Mass mammillaria elongata death

Trouble shoot problems you are having with your cactus.
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MissScout
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Joined: Wed Dec 25, 2013 9:09 pm
Location: Oregon

Mass mammillaria elongata death

Post by MissScout »

There's something awful happening to my mammillaria elongatas, and it appears to ONLY happen to them, and not the many other cactuses in close proximity to them. :(

I first noticed it happen to a "copper king" variety I had-- first, it looked... well, the best word is "crusty." As far as I can tell, there isn't a pest on it, but just a... crust. Then, the plant goes hollow and liquid and dies from the base up. The copper king variety, upon its death, was completely hollow and had red veins that looked like rotting meat inside it, and it was awful.

Some history on the plants: my two non-copper mammillaria elongatas that I lost in the last few weeks were cuttings off a much older plant. I got the cuttings when I was removing a dead limb from the otherwise healthy seeming plant, and had no issues with my cuttings, which rooted and I had for nearly a year and a half. (I've been wondering if that dead limb was somehow related to all this, but the deceased copper king was acquired at least a year after the cuttings, which showed no problems until very recently.)

In October I purchased the copper king and it had a bit of the "crust" on it, but didn't look unhealthy (it just looked like corking or one of the other little natural flaws cactuses get and I though it had something to do with the "copper" factor) until a few months ago when I went to water the collection and noticed it was entirely dead. Within a few months, I have lost both my other mammillaria elongatas.

I can't seem to find ANYTHING about this happening online. ](*,)
Could it be a problem with overwatering? I've never had a problem with it before; I water every three weeks most of the year but in the darkest part of winter I water only once a month or month and a half, and the rest of the cactuses seem perfectly happy with that. My collection also has a very slight case of mealy bugs, but inspecting the still very green one in the photos reveals no sign of mealy bugs on the stem or roots. But I suppose it could be related to that somehow?

They're all dead or past saving, so at this point it's just a matter of curiosity, I guess. And hopefully if anything weird happens with the massive ten year old specimen I got my cuttings off of, I can be of some help to its owner.

Thanks for any help in advance, guys.
Attachments
See the healthy green above the dead tan area?
See the healthy green above the dead tan area?
IMG_0321.jpg (36.68 KiB) Viewed 1894 times
"crust"
"crust"
IMG_0322.jpg (50.13 KiB) Viewed 1894 times
"crust"
"crust"
IMG_0324.jpg (50.82 KiB) Viewed 1894 times
The base has complete died or rotted. It's liquid.
The base has complete died or rotted. It's liquid.
IMG_0325.jpg (38.31 KiB) Viewed 1894 times
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adetheproducer
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Re: Mass mammillaria elongata death

Post by adetheproducer »

Looks like rot, usually cause by too much water or not enough drainage of the pot. the top half looks ok I would get a sharpe smooth knife and cut it off and root that into new dry and very gritty soil it should root its self well and you wont loose the plant. Check out the cuttings and offset section for guidence.
And as the walls come down and as I look in your eyes
My fear begins to fade recalling all of the times
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MissScout
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Joined: Wed Dec 25, 2013 9:09 pm
Location: Oregon

Re: Mass mammillaria elongata death

Post by MissScout »

If someone else posted this, that's what I would guess too, but two factors make me think otherwise: the "crust," which wasn't originally present on these cuttings, and the systematic death of ONLY the mammillaria elongates. Are they particularly vulnerable to rot or overwatering? Could it somehow be compounded by mealy bugs that I somehow can't see or that already moved on to a different plant? Because I'm like 97% sure I didn't overwater these guys. I haven't killed any cactuses from overwatering in years, and these get the same amount of water as my other plants, which have all been doing fine this whole time.
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CactusFanDan
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Re: Mass mammillaria elongata death

Post by CactusFanDan »

It certainly looks like rot. I had a few plants do this. Over the winter break they can become infected with a systemic fungal infection which becomes active when you water again in Spring (or that's my theory). I guess the fungus gets in through the roots or some other kind of wound due to some kind of sap sucking creature. That 'crust' is mite damage from the looks of things, so I guess that is your culprit. :P
-Dan
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hoteidoc
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Re: Mass mammillaria elongata death

Post by hoteidoc »

MissScout - I've had & have both Copper King & "regular" elongata. They do seem pretty rot prone :( I've saved both varieties with salvage cuttings -- & then lost of few of those. I keep them in clay pots now d/t this seeming propensity, to help cover me further from overH20ing. Also my "soil" has gotten leaner & leaner over the past several years as far as organic % -- now @ 20%.
Once bitten by the cactus collecting/growing bug, there is no known cure!
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