My love isn't producing the offsets she should?

Multiplying your cacti vegetatively.
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allygracebz
Posts: 17
Joined: Sat Mar 01, 2014 11:57 pm

My love isn't producing the offsets she should?

Post by allygracebz »

My first cactus which I got about a year ago, (since then I have aquired 8 more and propogated 15 young offsets from cacti that had several offsets already when I purchased them. I have done my research and taken care of my babies as well as I can as a new owner, but, despite my efforts, she has changed a bit. I bought her online and she was sent to me bare root with about 7 offsets. Being my only cactus, she didn't get the care she should have for the first few months. Illinois weather was not kind and one night I didn't get outside to get her fast enough and it stormed. Her previously shrunken looking body swelled up and the babies were unhealthy to begin with and too small to cultivate so they didn't make it. As the summer went on, her purple color vanished and she is mostly green except for on her underside. She bloomed amazingly and healthily late summer and started producing buds right away in spring. I'm not sure what I need to do, I was thinking about letting it get warmer and then start a cycle of light fertilization to see if I could coax her into producing pups and looking a little healthier. What do I do to help? Picture attatched.
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Lucy. She is a bit darker than this, I'm sorry about the light
Lucy. She is a bit darker than this, I'm sorry about the light
KINDLE_CAMERA_1393863788000.jpg (37.07 KiB) Viewed 1480 times
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hoteidoc
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Joined: Tue Jan 18, 2011 9:56 pm
Location: Finger Lakes region, NY Zone 6b
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Re: My love isn't producing the offsets she should?

Post by hoteidoc »

Alley - Looks like your "Love" is some kind of Gymnocalycium & I don't see a problem except soil looks pretty "dark", i.e. too rich. I'd probably cut the soil with some "poultry grit", or diatomaceous earth (NAPA 8822, Turface) or pumice (which I'm guessing you won't be able to find or afford in Ill.) 2:1. Most Gymno's not big offset produces. I'd post another pic to give "truer" color & reduce the glare so we can get a better look @ spines.
Once bitten by the cactus collecting/growing bug, there is no known cure!
There's no 12 step programme for Cactaholics...so I shall just have to get some more!!
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