iv had a cactus for about two and a half years, i noticed it was starting to wilt a few months back so i got a friend to help me re pot it cos i thought it might just be too big for its pot. It seemed to be doing fine but this morning its started wilting more and iv no idea why or what to do? dont know what type of cactus it is as i threw away the container it came in. its recently been moved onto the kitchen windowsill so it can get more light as it was in the dining room that didnt really get much light before when it first started wilting.
I'm in the USA, but from what I see, your plant is not getting enough light. Notice how the tips are pointed. Low light causes that. Also, how often do you water?? It looks like it's getting to much and the ends rotted. I would remove the plant, remove the soil from around the plant, then remove the dead plants. If you have to cut the dead off, leave the plant to dry for about 3 days before re-potting. After re-potting, in a clay pot!!, put it in a spot where it can get a lot of morning light. The plant may start to fill out at the top, but if it does not, you can cut this section off and the plant will re-grow from the top again. But only do this after about 3 months time of getting it more light in its diet. Watering, if you keep it in doors, you have to pay attention to the soil. If you run your heater/fire place a lot in the winter, that causes the soil and plant to dry out faster. If your plant was outside, in the Winter, water every other month. Summer ever month, but in flower time, every week. This is for outdoor care, so I would half this for indoor.
It is a Mammillaria, maybe spinosissima but I am not sure. I doubt that the label on the pot would have helped, mass-produced cacti are rarely correctly labelled. It has at least two problems: 1) I see 3 rotted stems, and one of them is covered in some white, fluffy stuff that I think is mold (the fruit bodies of the fungus that caused the rot). This rot must be stopped by cutting away all infected parts, including roots attached to the rotted stems. 2) It is a bit etioliated due to lack of light + too much warmth and water, but that is a minor problem compared to the first. I would unpot it and start cutting until the cut surface is green without red/dark brown spots (and sterilize the knife between each cut), and perhaps separate the stems if more than one looks healthy, let them dry on a paper towel for two weeks, pot them and leave them until spring before watering. Or I would just throw it out, it would depend on how much I cared for that individual plant.
It all depends on how you feel towards the plant. I like mine and try to save, but if I get no return to health after 1/2 year, I will discard. Looking at your pics, the two alive growths look healthy, but give them a poke. Do they feel soft?? If not, cut the dead off and dirt, let dry for a week, and replant. Do not water!! I have at least 50 different cati, sometimes I get one that just does not want to live. it starts out great, growing great, then all of a sudden, it 's gone. I never know why and never get an answer to why. Mostly, if I catch a sick plant early enough, I look weekly, I will pull it out of the soil, knock off all soil, give it a wash, just water, let dry for a week, then replant. Once a week I give the plant a poke for firmness and if it feels hard, I just let it be for a while, then I fill put it back in the cycle for water. But with yours I would save!! Put it out side and watch it. Aloe plants work better in the house. But if you want cacti, just put it outside when you go to work, then bring it inside when you get home. Good luck!!
thanks,im gonna try and save my plant cos iv had it a while and im quite attatched to it. i used to only water it once every few months leaving it in water for about 15 mins then leaving to drain, but since we moved it into a bigger pot its been watered more which from what people have said is the problem, i'll try and find it a new home somewhere with light that isnt as warm as the current place it is. i'll try the cutting off the dead parts and hopefully it'll be ok, thanks for the help :)
You give too much water too infrequently. Cactus roots are susceptible to diseases, and like all plant roots they need oxygen. They die if they sit in waterlogged soil for a prolonged period because: 1) They do not absorb much water from the soil because the plant does not use much compared to other, non-succulent plants. 2) When a cactus is left without water for a long time the small feeder roots die. The plant stops growing and does not take up water again before it has woken up and formed new feeder roots. 3) Harmful bacteria and fungi thrive in the moist, organic-rich environment. So, large amounts of water at long intervals is bad for cacti, especially if the pot is too big and the growing medium has a high content of organic matter like peat (and almost all commercial mixes are peat-based). A better strategy is to plant the cactus in a porous medium that does not hold as much water as the usual peat-based variants. If a water-holding mix is used anyway, a clay pot is essential (as RonH indicated). Then water it at 1–4 week intervals (depends on weather and soil composition), but only in late spring–summer. It is best to stop watering completely during the cold, dark part of the year, otherwise they will continue to grow and become etioliated. There is no chance that you can grow it well in winter in the UK without very strong supplemental light. They rot more easily too if watered at low temperature and the air is humid, which is a common combination in autumn in both the UK and my own country. Important: repot in dry soil and do not water for at least a week afterwards! The roots always get damaged and must heal first. You should wait for more than 3 days after cutting before repotting if the cuts have been made below soil level. It takes a long time for them them to heal enough in our climate. I do not even try to do that anymore until after at least one month.
