I've just got home from college and due to my new-found love for plants one of the first things I did was inspect all the plants in the house! I found this cactus in the conservatory not looking very happy. It's very top heavy, and it's got this weird brownish coating (about the colour of a brown paper bag) on the bottom few segments. It's not rot though (I don't think!) because when you squeeze the affected bits the feel perfectly firm, woody even. The top half is perfectly green, though and looks quite healthy (if a bit 'leggy') The cactus is at least 10 years old (probably more) and I was just wondering whether the brown stuff was some sort of fungus and how to get rid of it, whatever it is. Any help would be very much appreciated Thanks:)
Re: Cactus going brown from the bottom up! That's perfectly normal, what you're seeing there. Older cacti, especially the flat-bladed types of Opuntia, get woody on their main stems as they age. It's not something you can cure, really, since it's part of the aging process.
Re: Cactus going brown from the bottom up! Aha! So my theory was correct! The silly people at the garden centre told Mum to fertilise it - i take it you're not supposed to fertilise cacti in winter like with other plants? Is that what it is then, some variety of Opuntia? One more question (sorry!), is it supposed to be that stretched out? And should we tie a cane to it to give it some support? Thanks for your help:)
Re: Cactus going brown from the bottom up! Well, it does look a bit over-stretched (the plant term is etiolated) - you can't fix what's already happened but you can prevent it by giving that cactus a bit more light - maybe give it its own CF bulb or something. A cane will help support what's there. DO NOT FERTILIZE A CACTUS IN THE WINTERTIME. It will overburden the plant, which is going dormant. It looks like an Opuntia to me, but I generally don't know from cactus unless it produces food of some sort. You could ask the nice folks down in the Cactus and Succulents forum, and they would know better than I.
Re: Cactus going brown from the bottom up! I thought so...one of it's 'children' in the bathroom looks much happier on the windowsill! I moved it up onto the table so it's level with the windowsill so hopefully it'll get more light there. I think half the problem is it lives in the conservatory and Mum doesn't always get round to opening the blinds! I'll have to start reminding her (or do it myself!) Ok I'll remember that....thanks for your help, we'll buy a cane tomorrow:)
Re: Cactus going brown from the bottom up! Looks very like mine, which is in fact woody at its base, top-heavy, and tall. Ooh, watch out for those barbed hairs it has! Easy to overlook, until you've got a fingertip covered in 'em. AIEEE! ---I think that there is a sp. of Opuntia that has the nickname "jumping cactus". Aptly named!
Re: Cactus going brown from the bottom up! Ah yes, the notorious jumping cholla, Cylindropuntia fulgida. That's not what JenRi has, thankfully - I have been jumped upon by chollas that I swear were a meter away. It's not an experience I'd care to repeat!
Re: Cactus going brown from the bottom up! Thankfully mine doesn't have many spines (i have no idea whether it should or not!) but when i squished the bottom to see if it had rot I still managed to get one in my thumb! Was pretty easy to pull out though thankfully! If I wanted to take a cutting can I just chop off a segment? And do I have to leave it in air to callous/root like with succulents or can I just stick it in a pot? Thanks:)
Opuntia.....but what species I have this cactus - see pictures at http://www.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/forums/showthread.php?t=47311. Lorax very kindly identified it as an Opuntia but I'd like to know what type, I tried to look myself and got a bit overwhelmed by how many species there were, and thought there maybe (hopefully) people on here who know more about the genus. The segments are dark green, hardly any spines and where the spines should be (in a lot of places) there seems to be drops of clear sap, not sure what that means. Unfortunately as far as we know it has never flowered so I realise a more detailed indentification might not be possible. Thanks very much JenRi
Re: Cactus going brown from the bottom up! (and NEW: ID Please) (merged threads, changed thread title to reflect request for ID)
Thankyou Daniel - I don't know how this all works, although I really could have done that myself- sorry!
