Okay, this was a "cacti garden" from home depot three months ago. 3 cacti together, with pebbles shellacked on top. They Came in a 4- inch pot, and one had a straw flower HOT GLUED onto to top of the third cacti (now gone). Within the last 2 days the one that had the fake flower had turned to mush. I didn't even know anything was wrong! I took these two out of the dirt and threw the dirt, pot and soggy cacti FAR away. But how about these guys? they still feel firm, and I'm not sure what to do. I'm concerned both about drying out thier roots, and having them spread any sickness they may have. What do you think? How do they look to you guys? Any ideas on the id, too? Last pic is a cutting given to me by a lady i know. She said it was a "chain succulent", but I can't find anything under that term. again~ what should I do? Thanks so much, folks!
Get thee to the garden store, and buy a bag of Cactus soil, and three 4" unglazed terra-cotta clay pots. Fill these pots with the soil, then plant your little cacti each in their own homes. Don't water them for at least a week afterwards. The first pic looks like it might be getting a bit of rot towards the base; this should be cut off with a sterile knife and discarded. Wait for the pieces to callous over, then plant them as described above. Cactus #2 looks fine, as does the succulent cutting. I have a huge bunch of that same succulent as your #3, but I don't know what it is either (sorry). I will say that you'll eventually need a hanging basket for it, as it cascades beautifully and will eventually have tiny little yellow flowers.
1. Cereus sp. (C. validus /syn. C. forbesii ?) 2. Parodia /syn. Notocactus sp. (N. magnificus ?) 3. is an epiphyta cactus... (x Aporophyllum (Aporocactus x Epiphyllum) ?)
3. looks like Lepismium cruciforme. I doubt that the Cereus is rotting, the parts beneath the soil surface look like that. If they are firm they should be ok.
Lila, Mandarin, I am So thankful!! To you, too Chungii V ! I am driving myself nuts trying to id them on my own! yes, the (pasted) 1. Cereus sp. (C. validus /syn. C. forbesii ?) is still firm. I think the color is due to the shellacked pebbles... that is where the line of "dressing" was. The stuff came off like a disk, lol! And Lorax, I LOVE hanging plants!! I'm currently working on a "string of pearls". Little yellow flowers sound lovely!. So I just lay the cutting upon some 1 part soil, 1 part sand mix? Lava rocks at the bottom, of course. Did you say not to water the newly planted for at least a week?
It depends partially on the light and temperature were you live. If the plants were mine I would not water them until late March, where I live it is too dark and cold to wake them up now. I you repot in summer then yes, they should not be watered for at least a week to allow the roots to heal. I wait for ten days, and even more for sensitive species. About no. 2: it resembles a Notocactus (Parodia), as Lila wrote, but the body is too cylindrical (unless it has been grown incorrectly). I have seen a similar plant in a flower shop many years ago, but that was definitely not a Notocactus. Can you post a close-up picture of the top of the plant? Preferably of the mid section too, it is the ribs and the spines I am interested in, especially those close to the apex.
Quite possible it is not correctly being looked after. I am a pure novice who just fell in love with cacti. I find most of my difficulties are from un- or mis- identified plants being kept neighbors with another cacti who has entirely different growing requirements!! If I could, I would post pics of everything I have and get my babies organized into appropriate "environmental neighborhoods", lol! Here are the details of this guy: It was in a "cacti garden" 4" pot, with 2 others. (see pics below~ ) This fellow is 3 inches total from rock surface to top. Been kept under a ballast with 5,000 k bulbs, but the ballast is 12 inches away from the top of this cacti. Temperature probably isn't cool enough at night... it doesnt fall below 17 or 18 degrees Celsius (probably 64.4 F) sparsely watered, but hard to tell with the pebbles glued on top. First two pics are how I bought them 3 months ago; "garden style", straw flower and all. The last pic is how I just planted the two remaining cacti yesterday.
I think I'll stick with Notocactus as the least bad guess so far ... The one with the fake flower resembles a Coryphantha. Do you remember if it had a thick, almost carrot-like root? Some thoughts about the repotted plants: I think the Cereus will outgrow their pot relatively quickly, and they will probably need a deeper pot, many Cereus have deep roots. The Notocactus(?) seems to have more space than it needs, watch carefully how quickly the soil dries out when you start to water it. Fortunately, Notocactus are relatively tolerant to wet soil.
Well, I'm not positive. Are you talking a bout a tuberous root? From the time I noticed the cacti was "wilting" to the time of the total destruction of the plant was less than 3 whole days. at that time I took the "garden" apart, and in doing so the sick one literally squished in on itself.... kinda like a grape might. The root was a black stub, the size of the tip of my thumb. Now, I think it is important here to note that the soil was DRY at this time. Not "dry to the touch" dry, but being winter I had erred on the side caution and had not watered any of my cacti in well over three weeks. I had heard about witholding water to help my jade bloom, so I hadn't watered it, either. I had wondered if THAT were the problem? As for the one with too much space, will it be okay where it is?
Yes, I meant a tuberous root. Well, it doesn't matter much now, I guess. I think it has a good chance, their roots grow relatively fast and the pot looks shallow.
