Like others have said it's value is in what you can make out of it. My Sis-in-law has a Lustron home https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsbuZmsKGko We searched for 50's vintage, finding everything needed EXCEPT a working TV. We found a cabinet model and ripped the TV from it and framed in a nice flat screen.

Well, it´s dead. But some plants in the same container seem to be doing OK, which have obviously had the same conditions. We can only really guess at the reason, could even be some obscure infection, or no real reason at all, but like other folks say, your soil does look a bit suspect. There are as many favourite soil mixes as there are growers, and I have now firmly settled on a well-draining gritty mix with a good proportion of limestone for my desert cacti, with just a little organic material. I totally avoid soggy peat, which means any commercial ´cactus mix´, as they are invariably full of peat or even worse - ´forest product´- read sawdust. A gritty mix in unglazed terra cotta pots will set you up. Err on the dry side rather than overwater - it is quite difficult to kill a cactus through underwatering. They are succulents - they will store water when it rains heavily, then be well able to survive drought conditions for weeks or even months.

Good catch, Hillary, If I'm not too late, pls do not cut anything off, you're liable to cut too much off & the plant will collapse if you cut into its crown. Looks like you got it just in time. Rina gave good advice, I was going to suggest the cinnamon too. I don't usually wash the roots, I crumble the soil off dry. But washing it here actually allowed us to see you DO have some viable roots there; seems all is NOT lost. Sprinkle the Cinnamon on the roots, then pls pick the plant up & shake off the excess. Then pot it up DRY & pls do not water it for 3-4 days at least to allow the roots to heal any injury from them being handled. Perlite will definitely work in place of pumice, don't know abt the gravel, it may be too big. After all is done, just as curiosity, wash off that netting thing & pls see if you can spread it open btwn your fingers. I think it's some kind of synthetic mesh; they don't usually degrade over time. I don't know what these nurseries are thinking; but I'd be curious to see it clean, splay out btwn your fingers. Its presence would explain why the pups are pushing up & out thru the center of the plant, instead of the regular coming out from nearby or underneath the mother plant. I recently repotted a ZZ plant plant, only to find a large piece of screen stuck to the bottom of the plant's roots. One never knows what one might find. Great save!! We look forward to updates in future.

it turned up now.. because its that time of year .. imo... its probably extremely humid nights and mornings... that are conducive to mold..mildew.. and fungus growth... drought does not help.. but then its usually less humid if you go into extended deep drought.. but when the drought breaks.. they will come... you are hitting all the variables but not recognizing them... good work.. it will all come.. ken ps: as fall rolls in.. the dewey nights.. will show you all the spider webs all over the yard.. another free show of ma nature.. please dont go out there.. and broom them all out of the plants.. spiders are our friend.. outdoors anyway.. lol... thing is.. by fall .... they have all matured.. so the webs are large... so easy to notice... fall is also a good time for the late fall shroom season.... personally.. id ont eat any of those .. too many can be problematic... but thats a different show...