Fairy Castle cactus turning brown

6 years ago

I’ve recently got a fairy castle cactus (I think) and I had it in a south facing window, but had to move it because of my roommate putting up a large window covering that he refused to take down. He also broke the pot it was in (in the process of putting up said covering and I had to hurriedly move it into a larger pot because he neglected to tell me until a day after it happened.

I think it could be temporary as a result of reporting shock and drastic change in environment, or as a result of overwatering, because my roommate routinely pours his leftover drinks onto it. I may prune back some of the stalks if you think it is necessary, and will look into the roots as soon as I can.

what do you guys think, should I prune it back/ prune the potentially rotted roots, or something else I haven’t mentioned?

Needless to say I am furious at said roommate, he and his cat have already killed a good dozen houseplants that he gets and I take care of, so if there is any way of keeping cats off of houseplants please tell me as well.

In a nutshell how do I save it.

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Comments (4)

Helen Agius (Adelaide,Sth Aus) USDA Z10b
6 years ago
Hi icebear. I won't comment on your room mate or the things I've been thinking I might do if in the same circumstances lol.

I don't know much about cactus because of the spikes, but I think yours looks lovely and from what I can see, healthy.

I know overwatering can cause rot which needs to be acted on pretty quickly. But wait til people more experienced than me comment.

Meanwhile could you get closer photo/s of the areas turning brown.

I've seen advice in here a lot about succulents (which cactus are) prefering pots about the width of the top of the plant.

Your soil mix I believe is much too organic, which then holds a lot of water for too long and they are more likely to rot. Succulents generally only thrive in fast draining mix thats not very rich in organic matter. Imagine cactus in their natural habitat. A lot of us in here use half perlite and half C&S potting mix.

But it's had a rough time, so don't do anything until you know the full extent of what it needs.

Hope things get better for you and your plant :-)
icebear787 thanked Helen Agius (Adelaide,Sth Aus) USDA Z10b
Helen Agius (Adelaide,Sth Aus) USDA Z10b
6 years ago
Icebear, noone else has commented yet, so here goes.

Could you please post close up photo's of the going brown parts and close up of the bottom of the stem.

If it was my plant,

first I'd get a smaller pot for it, the cheapest cactus and potting mix, some perlite (same area as potting mix) and a kitchen sieve to rinse the dust and tiny bits from the perlite.

Then I'd make up enough 50/50 mix so its ready

I feel that it needs repotting either way, but I would check for signs of rot (hense the photos) before repotting so I could cut off any branches that look infected. One way to check for rot is to feel the brown (black?) bits to see if they are soft and squishy. If they are I would be thinking it's rot. I would also be thinking it's got a good chance.

I'll leave it there for now, see if you come back with photos and description of the brown. Also to see if someone more experienced comes in and helps.

Meanwhile you could do some searches in this forum on "Fairy Castle cactus care" and "Fairy Castle Cactus rot". If you get the botanical name you could use that too.
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HU-833921825
2 years ago
This Fairy Tale Cactus (?) was doing very well intil this northeastern USA winter. It is in a southern facing window, away from draft, etc. Why is it turning broqn and looking so unhealthy?

Fairy Castle cactus turning brown

Comments (4)

Helen Agius (Adelaide,Sth Aus) USDA Z10b

Helen Agius (Adelaide,Sth Aus) USDA Z10b

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