Kind People. My owner freed me from the captivity of a supermarket two human-years ago. Although I was very grateful for escaping the horrors that go on in the plant-section of this supermarket, I am now suffering. I was most likely kidnapped from some exotic lovely temperate desert as a youngling and due to this trauma in my past I am not sure where I am from or how old I am, but I do know that I want to live on and prosper. My dear people, please be so kind and advise me how my wonderful (if not green-fingered) owner can restore me back to health. I used to have another wonderful "branch" rooted next to me, almost equal in size, but that part of me slowly withered away over a period of 3-6 months and died inexplicably. I probably should know (my owner agrees) how to better take care of myself, I am a gotdamn cactus after all, we are supposed to be tough, right? but alas, this "instinct" if you like, must be buried deep from trauma. With the help of a friendly climbing plant we managed to position a camera in order to take some pictures of me in my current sad state, hoping this will further help someone help me. Is there a chance of me being nurtured back to health? If not, is it possible to *GULP* cut parts of me off and continue this journey in another vessel? My charming owner is clueless as to his next actions and I'm afraid if I don't spoon-feed him with the information needed he might chose the wrong course of action and I will not be around for very much longer. Oh, how I would like to see many more winters come and go. Dear Friend. Please respond. Sincerely Yours. Antonio The Cactus. (ps: I don't currently have my own e-mail account ( for some reason they won't let cactii use gmail) so please PLEASE email my wise-*** owner, joegorz@gmail.com , if you are in a position to help.) (ps2: Also if the images do not readily appear in this post, please find them at the following urls:http://tinypic.com/r/33116yq/7 http://tinypic.com/r/2samdrb/7 and http://tinypic.com/r/2u5clee/7 )
Re: I'm a poor old cactus and my owner does not know how to help me out. Perhaps you I forget the type, but I had one of those in my old house that grew over 12 feet high (before it fell over). I had to remove a few branches because it was too top heavy. I don't believe they are a real cactus, but they do have spines, plus they bleed a white sap when you cut them. Those plants are tough and hard to kill. Let the soil dry out between waterings, and don't let the roots sit in water ever. Do that and it may recover.
Re: I'm a poor old cactus and my owner does not know how to help me out. Perhaps you Looks like a columnar Euphorbia. As Tree Nut says, these plants do have a white sap. There IS a way to take cuttings of these plants. Try this site for info: http://www.euphorbia-international.org/Cultivation/propagation.htm You might try looking through the Cacti and Succulents forum here on UBC. (Go down to the bottom of this page to where you see 'Forum Jump'---scroll down the list till you find it.) Also, if you click on 'Search' (3d from right in green heading at top of page) you can type in 'euphorbia' and get results from all forums. Welcome to the Forum, Josef and Antonio! You might enjoy this, too: photos of Antonio's relatives. http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/236/
Re: I'm a poor old cactus and my owner does not know how to help me out. Perhaps you Yes, that is an Euphorbia, not a cactus. It is almost certainly not habitat collected, more likely grown from a cutting. It looks sick, could be basal rot. Look up how to take and root Euphorbia cuttings, I know there are several good descriptions on the Internet (I don't grow these myself). The cuttings must of course be taken from the upper, hopefully not infected part.
Re: I'm a poor old cactus and my owner does not know how to help me out. Perhaps you Oh Antonio, I think your Grandpa is living at my house! You should be watered once a week, and be in a pot with lots of drainage, no wet feet! Your owner can cut of your sad parts (ow) and put you right back in some moist soil, again with good drainage and you will reroot in no time. I have often given parts of Grandpa to friends and all I do is break off the small new growth and put them in dirt and viola! they grow. Everyone is right about you being a Euphorbia (watch out for that sap) I think the common name for you is Candleabra Cactus Get well soon
