Help!

Giga51 · Post by **Giga51** » Thu Apr 28, 2011 11:15 pm

I have a small cactus in a pot in my house. It has grown alot over the past few years (about a foot and a half ft tall now), and it leans toward the sun. It is always leaning far over and I often support it wiht books or whatever I can find. Unfortunetely, this morning I found it had snapped in the middle.

Im unsure of what to do now. Should i try to mend it? Or should I take it off and replant the top half? Any help would be wonderful.

Paracelsus · Post by **Paracelsus** » Fri Apr 29, 2011 12:56 am

Yes, remove the top portion with a sharp clean knife. Lay the cutting down in the shade to let the cut callous over. After a week you can plant in DRY soil that is about 75% inorganic materials like perlite, pumice or lava rock (scoria), gravel, etc. You can use shredded redwood bark for the organic component. Don't use sand. Do not use peat. You can use commercial C&S soils, but use less than 25% of the final mix. Wait for roots before giving any water. This will take some time, probably several months. Be patient, the plant has sufficient stores of water to last for more than a year.

Meanwhile, back to the stump which will be stimulated to branch. Leave it in its container, but reduce watering somewhat. This is not a disaster. In the end, you will have TWO plants instead of one. Congratulations.

Lastly, you can keep an awkward plant from tipping by over-potting to create mass, or just add large ballast rocks on top of the container. You can support your new cutting with toothpicks.

Happy growing,

Brad

Giga51 · Post by **Giga51** » Fri Apr 29, 2011 12:58 am

Thank you so much for your help. Made my day!

Giga51 · Post by **Giga51** » Fri Apr 29, 2011 3:30 am

Uh one more thing, should I be worried about infection? Is there some anti-biotic stuff I can use?

Post by **daiv** » Tue May 03, 2011 3:47 am

Just let the cut parts dry - by keeping them in a warm, dry place and you shouldn't have trouble with infection.

Giga51 · Post by **Giga51** » Tue May 03, 2011 10:55 pm

Ok, thank you.

Giga51 · Post by **Giga51** » Fri May 20, 2011 11:13 pm

Well it has been a few weeks. Are these callused over? Is it time to plant the broken piece?

This is the stump (with buds

)

This is the broken piece of it. As you can see, its quite large. The end of it looks like this:

Does it look ready? (As clarification, the cactus broke under its own weight, not tipping over.)
Thanks for you help!

Post by **daiv** » Fri May 20, 2011 11:55 pm

Yes, you can plant that piece now. It has dried nicely.

At first I thought that was E. spachiana, but looking further, i think it is actually Parodia leninghausii. It and the Astrophytum visible in the first picture are extremely etiolated (stretched out weak growth) from lack of light. This is why the plant tipped over and broke.

Giga51 · Post by **Giga51** » Wed May 25, 2011 12:53 am

So I should put them in a sunnier spot? They are already in a pretty good one. Is it a bad thing if I let this continue?

Giga51 · Post by **Giga51** » Mon May 30, 2011 10:20 pm

I found a bad of "Black Gold Cactus Soil". Is this good for replanting the stump? Or should I add something to it first?

Post by **daiv** » Wed Jun 01, 2011 12:07 am

Not familiar with that soil, but I'm guessing it probably is not suitable as-is. Can you post a picture of it or list the ingredients?

iann · Post by **iann** » Wed Jun 01, 2011 4:00 pm

Whatever the ingredients, add more pumice

You can use perlite if you can't find pumice, but it seems a shame since the Black Gold mix already has pumice in it.

Giga51 · Post by **Giga51** » Fri Jun 03, 2011 12:15 am

Should I still add something?

Post by **daiv** » Fri Jun 03, 2011 11:00 pm

40-50% is impressive for a commercial cactus mix. However, I would add more. Forest products = wood chips - not so great. Try and pick out the big pieces.

Giga51 · Post by **Giga51** » Fri Jun 03, 2011 11:31 pm

Can I procure pumice from a garden store or a place like Home Depot?