Hi, I've had this cactus for about 7 years and it was tiny when I got it, let's just say I love it. It recently had a growth burst and has a couple of new heads. Yesterday I noticed that the smallest of the heads is in fact Empty!! All that's left is its spines loosely held together by a bit of rotten skin. What should I do? I think the rest of the cactus is looking pretty healthy..the lower spines are a little brown, but most of the plant is a very healthy green.. Can anyone help? Thanks
i would get a VERY sharp knife, sterilize it (dip in rubbing alcohol and let dry), and cut the piece off...the wound will heal over. it will leave a bit of a scar. you can't leave the offshoot on there though - if you've got rot going, you need to get the bad part off so you don't lose the whole thing. it's absolutely GORGEOUS!!!
If it's rotting, which is what it sounds like, breaking it off will probably leave rotten flesh attached to the main plant. The rot will then be able to spread to the main plant and consume it. So I'm with Joclyn. Surgical amputation!
sorry, i neglected to mention to check the main trunk after you slice off the bad part. what you should be checking for is soft/mushy stuff... hopefully there won't be any! if there is, you'll need to cut all of it out. if it goes deep, as in to the center of the trunk, then your best bet is to cut above the rotten area. just straight across about an inch above. you can let the cut end dry out (a week or two) and then plant it in fresh soil. don't water it for at least two weeks after planting it, though!! let it get situated in the new soil for a bit and then give it a drink. it'll form new roots and you'll be good to go then. i also neglected to ask about conditions. has anything changed lately that might have caused rot to set in?
Hi, thanks guys.. I'll give it a go tonight when I get home.Amputation it is! Jocelyn, would a move to the window sill (2 meters from where it was)have made the rot set in? It's so odd and must have happened very quickly, you can see right through it. I hope I'm qualified enough to perform procedure!! Wish me luck.
moving the location would not cause the rot to happen. it may (or may not) have spurred the progress, though. let's say water was splashed on it, repeatedly. that wouldn't be too big a deal if it's in the sun because the heat from the sun would help the water to evaporate. although, being closer to a wall would limit air movement and that would promote rot developing (as in fungal). moving it to a less sunny spot would take that away the heat benefits and could allow a fungal infection to develop quite rapidly. even with the extra airflow you'd get by moving it away from a wall, the shadier situation would over-shadow the benefit of more air movement. it's possible there is some type of bug infestation rather than fungal. i'm not sure which type cactus that is. i've only been into cacti for a little over a year and am much more versed on care rather than id's (there are just SO many types within all the different tribes and SO much variation within individual species!). generally, spidermites or mealy bugs seem to be the issues with cacti. and the fact that this side stem is what is affected leads me to mealys - they usually go to where the leaves/stems meet the trunk/stalk. with all the white fluff on your cacti, seeing the mealy bugs will be hard because the look like small white cotton fluff! you could poke around with a toothpick though and see if any bits of the fluff are removable. if so, treat with q-tips dipped in rubbing alcohol. or you can use a spritzer to spray it on (that might be easier because of the spines). if you spritz, cover the soil with plastic to protect it from excess rubbing alcohol. although it's not harmful at all to the plant (it dries up before it can do any damage) if it gets concentrated in the soil, that will cause problems for the roots. spidermites are tiny, tiny, tiny! if you see webbing, then you've got them. not sure how to treat them as i've never had to deal with them. i'd think spritzing with the rubbing alcohol would do the trick though. if you do find bugs, you'll need to treat ALL the plants that you have. most especially any that are located close to this one. you'll still have to take that piece off, even if you do find bugs. please let us know what you find when you do surgery. i hope it turns out to not be all that serious!! i have no doubt that the patient will recover completely, either. nice well-established and generally healthy specimen you've got there!
Hi, Well, I performed the surgery last night and am delighted to report that the rest of the plant looks fine behind the amputated specimen. No sign of mealys or spiderthingies (if there were, my boyfriend who shudders at the word spider would have moved out!) I'll keep a close eye on Mr. Cactus to make sure there are no further problems. Thanks so much for your help. I really appreciate it as I was so worried I'd lose him. Phew! x
very glad to hear that there is no rot in the main trunk!! the spidermites are very, very tiny...hardly noticable until the plant is in obvious distress so the bf wouldn't have noticed them if they were there!
