Mamm. theresae etoliated/light issues?

[tomo]

I've had this Mamm. theresae for about 6 months--at first, it seemed to be doing well, and it bloomed 4 times in May-June, I was super excited. It's grown quite a bit, and I'm concerned it's etoliated (since that seems to be my problem--I'm in the process of relocating all my indoor/outdoor cacti to get more light).

The Mamm. theresae had been in a window sill that got late afternoon/dappled light. (first photo)

I recently moved it to a brighter window sill that gets a lot of direct bright light, and after just a few days, it's REALLY leaning towards the light. (second photo)

newbie alert: I don't understand any of this. If it wasn't getting enough light before, shouldn't it have leaned then? why is it leaning now that it's getting a lot more light?

Any advice/suggestions would be much appreciated, as always.

[esp_imaging]

It's not just leaning, it's really stretched out too. It should be far more compact. I'm guessing the lean has only become apparent after a growth spurt and changing windows wasn't a factor in this. Water, warmth and fertilisation could have contributed to the growth.
When you say it gets "direct bright light", does that mean it's getting lots of direct sun? If not, it probably needs some, or at least very light shade.
I assume the plant is also grafted. which would contribute to a faster than typical growth for this species.

[tomo]

Thanks for the reply. I was concerned that this type of growth wasn't the "healthy" kind. But it was perfectly straight when I moved it a week ago, and today I was shocked to see how much it was leaning towards the window. You're correct, it receives several hours (I'd guess 4-5 at least) of direct afternoon sun. (I did try to acclimate it for about a week so it wouldn't get sunburned). I don't know if all that sunlight "woke" it up and now it's trying to soak up as much as it can, hence the lean? That's interesting about the water & warmth contributing to the growth spurt. I water it about every 2 weeks or so and haven't fertilized it--and here in Florida, we're having a super hot summer, as you can imagine.

Is it OK to just leave it as is? Or do I need to do anything different?

[DaveW]

Afraid it's extremely etiolated. Obviously poor light was the problem and it looks as if you had some form of shade cloth up originally which would not help on a not very sunny windowsill?

Ideally it should look more like this:-

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File ... ,_DGO..jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[iann]

Even the flowers are etiolated

[tomo]

Thanks for the replies. Actually, that's not a shade cloth, but part of the window screen, so it's not quite that bad (but probably didn't help any).

So what happens now? Now that I've moved it to direct sunlight, will it in time return to a more normal color and compact shape?

[george76904]

I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but once it's etoliated it won't get compact just by moving it into more light. I think the only way to get more compact growth would be to "em" chop off the etoliated bit. You could even root the etoliated top, but it will grow up looking like a barbell when it starts growing in more light.

[greenknight]

You could grow a good plant from that top. You might want to shorten it up a bit, though.

[DaveW]

As said if a plant is still alive nothing is ever lost, you still have the genetic material and can re-propagate it as suggested and grow a better plant in good light. Never be too hasty throwing damaged plants away, if blinded they will always produce clean pups or offsets that will grow far faster on the old plant than growing from seed and when large enough can be taken off and rooted down.

[greenknight]

Yes, if you top it it should produce offsets, which this species is slow to do otherwise.

[tomo]

Thanks very much for the replies. Hmm, the couple of times I've tried to cut off damaged cacti, it hasn't worked well (i.e., =cacti death), so I'm hesitant to try that. I think I see where to cut it, but may wait and do that if that's my only option.

I did rotate it (which normally wouldn't do) and it straightened up the next day and now it's back to perfectly straight. And it sounds crazy, but I think it has "shrunk" a bit in size in the past couple of days. I may just leave it as is for now, let it soak up the sunlight in its new home, and hope for the best??

Thanks again everyone!

[greenknight]

Certainly won't hurt to wait and see how it does. It's not crazy to think it may have shrunk, the species is a geophyte - in the wild, it contracts down into the ground during times of drought. If it's a little less hydrated, it could have contracted some, maybe it's using more water sitting in the sun. I'm sure it couldn't contract down into the soil, though, as stretched out as it is.

[Aiko]

This is my recent acquisition, two twenty year old plants. They sure like to flower. But unfortunately the flowers have proven to be very very very delicate, and most of the flowers have not made it safe to my greenhouse after buying. But that is okay. There are also some buds on the way.

My plants are also relatively large in height. Don't know if that is an age thing here.

[greenknight]

A combination of age and being grown a bit soft, I would think.

[iann]

Even that one looks like it wants more light, although nothing that is shouldn't grow out of easily enough.