Rot or Not? Please help

[CoolestGravy]

Duly noted. And I'll keep reading and see what else I may find. While being cautious of BS, of course.

Steve, I can't thank you enough for all your help

[Steve Johnson]

Duly noted. And I'll keep reading and see what else I may find. While being cautious of BS, of course.

Excellent, and yes -- re. cacti the "BS factor" is everywhere in gardening websites, so if/when you see it, this forum will be a great place for calling it out.

Since I now know that you're growing cacti in the house 24/7/365, here are a few final thoughts...

• Day length influences growth and dormancy. If you can put your grow lights on a timer, you'll be able to emulate day lengths as follows:
  • January -- 10 hours
  • February -- 11 hrs.
  • March -- 12 hrs.
  • April -- 13 hrs.
  • May -- 14 hrs.
  • June and July -- 15 hrs.
  • August -- 14 hrs.
  • September -- 12 hrs.
  • October -- 11 hrs.
  • November -- 10 hrs.
  • December -- 9 hrs.
  I'd say that your cacti are actually "semi-dormant" during fall and winter, so misting them every 3 weeks or so wouldn't be a bad idea. Another option -- keep them in a part of the house with overnight lows below 55, in which case you won't need to mist. When the overnight lows are above the low 50s in spring, your cacti will be starting to grow.

• For the growing season, daytime highs in the house should be 72-80. If you set your air conditioner's thermostat to 78 in the summer, you won't need to water any more often than you would in the spring.

• Stagnant air in the house leads to all kinds of problems for cacti and succulents. If that's the case in your house, a fan near your plant table will keep the air flowing -- all you need is an artificial "breeze" and nothing more during the day. (Not sure if you would need it at night, though.)

There's only one way to water cacti in the growing season -- deeply, as in water coming out of your pots' drain holes. However, saucers under the pots trap water that should've drained out, producing the "wet feet" problem you need to avoid. Water your pots over the kitchen sink and wait until the water stops dripping out, then move your cacti back over to your plant table. How often should you water? If you wouldn't mind taking a somewhat scientific approach to determine your watering schedule, do this:

• Buy a digital kitchen scale if you don't already have one.

• Weigh each pot while the mix is bone dry, and write down the weight.

• Saturate the mix with deep watering, weight each pot again, and write down the weight.

• Weigh the pots on a daily basis until they're back to their dry weights. Make a note of how many days it took for the pots to go from wet to bone-dry.

Wet-to-dry times are a function of pot volume, so chances are that you'll have different times for different cacti. Quite frankly, they won't mind if their roots are bone dry for a week or so, and unfortunately beginning growers end up killing their cacti with kindness because they water too often. Bear that in mind as you figure out a watering schedule that'll work for all of your cacti in the spring/summer growing season.

Steve, I can't thank you enough for all your help

My pleasure! If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to ask.