It's a Fairy Castle cactus. I think you can guess why it's named that;). The soil is all wrong. So it's starting to rot, but don't worry you caught it early enough to be fixed. Go to Home Depot or Lowes and get some perlite and C&S soil. While you're there get a new pot with drainage holes;). Don't go much bigger than the one it's in.

Do a mixture of 50/50 perlite and C&S soil. Get all the old soil off the roots and replant into new mixture and pot. Just get a clean knife and cut the droopy part off. Don't water for at least a week. If this were mine I probably wouldn't water till spring. It'll be alright. Goodluck;).

I wouldn't leave outside if it gets below 40 degrees.

Thank you ! :) I have soil for "cacti & succulents" . My succulents & other cactus have done wonderful in the soil I re-potted them in, so I might just try that .

Thank goodness I've caught it early enough, I'd hate for this little guy to go to waste. The roots don't look like they've started to rot. Also, the particular stem isn't mushy or anything. But I think i'll just end up cutting it off so the whole cactus isn't looking goofy.

Would it be possible to reroot this stem, or shall I just throw it away & not waste my time with it?

ALSO, last question ;) ... could cacti potentially grow without soil, maybe in just rock/pebble??

Yes, fairy castle cactus, Acanthocereus tetragonus. Kara gave good advice, so do that! You may know this, but the flowers are glued-on strawflowers, not the cactus's own. It will be a happier plant if you take them off. They are glued to the growth points of the cactus. :-(

It's pretty slow growing, and doesn't like to be wet. I haven't watered mine since October, and probably won't for at least a few more weeks.

I was wondering about those little "flowers" on the tops, they just didn't feel real to the touch as a REAL flower would. I didn't want to just start pulling them off & completely ruin my cactus!

If the leaning stem is firm and not mushy you can root it. Cut until you see clean greenish-white tissue with no rot, then leave it out for a few days to callus over. Put it into dry soil and don't water until you see evidence of roots or the tip starts growing.

Cacti can grow without soil. I have several in just chicken grit and pumice mixture. The pieces are about 1/8". Watering is slightly more often than in a soil mix, but they like the good drainage. If you do a search on here for "gritty mix" you'll get days and days worth of reading about what to grow cactus and succulents in!

Sometimes the flowers peel off easily, sometimes not. You can use tweezers and small sharp scissors to get in there and try to minimize the damage. I would rather lose a few spines than have those stupid fake flowers on there. I hate them!

They actually are real flowers, just not from a cactus. I've grown them in my garden and they're pretty, just not when glued to cacti!

I hate that they do that to plants, especially the different cacti that they spray paint & sell at Lowe's & Home Depot.

It's sooo fugly when they spray paint poor defenseless plants! Ugh don't get me started on those glued flowers. Cactus IMO make some of the prettiest flowers around so they don't need the help in the flower dept;).

I would LOVE to have a cactus that produces it's OWN flowers!

You will just give it time;)

OH MY, it's beautiful! What type of cactus is that?

It's an Epiphyllum. Aren't they spectacular?! Fairy castle cacti don't bloom much at all, they have to be big old plants in excellent conditions. If you stalk the big box stores (Home Depot, Lowes, Walmart to a lesser extent), they should have a good selection of cacti, especially this time of year. To throw out a few names, Mammillaria, Rebutia, and Echinopsis are generally easy to bloom if they get enough light.

You know what's a good one with some amazing blooms? Torch Cactus:) they're easy to find too. You should be able to find them at your BBS. They're pretty normal looking cactus, but whoa are their flowers pretty!

i'll have to check them out !

his droopy stem has been cut off , && he's been replanted ! :) Also removed those "abusive" flowers ;)

**I've included a picture of the soil i've been using for my other cactus & succulents**

(i didn't want to cut too far down the stem because there's a bunch of new babies growing)

Miracle Grow

Sara, like Rina has said get a bag of perlite it will help with drainage tremendously:). Miracle Gro succulent mix has peat moss in it. Peat is not good for cactus. It can really hold on to moisture. Then on the opposite side if left to dry out it becomes hydrophobic. Reminds me of trying to get styrofoam wet. The water just will never absorb. I haven't bought perlite in awhile because I'm able to get my hands on pumice, but I'm pretty sure it's cheap. You should be able to find it at WalMart. If not there Home Depot or Lowes. Perlite will help drain the water and keep the soil from getting compact.

I'm sure you will use the perlite in no time because I have a feeling you've got the succulent bug;).

yesss , the succulent bug i do have ! no doubt about that ;)

& thank you everyone for all the advice ! i guess i'll just have to see what method/mixture works the best

Good drainage 'method' works best...

Yup, perlite is super cheap... Just a few bucks for a number of quarts. You will probably have to sift it though. A regular kitchen strainer will do, and don't breathe the dust.