I bought my little cactus about 18 months ago and now it's turned into a fully fledged plant and I'm not sure how to support it so that it can continue to flourish. The base has lots of out-growths but it's quite thin so it can't support itself. To work around this I have clipped it to a stick but it's starting to outgrow that too. Do I need to remove the buds and cut off the thin section? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
I have posted some links to images of the cactus below (Can't figure out how to insert them into this thread).
Cactus base with out-growths: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6f7yf ... sp=sharing
Side view: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6f7yf ... sp=sharing
Birds-eye view: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6f7yf ... sp=sharing
I have no idea what I'm doing
Re: I have no idea what I'm doing
This plants is etiolated. Or at least was, looking at the thin base. It needs (and foremost needed it in the past) much, much, much brighter light. Lack of sufficient sun intensity is the reason for a plant like this to be too thin and floppy.
Re: I have no idea what I'm doing
Thanks Aiko. I can move it to a position with more light, but what do I do about the base? Do I need to chop it off and start again? Ideally, I can get it to a position when it can support itself without the need for a stick.
-
greenknight
- Posts: 4819
- Joined: Tue Apr 30, 2013 4:18 am
- Location: SW Washington State zone 8b
Re: I have no idea what I'm doing
That cactus may never stand upright because that might not be its natural growth habit, you have a Peanut Cactus (Echinopsis chamaecereus) or a hybrid of it - see: http://cactiguide.com/cactus/?genus=Ech ... amaecereus
Some of the hybrids have stouter stems and stand up - others, and the original species, are trailing. Can't tell what the normal growth habit of this one is until it's been in good light for a while - be careful not to sunburn it since it's not used to the sun, gradually increase its sun exposure. Growing information: http://llifle.com/Encyclopedia/CACTI/Fa ... amaecereus
The only way to get rid of the skinny part is to cut it off, once you see how thick the normal growth gets you'll have a better idea how much to cut. The good news is these grow easily from cuttings - you can make more plants out of what you cut off. They produce many offsets, as you've seen - the plant will quickly replace what you've pruned off.
Some of the hybrids have stouter stems and stand up - others, and the original species, are trailing. Can't tell what the normal growth habit of this one is until it's been in good light for a while - be careful not to sunburn it since it's not used to the sun, gradually increase its sun exposure. Growing information: http://llifle.com/Encyclopedia/CACTI/Fa ... amaecereus
The only way to get rid of the skinny part is to cut it off, once you see how thick the normal growth gets you'll have a better idea how much to cut. The good news is these grow easily from cuttings - you can make more plants out of what you cut off. They produce many offsets, as you've seen - the plant will quickly replace what you've pruned off.
Spence 