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Cacti & Succulents

Unknown Cactus Variety and Struggling Cactus Owner

6 years ago

Several months ago in a dark corner of my house, I discovered a cactus that had been living there for about a year with no water. Somehow it was still pretty green after that. It's now living in the best lit room in the house and I water it whenever I remember, which is about two to four times a month and only enough water to moisten the soil. Presumeably I'm not abusing it too much, since it's started growing another little nub, but I've noticed that there's a tiny bit of brown on the bottom of the main stem. It came from my 90 year old grandpa who, in his day, was a cactus hobbyist with hundreds of cacti and two greenhouses. He doesn't remember what kind of cactus it is, and I haven't taken it out of the pot or soil it's been living in. The only thing I vaguely remember him telling me is that I would need to snip the arms and plant them in another pot at some point ipn the future.

Now, I know absolutely nothing about keeping cacti alive and the wealth of information on the internet has been a little overwhelming. What kind of cactus it is seems to be a good place to start and if anybody has any tips or links to where I can find more information on keeping the thing alive and happy, my cactus and I would be infinitely grateful!

Hopefully the pictures are good enough - if they need to be better, I can give my photography skills another go. The plant's upwards of two feet.

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Comments (4)

Stefan
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
1-Its a cereus. its old enough to be nearly self-sufficent.

2-ditch the clay pot. Get a slightly(only slightly) bigger plastic pot, with lots of holes in it.

3- your new soil should consist of 30-40% cocopeat(coir +peat), a lot of grit, and pebbles, mixed with perlite, pumice, or zeolite cat litter if you cannot find any of the above. Make sure it looks coarse,and well draining.

4- after repot, place in a dark area , dont water for 2 weeks.

5=-gradually move to a lighter area, and leave it there. Its hardy to -10C", so leaving it oustide in the winter if you live in a temperate climate is a no. Make sure you leave it somewhere bright, or back where it w was( it doesnt have signs of improper growth due to lack of light in its most recent growth, so where it is , its doing good.

6-give it a small amount of water weekly, twice a month in the winter.
araphael39480 thanked Stefan
s g
6 years ago
I differ in my watering regime. I water well, soaking the soil and then letting it dry before I water it again. The frequency will depend on how hot it is and how fast it dries out between waterings. May be once a week or once a fortnight. Many people kill their cacti very slowly be underwatering.
araphael39480 thanked s g
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Stefan
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Even more people lose their cacti do to over watering root rot. ID rather be on the safe side.
araphael39480 thanked Stefan
SpanishFly - (Mediterranean)
6 years ago
The two offsets have badly etiolated, presumably due to its year without light. If it were mine I would detach those and cut off and discard the skinny portions, then reroot the plumper, healthier top parts. You could make two nice plants then.
araphael39480 thanked SpanishFly - (Mediterranean)

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