RIP Melocactus Azureus....

[PrickPrickBloom]

You were not yet old enough to grow your cephaleum. So today I was doing my monthly winter drink for my Melo that I over winter inside my home and noticed this...






Upon touch is was squishy, so I took it out of its pot and upon inspection roots looked fine. At the bottom before the root ball there was one squishy spot. It was a goner as the whole top was soft so I decided to do a little disection to see if I could find any issues. Wondering if there are is anyone that could diagnose what went wrong with this guy? Luckily I have 2 others or I’d be more upset, about the 3rd cactus that has dropped for me this winter, the other 2 are outside. Here’s the disection shots below

[hegar]

Yep, that is another case of the feared "cactus soft rot". The roots and the base of the plant did not even look too bad, but the darkened stripes between the ribs do tell the whole story. By the time you notice this, the plant is beyond salvation. I had that happen to three large cacti, one a Ferocactus latispinus and two Echinocactus spp., including my bi E. texensis. My condolences to you.

Harald

[ElieEstephane]

It looks darkest at the side there a big black spot. Could it be where the pathogen was introduced rather thsn via the roots?
So far im leaving my melocacti dry all through winter. I only gave water to a mature matanzanus.
My deepest condolences

[Steve Johnson]

Sorry to tell you about this, but you made a fatal mistake -- Melos should get occasional light winter watering only after they start growing a cephalium. You're on the right track with over-wintering your Melos indoors, although I'm not sure if once a month is quite enough once they transition into the adult stage with new cephalium growth. When they get there, I'll recommend watering every 3 weeks -- and make sure they're sips, not soaks. I accidentally soaked a beautiful Melo matanzanus that rotted on me in January 2016, and I can't tell you how disappointing it was to see this:



Now that you know what to do (and what not to do), hopefully you'll have better luck with your other Melos.

[PrickPrickBloom]

Sorry to tell you about this, but you made a fatal mistake -- Melos should get occasional light winter watering only after they start growing a cephalium. You're on the right track with over-wintering your Melos indoors, although I'm not sure if once a month is quite enough once they transition into the adult stage with new cephalium growth. When they get there, I'll recommend watering every 3 weeks -- and make sure they're sips, not soaks. I accidentally soaked a beautiful Melo matanzanus that rotted on me in January 2016, and I can't tell you how disappointing it was to see this:



Now that you know what to do (and what not to do), hopefully you'll have better luck with your other Melos.

Thanks for the info, I posted on the Melo post somewhere on here before winter to get few answers. Good to know as only 2 of my 6 has cephaleums, they will be getting drinks according to your instructions, thanks for the reply!

[PrickPrickBloom]

It looks darkest at the side there a big black spot. Could it be where the pathogen was introduced rather thsn via the roots?
So far im leaving my melocacti dry all through winter. I only gave water to a mature matanzanus.
My deepest condolences

Thanks, ya I’m now only going to be giving to my 2 mature guys hopefully they all can make it another month without any more problems until they go back outside to enjoy some sunshine!

[PrickPrickBloom]

Well I am now down to just 1 Azureus from 3 my big boy with a cephalium is still kicking, was dinking around outside and almost the same exact case, when I picked up the pot to find the same ugly white rot to the back. Only been given water 1 x so far after going outside a month or so ago, not sure what happened with these guys. They are in a 60-40 pumice/grit to soil mix. I have about 14 other Melos and also happened to my guitarii a month or so back , just after gong outside. Next winter it’s no water for anything without a cephalium as Steve stated above. Then yesterday to find some mealies on about 8 plants, its been a rough start to growing season here.

[jellycacti]

I lost two of my three juvenile Melocactus azureus this winter. They were both in my "very dry" box and suddenly yellowed and shriveled. They'd both had recurring problems with spine mealies over the past year, and I suspect they may have succumbed to root mealies, as a nearby Astrophytum asterias was recently discovered to be harboring a lively crew of them. Ironically, my surviving (and thriving) azureus is in a large community pot with a tephrocactus and a mammillaria that I put together a couple of years ago, before I realized that wasn't ideal. They all made it through the winter with shining colors outdoors with no shelter other than having plastic draped over them occasionally when it was raining just before a chilly spell.