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Cacti & Succulents

Advice? My pencil cactus is rotting.

16 years ago

Hello!

I found this site while searching today and decided to ask for some advice since there seems to be a lot of good experience and knowledge floating around here. Please bare with my newbie-ness!

I just noticed today that my pencil cactus (Euphorbia tirucalli I believe) appears to have a sever case of rot or something similar. I'm sort of in a panic because I'm quite attached to this plant (the original clipping was a gift from my 6th grade teacher 14 years ago) and I don't know what to do to save it.

I know it needs a lot of light and very little water. It's been outside on my North-facing porch since Spring, the sunniest spot my little apartment has to offer. I fear this was caused by 1) repotting it 5-6 weeks ago in standard, non-succulent potting soil, 2) leaving it out through several rainy spells, 3) leaving it out through Kansas City's chilly late Fall, 4) all of the above... yet my OTHER pencil cactus (a red "fire sticks" variety) has undergone the same treatment and is just fine.

The plant itself started putting out some new growth after repotting, but today I noticed those little leaves have shriveled up. Also, nearly all of the outermost branches on the old, main trunks are yellowing and turning mushy. Some of the tips of these branches are even turning black. However, the young cuttings I stuck in the soil when repotting appear as healthy as ever and the trunks of the main plant are still firm and green.

Is this different from "root rot"?

I started trimming back the mushy branches, but stopped when I realized ALL of the branches would have to go. I don't know how far back to trim it before completely killing the poor thing. Has anyone else experienced something like this? Should I trim back the mushy parts and repot the remaining parts in better soil? Is this just a lost cause???

Any advice would be much appreciated!

I'm feeling pretty guilty right now for being such a bad plant-mom and letting this happen to my oldest and favoritest "baby" :/

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Comments (4)

shrubs_n_bulbs
16 years ago
Mushy tips may be a case of getting chilled, they aren't very hardy. You have no choice but to cut off anything mushy, it will die anyway if you leave it.

Repot any healthy bits you can salvage unless you already have enough cuttings. Use a soil with added drainage.
xerophyte NYC
16 years ago
Yep, black tips are frost-bite.

And Euphorbia is not a cactus. They are not even from the same continent.
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Judging from the pencil cactus form, it need much more light to be happy. The segments are spindly from all the shade. Can you describe the soil? It needs to be a fast draining mix. Lots of perlite, or grit. It loo;s really black, rich and bad for a Euphorbia. Once you decide on a soil, one cuts off the rotted roots and let the cutting callus or get hard on the end. a week is a good time. then you stick it in the soil, and mist it. Do not water it. Mist it. At this time of year, your plant is probably going into dormance and it will not root till spring. One can pile some rocks around it to hold it up, but , with that height and thinness of the stem, one miight have to devise a means of propping. I have never rooted anything in the cold north so maybe one should wait to see if others from north of the sunbelt/Mason Dixie line has some pointers. I am still in the 90's and we are headed into a growth cycle. I imagine that rot is harder to avoid in your situation. I would make the soil very gritty. Pine bark, perlite, cjicken grit or Cactus soil and at least equal parts chunky perlite. Not the fine dusty stuff the big box stores sell.
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IF you have root rot on your upright pencil cactus, you can take BIG cuttings from it, let them dry for a few days, and pot them into a very fast draining cactus soil, and let it re-root. From the picture, it looks like the upright one is still growing, Or let the soil dry out totally, or as much as you can, no water at all till it is dry way down. That MAY stop the rot, if you have root rot. BUT is it getting ANY full direct sun on it?? It needs as much direct full sun all day as you can give it, or it will become weak and topple as it grows. I dont know what that second crawling cactus is. Is it suppose to crawl? I grow the red variety of the pencil cactus here in Fla. To get it to turn and stay red, it needs full direct sun all day. it is the 'Sticks on Fire' variety. It is in full direct sun outside all day. The green one also needs as much sun as possible, to grow sturdy and rather fast! . But it survives with less light, but just not as strong as if it was in desert conditions. I dont know where you live ,but if you can move the plants into more direct sun, and stake up the tall one, it will get stronger and stand up on its own,with minor pruning.
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The only way to help rotting plants is to not just repot but to actually remove the rotten tissue so it doesn't spread and reroot from there. But unfortunately, I find no part salvageable here.
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I can see how it would be hard to get in there... You could also try poking with a pencil or skewer. A lot of those roots look pretty dead to me.. Which is, of course, a result of the soil compacting around them and preventing the roots from taking in water. You would do good to trim them off. There is pretty much no point to cactus soil actually. Some people grow in straight perlite. But the soil keeps the mix somewhat cohesive, and a good amount of water retention. Here is a picture of what my mix looks like (don't mind the plant): It is pretty much rocks and perlite (of course, very special rocks :). Perlite also keeps the soil from becoming compact and hydrophobic.
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briteskye2
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks a lot for the quick responses! I really do appreciate it. Cold is what I feared most. Last week we had a few cold days, but the last few days were sunny and warm and today even got to about 70 again. At least my other porch plants are still okay...

As much as it hurt, I did go ahead and trim the mushy branches since they were obviously already dead. The poor thing looks skeletal! I guess the next thing I'm worried about is how far this can creep down the main trunks of the plant and if it will (or already has) affected the root system? And should I repot now or wait until spring?

- Whitney

PS: I know it's not really a cactus. "Pencil cactus" is just the common name taught to me many years ago, and it stuck.
shapiro
16 years ago
I call this a "stick plant" - mine was given to me by a friend many years ago, about the size of a pencil and now about a yard tall!

Experience with cactus rotting from the bottom (part closest to the soil) I read this, did it and it worked fine: cut off the healthy part at the top. Let it dry and callus completely then pot in cactus soil. Use toothpicks, etc. to keep it upright. After a while, you will see that it has rooted.

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