I have a 40 year old cactus (dwarfed barrel type from gift pack sent by my Aunt in New Mexico when I was 10 years old) Sadly, its base has seperated from the root mass completely. The base was quite thin in diameter compared to the cactus itself. The cactus is about 10" in length and gets a crown of small fusia flowers that retract back into the cactus. Its color is a light green and its thorns are white to gold in color are laid out in a star pattern and really cover the body of the cactus. 40-years of very slow growth (no grow lights just outdoors in full sun until November then in the house with minnimal light until April) This light regimen, after doing a little research, led to the elongated shape of what I think is a barrell type cactus and the weakened pencil thin base. Anyway, can I cleanly cut the cactus' woody base up to the green, healthy part of the body and attempt to root it that way? If so, how? I sure hope so...40-years is a long time for a house plant and it has a lot of sentimental value.
the majority of the desert cacti need full sun - especially when they are being grown in more northern areas. yes, you can cut the bad parts off the bottom. use a very sharp knife that's been sterilized - either heated (and cooled) or doused with rubbing alcohol. you'll need to let it sit and callous over for a week or so...do something to prop it up so air can circulate underneath it - a couple of pens/pencils would be fine for it to sit on. once the bottom has dried over, plant it. do not water it for at least two weeks. then give it a decent drink. it's bad that this happened. it happened at just about the best time though! it's just going into the growing period, so, it should form roots fairly well over the course of the summer. had you already hardened it off and brought it outside? if you hadn't, i would keep it inside for a month and then do the switch to outside. it'll be a little more susceptible to temp changes while it's rooting, so better to wait until you're sure the night temps will stay in a good range. can you post a pic? hard to do an id with only a description.
consider posting pictures anyway. Joclyn sounds right on (as usual) but it's always best to see what the problems are. We'd also love to see the plant once you've rescued it. Remember to let it acclimate to the sun very slowly once you move it outside. Good luck!
