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Cacti & Succulents

old man cactus

9 years ago

This summer I got an old man cactus in a swap from another site. It was in pretty rough shape. It had root rot and a suspicious brown spot on it's side. I had to chop the bottom 3rd off immediately. I also cut the remainder in half. One was the chunk with the brown spot and the other part was the top.I waited a week tp plant them so they would be caloused over...I didn't water them or the soil I checked them yesterday and they were both rotted at the bottom. I threw the middle chunk away and had to chop the top again. This time I only have about 5 inches of the original top.
I dusted it with rooting hormone and it's sitting on a shelf drying
what are it's chances of survival?

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Comments (3)

notolover
9 years ago
I think that if it is the Mexican Old Man cactus, they are very susceptible to rot. That's why you don't see very many in collections. I've managed to keep mine alive for about 5 years (at least I think it's alive).

I don't water it at all in winter and just once month in summer. I had a really nice one, but I gave it to my son's then girlfriend--it probably hit the garbage sooner than later. If I would have known they were going to break up, I never would have given it to her :-).

Can't help you much, but do let it dry for quite a while before you try to root it. And a pic would be good since there are a few different cacti called old man.
brewerbonsai
Original Author
9 years ago
here is one picture. I wouldn't be surprised if it's not what the trader said it was. All of the plants I got in this trade ended up being half dead except for 3 small fairy castles. Those seem to be doing fine.
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Usually rot will show up quite suddenly, all at once. I don't think a heat mat will be necessary- you need warm, not necessarily hot. I also don't think there is much need for a heat mat in general. Of course, it all depends on your climate. If you can, grow the cacti outside (once they are rooted) in full sun. To do this, you will need to acclimate them to the higher temperature and sun levels by leaving them outside for increasingly larger periods of time. In other words, slowly increasing the light levels. I would start only about 1 hour outside, progressing upward maybe an hour every 1-2 weeks, until you can keep them outside permanently (if your climate doesn't allow this, put the cacti in a south or westward facing window). Your problem with the rot was most likely overwatering. Although I am sure it didn't seem like you were watering much, with the soil that cacti usually come in (compost, topsoil, and usually a lot of peat), the top couple of inches can be bone dry, while in the middle it is extremely wet. That is what makes this kind of soil so undesirable. To test when to water, you could use a wooden skewer, and poke it into the soil as far as it will reach, and if it comes up moist, you will know not to water.
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notolover
9 years ago
Okay--it looks like it is a Peruvian Old Man Cactus, so maybe there is some hope: it's Latin name is Espostoa Lanata so maybe you can do some research about the proper care.

Sorry I can't help you more, but I'm not familiar with this cactus. It looks like you cut all the rot out so let it callous over before you attempt to root it.

Maybe someone else will have more info for you--good luck!

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