Ciyo! from Katuah (southern appalachian mountains)

[AirWreck]

I've had a wee collection of cactus plants for about 20 years and have had persistent trouble with rust fungus, black spot and root rot. I've lost about half my plants. People say "black spot doesn't kill cactus plants. it just disfigures them." Well, I beg to differ. This year I'm keeping all of my smaller plants indoors and the columnar types under the eaves of my house. I'm not letting anything be "out in the sun" and all that. I'm here to learn about what I can do differently. This year I learned about root trimming from Thai cactus growers and that looks very interesting. I'm also trying different soil mixes. Its still too early to say if anything I've tried so far has made a difference.

[gemhunter178]

Welcome!
Good luck with keeping the plants healthy! Do still remember a lot of cacti like a lot of light - Personally a good soil mix has been particularly influential in how well/poorly my plants do, but noted I'm in a much different climate.

[AirWreck]

I keep my indoor plants under cool white fluorescent lights. They flower and produce farina; so I assume the lighting is adequate for their needs. A lot of my troubles started when I attempted the leap of putting them outdoors thus exposing them to less than desirable conditions. For example: the rust fungus began because of the pine tree next to the patio dropping pine needles on the plants. Now I have to accept that rust fungus is a permanent presence in my collection. Now even the seedlings sprouted in sterilized soil in closed sanitary containers contract rust fungus. Do I really need to step up to using a flow hood with completely sterilized everything just to sow seeds? Its so tiresome.