Turbinicarpus problem

[Steve Johnson]

Thanks to some help on identifying a Turbinicarpus macrochele var polaskii, I'm discovering what I believe is a fungus problem. This plant has about 7 or 8 small reddish-brown spots that started manifesting sometime in October (maybe about 3 weeks ago or so). Here's a photo:



I live just south of downtown Los Angeles, and I was giving the Turbinicarpus a decent watering (in a clay pot) once a week over the late spring and summer. It seemed to be doing well. Then things started going south through October, and even though I thought every two weeks for some water would be fine, now I believe there were problems in the tap root which, of course I could not detect.

I wonder if there's anything I could do to salvage the situation. I could really use some help, so here are a few things I want to discuss:

1. Can the tap root be saved by cutting out any areas of damage?

2. If so, is the healthy root treated with sulfur powder left by the cutting?

3. Once the sulfur powder is treated, how long should the plant be kept bare before it's potted in fresh cactus mix?

4. How long should the soil stay dry before the plant is given any water for recuperation?

I really hope there's any chance for trying to do something. Otherwise I guess the Turbinicarpus has no hope, and I'm not at all pleased by the way I botched things up.

Thanks for any help on the situation.

Steve

[iann]

The orange spots don't look immediately fatal, but the plants do look dehydrated considering all the water you've been giving them. The soil should stay dry from now until perhaps April. These plants have a taproot for a reason, and that would be to survive long dry periods.

You can dig it up if you are worried about the roots. Any rotting areas can be cut out, up to and including the whole taproot. Then you would have a cutting and it will be slow to re-root. Replant anything with roots into dry soil and forget about it until spring.

Turbinicarpus ss, which includes this one, thrive on heavy drenchings in summer but they should always be allowed to dry out in between and shouldn't be watered in cold weather. They love a heavy soil which will stay wet for days in hot weather but of course a heavy soil makes them even easier to overwater in cold weather.

[Steve Johnson]

The orange spots don't look immediately fatal, but the plants do look dehydrated considering all the water you've been giving them. The soil should stay dry from now until perhaps April. These plants have a taproot for a reason, and that would be to survive long dry periods.

You can dig it up if you are worried about the roots. Any rotting areas can be cut out, up to and including the whole taproot. Then you would have a cutting and it will be slow to re-root. Replant anything with roots into dry soil and forget about it until spring.

Turbinicarpus ss, which includes this one, thrive on heavy drenchings in summer but they should always be allowed to dry out in between and shouldn't be watered in cold weather. They love a heavy soil which will stay wet for days in hot weather but of course a heavy soil makes them even easier to overwater in cold weather.

Hi, Ian -

Thanks, and I do very much appreciate your advice. This weekend I'll carefully dig up the Turbinicarpus along with its seedlings, then inspect the taproots for any damage that I may need to remedy. I'm glad to hear things are not lost yet, so I'll make whatever effort I can.

By the way, my small cactus collection is under a shade cloth enclosure. I'll put in a clear plastic sheet over that before rain starts becoming an issue for the later fall and winter. This will allow me to maintain my plants as needed without having to worry about the possibility of rainy seasons that can often be real soakers during the winter in Los Angeles. Then when we start getting back into spring, the plastic sheet comes off. (Here's my "cactus coop" with the shade cloth I've been using since I started my new collection back in June.)




Thanks again, Ian!

Steve

[Steve Johnson]

Unfortunately it has turned out that my Turbinicarpus was much worse off than I thought. My problem was not being able to take any time for an attempt on the situation until this weekend. By then, I could see that rot was well involved going from the taproot into the crown of the plant.

The one good thing coming out of all this is that the 3 seedlings are still here as when they were originally with the now-dead plant. Their roots look normal and healthy, so I have them in a smaller pot with fresh (also dry) cactus mix with about 25% pumice added in. The California Cactus Center also recommended putting some pumice on top of the soil, and hopefully this will be a good way to avoid any further mishandling of my own ignorance when it comes to the proper time and place for watering. Until April, the Turbinicarpus seedlings will continue to stay dry, and my helpful lady at the California Cactus Center also told me that they should have a new Turb to replace the one I lost sometime in the spring.

Thanks!