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Cacti & Succulents

Help sick cactus!

8 years ago

I have a very old cactus that has been shriveling after being reported and has what I think it's a significant amount of rot at the base.....there's also some black spotting...any advice as to what to do or how to save my beloved cactus? Please help!

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Comments (2)

jayfurgal
Original Author
8 years ago
Is this a fungus or does it appear to be more of a rot?
Polypompholyx
8 years ago
I've seen a few cacti change the color of their skin but the skin doesn't become squishy. I'm not sure why they do that. I have a cactus with its whole lower half a darker shade. It looks like rot but the cactus has been like that for a few years, the lower part hasn't become mushy, and the upper part still looks healthy. I'm guessing the color change can be a sign of rot and other times isn't.

I don't see the point along the stem the roots start on the cactus. Looks like the cactus might've been planted a little too deep in the soil. That can invite rot.

Cacti can poke each other and leave spot scars but the brown spots in your pictures look different. I'm not concerned about the spots in the lower picture. They look like they aren't spreading. However, the spot in the lower left quadrant of the top picture has a trail of lighter skin running down to the lower area of the cactus.

Is the lower part of the cactus unusually soft and moist? If not then I'd clear the soil away from the lower part until you find the point the roots start coming from the stem and put that point level with the top of the soil in the new pot. Then watch for changes of the spots and lower skin for the next few weeks. Or, if the lower part seems rotten you can cut it off by cutting above the rotten area in an area that looks healthy. Let the cutting callous for some time and then plant it in a pot. However, cactus cuttings can be tricky. Or, at least, for me they are. If you don't have experience with making cuttings and rooting them then research it.
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The small black areas are old damage. Leave them alone; the plant has already sealed off those areas, and digging around is only going to make new wounds. The discolouration between the ribs looks like a sort of corking, and while it's not dangerous in itself it's a sign that the plant isn't as healthy as it could be. Some of it has been there a while, as you can see from the cracks. You don't have to cut spines off to explore the large discoloured area -- use a blunt pencil or toothpick or something to feel the area indirectly. Outside is good (it hasn't been getting enough light lately -- see how the top of the plant is reaching up and has fewer spines?), but miracle grow anything is unlikely to drain well enough unless you have the bottom of the soil in contact with the dirt outside. Careful with that new growth though, it's especially unused to outdoors sunlight and will scorch quite easily. Consider getting a scrap of shade cloth and hooking it loosely over the top growth. Eventually that tender growth will no longer be at the growing point, and scorched shoulders are less bad for a cactus than a scorched head. Overall the whole plant is a bit scabby, but once you get it into the right conditions you'll be surprised at how quickly that few inches of bad skin disappears into the base. The O. trolli below is hardly a show specimen, but I'm showing it to show what the top of the plant should be shaped like, and how much increased light levels will change the spination.
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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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