Pachypodium saundersii and Euphorbia neohumbertii wet soil in winter

[cacti and cacti not]

My saundersii and neohumbertii have wet soil. I watered them no more recently than about a week ago if I guess right. Rain possibly got them more wet. Their soil is moist right now, or so I think. Is this a big deal? I just lost a Pachypodium lamerii x rosulatum hybrid to rot. For my caudiciforms, winter watering is once every 2 weeks (dorstenia, cissus, gerrardanthus lobatus) to once every month (my c. juttae).

[autodikaktos]

I'd say it depends on what your lows and highs are doing, how moist is "moist," and how long the potential problem has been going on. If this is the first time you've noticed more moisture retention than you'd like in the mix during the watering schedule you've set up, I would just hold off on the next watering, and try to shelter from rain. If you're unsure of the moisture level, you could pick up a moisture meter, which are generally pretty inexpensive. If theres been a lot of moisture retention over multiple watering periods, that might be cause for concern. As for myself, when I'm doing the rounds on my plants, I will *very* lightly pull or prod a stem to make sure there aren't any negative changes in root strength (However, I wouldn't do this if you've recently repotted them).

As far as species specific advice,
I can tell you that P saundersii tends to be forgiving. I have one that has gone through an unexpected late-spring snow storm, and been through more than one light frost, no worse for wear. On those occasions I did ensure that it was able to dry out and not deal with any stress for a few days time or more. I'm sorry you lost your hybrid to rot, while I'm not familiar with that cross, I can say I'd put P rosulatum into the class of Pachy's that are more fussy with temperature and moisture conditions. After the same snow storm mentioned above, my P rosulatum survived, but required 2-3 weeks in "intensive care," to recuperate, and was a bit stunted during the growing season.

I have not grown E neohumbertii, but at least on paper and by hearsay it seems that it should be fine in zone 10a and a southern California garden.

Hope that helps you out with your question

[cacti and cacti not]

Thank you for the advice. I unpotted both plants. The saundersii had a few dying roots, so I left it out of its pot to dry (its soil was completely moist, even on the surface). For my neohumbertii, any of the possible dead roots were small and thin, so I repotted it. Overall, both plants weren’t in any emergency.

[cacti and cacti not]

I also inspected a few other plants. My dorstenia foetida has dead rotten roots, but its stem is fine. Can I save it. Either way, I plan to water the plants I’m overwintering indoors less for the most part (monadenium magnificum, dorstenia foetida, dorstenia zanzibarica, and gerrardanthus lobatus to name some).

[autodikaktos]

Thats excellent to hear that there wasn't any serious trouble. As for your D foetida, I would give a tentative "yes" as to being able to save it, as long as (as you have said) the stem is untouched by rot. If I'm not mistaken sometimes they'll lose their roots through drought and give it another go when conditions are amenable to them.

I did a quick google search to double check this and came up with a nice article by Bruce Brethauer for the Central Ohio Cactus and Succulent Society on the subject of Dorstenias. http://www.columbuscactusclub.com/dorst ... ranii.html

The following pull from the article is talking about the growing season, but is still applicable to your rootless predicament:

"...if the roots are rotting or absent, repot the plant with new (dry) potting medium, place the pot in a more shaded area and keep it dry for one or two weeks - if the plant recovers somewhat, give it a light watering, and monitor its progress; if it shows signs of recovery, gradually increase the frequency of watering but do not over-water. If no improvement is detected, keep the plant dry, or keep the soil barely moist until the plant produces new roots (the plant may remain dormant until the next year). If problems are detected early, the plants will usually recover quickly." - Bruce Brethauer, "Dorstenias"

[mmcavall]

I did a quick google search to double check this and came up with a nice article by Bruce Brethauer for the Central Ohio Cactus and Succulent Society on the subject of Dorstenias. http://www.columbuscactusclub.com/dorst ... ranii.html

Very good reading and interesting website. Thanks for sharing, Autodikaktos!

[nachtkrabb]

Hope your plants are doing well and will pull through.
Generally I try to observe Pachypodium-rule No.1: "no leaves -- no water". That's not so easy when planted outside, I know...

[cacti and cacti not]

Thank you everyone! As of now, my saundersii and neohumbertia are fine, but my dorstenia is still having hard times.