Could you show us what you're talking about? Sometimes corking (a perfectly normal skin condition on many cacti) is mistaken for rot.

I'm in the process of trying to post them but Houzz doesnt want to let me apparently.

Kaitlynn, I'd certainly let them dry out for a day or so until you can better determine what's healthy and what isn't. If you need to cut (and do so with a hygenic knife), get some flowers of sulphur powder (or cinnamon) for staunching the clean cuts.

Thank you! If there only seems to be a firm/healthy center to the base would you advise cutting the rotten flesh around it? Or is it best to cut just below where all of it's branches meet?

Also I have another healthy Thanksgiving that I pot with it, is it okay to leave that one out to dry as well?

I'd be liberal with the slicing and dicing, as you don't want to have to do it a second time. If it's brown, it must go down, or something like that.

Sure - that's one of the nice things about succulents, as they can go for long periods (I'm saying months) being unpotted, and suffer only the most minimal of damage. I loved throwing away cut parts of succulent plants underneath the potting bench, only to come back months later to a plant of its own (admittedly, this was in San Diego, succulent Wonderland).

You're probably not going to leave it depotted that long, but certainly a week or two isn't a problem. Is there a reason the healthy one can't be repotted while the sick one's healing outside of the pot?

Good point, I just need to get more comfortable with slicing and dicing my plants when need be. If I need to cut the section that holds the majority of the plants roots would that be extremely harmful to the plant?

Wow! The more I learn about succulents the more I'm impressed by their hardiness/relentlessness. I only asked about the healthy one because I planned to pot them together again and didn't want to pot it only to disturb it once again in a few days.

Thanks again for your help and my apologies for all the questions.

Listen to Karen, Katlynn. While I've grown many jungle cacti, I've never grown BIG HOLIDAY cacti.

Thank you Karen, that could have gotten messy if I left them alone like that for too long.
Leaving them to dry until tomorrow afternoon should be okay right?

Curious Jeff, what kind of Jungle cacti have you grown? That's the one thing I don't recall seeing in your collection.

I'd pot these separately. That lower part of the stem looks like rot to me, not corking; hard to see from this far.

Not sure why dry the roots? Either crumble all the mix of w/ your fingers, or rinse them off w/ water, so you can see the state of the roots.

If mine, I'd consider cutting off the bottom section w/ the rot & all the roots, maybe section it into 2 or 3 sections & re-root them all.

I repot things as & when they need it, I don't pay much attention to what time of year it is.

Here's some bits of Xmas cacti I'm growing in a bit of water.

Selenicereus, Deamia and Epiphyllum are three that come to mind.

Karen

I agree, I dont think the afflicted area is just corking. Should these types of cacti not be potted together?

I was only drying the roots because I wanted the base of the plant to dry out before cutting.

Thanks for your advice! Upon feeling the base this morning I'm thinking I will have to cut it off and possibly separate its branches.

That's a lovely little plant! So they can handle being grown in just water?

It's rotted for sure.

Cut the upper portion into some nice cuttings and root them. I highly recommend that you use Orchid Bark (fir bark), or Orchid Mix that is bark-based. These plants absolutely thrive in bark that is frequently watered and fertilized.

Josh

Josh

Thanks for the advice! Can the cuttings be directly placed in the soil mix after being given time to heal over?

Yes, absolutely.

And they only need to sit out for a couple days. In fact, you could pot them directly after cutting, and just withhold water a few days.

Josh

Great! That's easier than I expected it to be.

They are incredibly easy to root.

Josh