Overwatered cactus? To late to save? :(

[niclovesherplants]

Hello everyone,

As I came home from work today, I noticed that one of my cactuses was really quite white and fluffy; upon me prodding it with a nail filer, it also felt extremely squidgy.
I think this is due to me overwatering it, because I can never see the soil so I just put a bit of water in the bowl I keep it in, and then that's it. But I think I may have overdone it.

Can I save it? I currently have it drying on some tissues and I won't be watering it.

Thank you in advance. Also added pictures!

[majcka]

If it is mushy it is probably doomed. But you can still try to take it of that pot and get rid or that soil. And take that straw flowers of aswell. If it is dead already, you can't do anything. But if it still has any lifein it, that is something that could help.

[niclovesherplants]

These are some extra pics of the actual soil. It's still very wet, but it sort of looks greyish with some light grey/white bits in it? Not sure if it's rot. So sad and feel guilty for not looking after it properly. :/

[leland]

Set it aside out of the pot. If part is not rotten you could take a cutting of it and salvage something.

General rule for terrestrial cactus: drill twice as many holes as the pot comes with, use a loose mix (has some coarse sand or something that drains good), water infrequently (no more than once every week or 2). If it is in a cool location, skip watering in DEc-Jan.
If it has filled the pot so you have trouble watering it, move it to a bigger pot or set the whole pot in a container of water for a minute or 2 to moisten the entire root ball, then move it to where it can drain. Do not allow a cactus pot to sit in a pan that holds water.
One of my first adventures in cactus growing was killing a perfectly good 3 foot Mexican Old Man by keeping it on top of a drip pan. The water wicked up throught the roots and it was a pile of goo before I knew it. If I had know at the time I could have salvaged a cutting from the top part.

[niclovesherplants]

Thank you very much!

[7george]

Looks it is too late. The white stuff between spines looks like a mold. If the body is soft - it is done.
The infection might be caused by artificial flowers attaching. And too much water, a cactus like this doesn't need any water winter time.

[iann]

Gone. Toast. History.

[niclovesherplants]

Hey everyone, thanks for the feedback. Still had a bit of green left last night, so I went and bought soil and everything to repot today, and it was all completely soft and white unfortunately.

[granddizzy103]

...

[niclovesherplants]

I guess so; I've had it since October 2011 and it's been my own little baby haha.
The other cactus I have, I bought with this one; and it once went really limp and lifeless but it got healthy again, so I was hoping deep down this one could have been saved too! I'll be careful next time.

Thanks everyone.

[DaveW]

"Almost everyone starts in this hobby by killing a cactus through overwatering and using the wrong type of potting mixture"

True, but you still do it occasionally no matter how long you have been collecting. You can sometimes get a few losses bringing plants through the winter, particularly if they loose their roots and you water too heavily at the start of the growing season before they are showing signs of growth. No doubt some plants die in habitat every year after the dormant season for similar reasons.

[niclovesherplants]

Yeah that's true :3