Dear Botanical Garden Comunity. I have a beautiful 2ft tall green cactus which has held prize position in my living room since April this year (it is now almost September so about 5 months). My cactus has always been a healthy looking dark green but over the last week I have noticed that two of the lower branches have started to go yellow/brown. I have dug down to the roots but potting material is just gravel, i.e. No soil to hold water as such. Personally I think it looks as if it is suffering from over watering but it's been at least two weeks since I watered it last. I have attached some pictures to fully describe the situation. I will hugely appreciate any help.
Your plant is not a cactus, but probably Euphorbia. I don't know much about that genus, but it looks like rot to me. Is the dark brown area soft? I would cut off the sick stems to what they look like inside and then decided what to do.
Thank you for your advise. The lowest brown part that you can see is hard like wood, but yes the darker brown section above is soft. Not so soft that if falls over but much softer than the rest of the plant. If I cut it off, will the rest of the plant need further treatment? Will the rot spread the rest of the plant if I just leave it and let nature take its course?
Rot will usually (but not always) spread and kill the entire plant. There is not much treatment you can give except removing all infected tissue.
Thanks again for your help. I have removed the soil and cut back the area that looks to be infected. I will keep a close eye on the plant over the next few days and provide an update. When I dug down it seems that the soil was bone dry although the inside of the plant was very wet. I have recovered the cut area with the gravel and will leave nature to take its course. Thanks again and will update in a few days.
Rot typically spreads fast enough to kill the entire plant within days to weeks. How did the sick parts look on the inside? Any discolourations? (or some of each)
It was most defiantly rot, the skin was a juicy yellow, with dark edges and the inside was a creamy pale yellowy white. I am keeping a close eye on the plant and still no sign of rot anywhere else. Fingers crossed that it continues to hold strong.
