Shriveling?

[CarefreeHWY]

My cactus has been shriveling up quite a bit lately, mostly all the older growth. Not sure exactly why as I've been watering it normally.
It's been growing like crazy since I got it about a year ago, It did have this little white fluffy sticky substance on it for awhile but appears to be going away now.

IMG_1897.JPG (62.3 KiB) Viewed 936 times

IMG_1896.JPG (57.27 KiB) Viewed 936 times

Anyone have experience with these types ?

[greenknight]

It had a "white fluffy sticky substance" on it? Sounds like mealybugs, a very bad thing. Inspect it carefully for any more of that. You should also take it out of the pot and check for root mealybugs.

Some shriveling of Opuntias during the winter is normal - but water should be greatly reduced, you want them to go dormant for best results. Should be wintered in a cool place, ideally.

Also possible it has root rot, another good reason to check the roots.

[CarefreeHWY]

I will check the roots to make sure. Is there anything I can buy that's safe to spray it down with to kill that stuff off and to make sure its fully gone?

[Saxicola]

There are pesticides you can buy, but if you are just dealing with one plant I'd recommend using good old isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol). Take some q-tips, dip the end in the alcohol then dab it on any white spots you can see. Don't be stingy with it, you want the whole tuft of white to be wet by it. If the mealybug is in hard to reach areas you can put it in a spray bottle and soak the crevices where they hide. When it dries you can wipe away any of the more noticble or annoying white spots (for cosmetic reasons). You will probably have to do this periodically, but if you stay on top of it eventually you'll wipe them out.

[greenknight]

If it has root mealybugs, though, you can't use alcohol. For them, I've had good success by plunging the pot into a soap solution until it's saturated (it stops bubbling). You want to do that after the weather warms, when the plant is out of dormancy, so it doesn't stay soggy too long.

Clean the area where the plant was sitting with alcohol - the young mealies are tiny crawlers that are almost invisible, you don't want them re-infecting the plant.