Rootless Mammillaria Spinosissima

[KiraDawn]

Hey there!

I have a mammillaria spinosissima that was very root bound when I bought it. Last summer, as I was repotting my cacti with well-draining soil, I went to gently remove it from the pot and found that it had become entirely detached from its root system. There was no evidence of rot or anything, and from what I can tell the cactus is still firm (he's VERY sharp though, so it's hard to get a good feel of it without breaking some spines). So I placed him in some soil and followed instructions to water sparsely and refrain from drowning the poor guy. However, this was all last summer, and there's still no sign of any roots. Is this normal? If so, when can I expect roots? If not, should I be doing anything differently or is my little pal a lost cause?

Thank you for any insight!!
Kira

[stefan m.]

We had a thread about this for an astrophytum asterias. The agreed upon thing to do was
-clean whatever remains of the roots, use peroxide to dissolve any organic matter.
- leave to dry for couple of days
- use rooting powder if you can
- repot in mineral rich soils(not much organic material)- very fast draining stuff, filled with pumice and sand and whatnot.