Need help please!

Trouble shoot problems you are having with your cactus.
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Chris Azzopardi
Posts: 4
Joined: Sat Jun 27, 2015 3:34 pm

Need help please!

Post by Chris Azzopardi »

Hi I'm new to this site. I have this cristate which I think it is called Mamillaria elongata cristate. I've noticed that a small portion of it started to rot. Now I have removed the rotten part. How can I stop it from continuing to rot? I used to keep it on a windowsill facing south but today I took it out in an area where the sun can reach it for only 1 hour a day. I know that this type of cacti are delicate and so before watering I used to leave the compost to dry completely. I'm using cacti compost. I'm sure that I'm doing something wrong because so far I have never had success with this type of cacti. Your feedback is greatly appreciated. Thanks Chris
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iann
Posts: 17184
Joined: Mon Jul 24, 2006 11:10 pm
Location: England

Re: Need help please!

Post by iann »

Remove all the rotten parts. Sterilise and cut a little more. Leave dry to recover. Then fix whatever you were doing wrong that caused it to rot :)

Commercial cactus compost is not worthy of the name. At the very least, it needs to be heavily modified. Ideally you should use a completely different soil, especially for a valuable plant. They need sun. All the hours you can find in northern Europe, maybe just morning sun if you live in a desert. Plants should be adapted to the sun slowly over a number of weeks. Make sure that the roots on the pant completely fill the pot, your bowl looks a little large at first glance. Once you take care of that they can be watered every few weeks (quite a few in cool climates) through the summer and kept completely dry in winter.
--ian
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hegar
Posts: 4596
Joined: Mon Jan 23, 2006 4:04 am
Location: El Paso, Texas

Re: Need help please!

Post by hegar »

I agree with Ian. Your plant is a "desert cactus" and should be planted in a growing medium fit for it. You can see some suggestions about what this mostly mineral "soil" should be like by clicking on the tab named "Growing Cacti" at the top of this page. If you do have too much organic matter (humus) in near the cactus roots, they tend to rot and your plant will die. Compost (organic matter) does not drain well enough for this type of cactus to do well. Other cacti on the other hand, commonly called "jungle cacti", will grow in humus-rich substrate and can stand more moisture around their roots. Those plants are Epiphyllum spp., Rhipsalis spp., Schlumbergera spp., etc.

Harald
Chris Azzopardi
Posts: 4
Joined: Sat Jun 27, 2015 3:34 pm

Re: Need help please!

Post by Chris Azzopardi »

Thanks Ian and Harald for your feedback. Much appreciated. Now I have removed the rotten part. I have applied rooting powder on the wound and left it to dry.
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