Dear All, I was watering my plants and have noticed that my Cactus looks sick. Is it some sort of disease? What should I do? Thank you!
I see some corking on the bigger stem, but that is probably normal. But there are also small stems turning brown, is that what worries you? Could be a disease, but sometimes cactus stems just turn brown and stop growing for no obvious reason. Then they either die or start growing again. I would: 1. Check carefully for pests like spider mites and mealy bugs, just in case. 2. Observe it for a week or two and see if it spreads. If not I would wait a few months and then cut off stems that are too unsightly. If it spreads (fast) I would unpot the plant, cut off all the affected parts and try to save the healthy parts after a thorough cleaning.
Thanks for your reply.What worries me the most is this spreading to little pups on the bottom and sides. It seams to me that this thing is contagious and there is some sort of parasite involved. If this is the case - how do I get rid of parasites? Is there a product I could use?
Yes, there is for example insecticidal soap, which is easy to make yourself if you want. Non-toxic (it suffocates the parasites) and works on both insects and mites. Repeated treatments is probably necessary. When I use that I usually put the whole plant in a bucket, but your plant looks as if it is too big for that. If you want the usual type of pest killer you must first determine if it is mites or insects that are the culprits, insecticides are often ineffective versus mites and the same is true for miticides on insects. There are products that works on both insects and mites though. I don't know what is available where you live, that varies much from country to country.
