them to bloom yet. I does look top heavy because it just up and fell over then tried to grow back up but just ended up making the top of it bigger and it couldnt grow back up.
     
    Last edited: Jan 16, 2010
  13. Bambi

    Bambi Active Member

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    The other cactus in the pot is Mammillaria elongata. Looks like it is drying up a bit! Needs water.

    There are so many species in the Mammillaria genus, it is often easier to identify them after they have bloomed.

    You could prop it up with a stick?
     
  14. jreidsma

    jreidsma Active Member

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    I have been watering them when I water my aloes which is usealy every 6-10 days. I will water them now and try to prop it up with a stick. But Im getting nervouse that it might break. I would repot them into something bigger but the way they were potted I can get to them in a way that I wont get pricked.
     
  15. mandarin

    mandarin Active Member 10 Years

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    Still watering them? I have not watered mine since September, it is their resting period now.
     
  16. jreidsma

    jreidsma Active Member

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    My house stays the around same temp all year round. None of my desert plants or any of the plants go dormant for some reason so I just keep watering them. Infact some of my plants grow better in the winter.
     
  17. jreidsma

    jreidsma Active Member

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    It is still growing all weird. It isnt soft or anything so I think it just randomly did it or something. The only plant I have that is going dormant is one of my 4 madagascar palms (Pachypodium geayl) I bought them in a hobby lobby in a seed greenhouse thing. They are only maby 3-4inches long and are around 3-5 years old.
     
  18. LLLLaura

    LLLLaura Member

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    I have a catus of the same type and it also decided to lean over. It's much thicker than yours and I'm afraid it's going to pull out its roots, so I prop it up on th window frame. I think it started to lean because i watered it too much at one time. Now I just barely wet the soil every two weeks. It has always been extremely photophilic and tended to lean toward the light, so even before it leaned all the way over, I had to rotate it on a regular basis.
     

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