Sick Moon Cactus :(

[Chuchunya]

Hi,

New member and new cacti 'friend'. Please be nice as I am a newbie to this hobby.

One week ago, I purchased a moon cactus as a gift for my wife. I came potted with another little cactus in deep soil with small pebbles at the top. The lady told me to water it once a month. O.K., I said, I will not water it for a month.

I have checked on the 3 cacti I purchased every day. Yesterday, I noticed the "trunk" of the moon cactus was very soft. It had started to turn yellow on the sides. I looked at its partner beside it and it still looks the same. It is deep green and it still has its big yellow flower. (It is a different species)

Today, it was even softer. I did a bad thing and touched it. It made a "squish" sound. I tried to think what was wrong or what I could do to help. There has been no sun for the cacti so I thought maybe it needed light. I put it under a good bright light and it started to 'hard up' again. However, now, it still has yellow and brown flesh. I think lack of light had something to do with the softening but I am still concerned.

When I bought the duo, I noticed the moon cactus had some scars. (It has a bright orange bloom so I wanted to buy it as a nice present. It was grafted as I think you can call imagine.) In quick research, it said mites could use these to infect the cactus. Is this true?

Is there hope for my cactus? When my wife sees it she will be VERY UPSET. How can I help it? Is there help or will I be prepared for it to die?

Thank you for the information and time.
SERGEY

[Chuchunya]

hi

I do not know how to upload or link to photos. Here is my best attempt! I tried to take some photos of the sick cactus. (Sorry for the bad lighting).





It has got worse. Half of the cactus is firm and natural green. The other side is yellow with brown spots. I think some brown spots look all most like a bruise from me touching it. The skin is firm but the inside is soft.

I hope the photos help. I hope some one can tell me if there is a way to help it or if it will simply die. Any help would be appreciated. Please, I need helps!

THANK YOU
Sergey

[Steve Johnson]

Hello, and welcome to the forum! We're a polite bunch here, so we'll help you out as much as we can.

As for me personally, I'm not a fan of grafted cacti. Since I won't keep any in my collection, my experience is going to be limited. With that said, I'll do my best here. First of all, the rootstock looks like it got badly sunburned on the side facing your window. Second, your moon cactus is a desert plant grafted onto a jungle cactus, which I believe will be Hylocereus. While both are cacti, they come from different worlds in terms of their growing behavior and watering needs. The scion is the desert cactus on top -- cultivated so that its absence of chlorophyll provides the pretty (but unnatural!) colors which make them eye-catching and popular among so many people going to nurseries and the garden centers of big box stores. I call these cacti "lollipops" -- unfortunately they also happen to be very difficult to grow even for the most experienced cactus growers.

The problem you're looking at is way beyond anything I can deal with. Hopefully someone else on the forum can give you an evaluation and let you know whether or not you'll be able to save your moon cactus. Since I saw your photos here, you figured out how to import your Photobucket pics just fine. You can also upload your digital images by clicking on the Upload attachment tab, navigating to the image folder on your computer, selecting the images you want, then inserting them as inline attachments. One thing I'll recommend, though -- take shots of the entire moon cactus so we can see what the scion looks like sitting on the rootstock. If it hasn't started to rot yet, you may be able to re-graft it onto a healthy stock. Once again, hopefully someone on the forum can help guide you through the process.

Best of luck!

[coltonschultz]

Sad to say, but it may be rotting away. This is a problem with store bought cactus, because usually these moon cacti aren't planted in well draining soil, and after one watering(which is rational to the owner) they often rot away. I got a moon cactus as a gift, let it sit in the house for 2 weeks, and it rotted away. I didn't even water it. Best you can do is take it out of the soil and see if the roots are rotted too.

[Chuchunya]

Thank you Steve Johnson and coltonshultz for the replies each.

Steve Johnson, I have taken your advice about whole cactus photos. I left the cactus alone all day and this evening. This is the result.



Like coltonshultz said, I think it is rotting away. This is a cold climate [turning to spring warm spring now] and I have only seen the cacti in stores. After the purchase of 3 in one week, I like them but I hope I have better luck with store bought ones now.

Is it difficult to see if the roots are rotted too? Easy to do for a beginner?

THANK YOU.

[Steve Johnson]

I have taken your advice about whole cactus photos.

Sorry, but you're still not showing us the entire cactus. Here's an example of what we're looking for -- coming from a post by flamekitty84:

20140409_104017.jpg (35.39 KiB) Viewed 22992 times

Is it difficult to see if the roots are rotted too? Easy to do for a beginner?

Very easy. If you unpot the plant, you'll definitely know if the roots (or what's left of them) are a brown, gooey mess. Most likely smelly too.

One thing I can tell from your photos is that you have at least 2 cacti in the same pot. Definitely not a good idea since different species have their own watering needs, and in your case the need for different cactus mixes. As I said, the rootstock of your moon cactus is a jungle plant, which should be grown in a rich soil. That I believe you already have in your pot. Desert cacti growing on their own roots need a much leaner mix with plenty of drainage.

General-purpose nurseries and garden centers tend to over-water their cacti because they don't know anything about these plants. I do agree with Colton that A. your first moon cactus is too far gone for any hope of saving, and B. while your other 2 should be in a rich soil, this needs to have better drainage so the roots don't rot. If you have 2 moon cacti that appear to be fine, unpot them and look at the roots. If the roots aren't already rotting, let them dry out for a day or so. Add some mineral for drainage to the soil you're using. Horticultural pumice is best, although you may not be able to find it where you live. Other options are fine gravel, scoria, and chicken grit (but make sure it's not eggshell or oystershell -- calcium in a mix is not good for cacti). Whatever you do, do not use sand of any kind! Repot the cacti in fresh, dry mix and let them settle in for 2 weeks before you water them. After that, I believe watering every 1-2 weeks should be fine. If the roots of your surviving moon cacti look like they're starting to rot, let's discuss, and I can give you some further help.

[Chuchunya]

O.K. not to sound very dumb but I did read your post over and over. It is good information but English is my second language and I hope I understood it all. I know that is not an excuse but I'm tired at the end of the day!

From your post, I learned very important things that lead to the suffering of this moon cactus.

1. It came in the container with a desert cactus. The desert cactus is fine.
2. Both needed better containers with better drainage.
2b. VERY BEGINNER QUESTION: how to repot a desert cactus with all the spines? Gloves?
3. For the next moon cacti, find mineral from options suggested.

The single stable lighting I have needs the light bulb replaced. I will get a photo of the cactus situation in the morning. I will check the roots in the morning too. Thank you for explaining. An acquaintance of an acquiantance ‘claims” to know more than average peoples about cacti. He spent time caring for plants in a large botanical garden with many outdoor cacti. He advised me to take a sharp knife and cut off the shriveling parts. I don’t think this is a good idea. Is it?

I know this is a cheap stupid cactus in the grand scheme of the cacti world. It was the equivalent of 25 American dollars. I will use this as a learning experience to know better.

[Steve Johnson]

I know what brain fatigue feels like, so no worries and we're having a nice (and hopefully productive) conversation here. You're doing fine with your English too. I'm up against the clock with my work day now. I'll post again with some additional feedback as soon as I can. By the way -- it helps to know where people live when asking for advice, especially with beginners who aren't sure what to do when they're having problems with their cacti. If you don't mind my question, which country are you in? No need to respond if you don't want to.

[Steve Johnson]

Alright, I'm back, so I'll answer your questions in order...

1. It came in the container with a desert cactus. The desert cactus is fine.
2. Both needed better containers with better drainage.
2b. VERY BEGINNER QUESTION: how to repot a desert cactus with all the spines? Gloves?
3. For the next moon cacti, find mineral from options suggested.

The single stable lighting I have needs the light bulb replaced. I will get a photo of the cactus situation in the morning. I will check the roots in the morning too. Thank you for explaining. An acquaintance of an acquiantance ‘claims” to know more than average peoples about cacti. He spent time caring for plants in a large botanical garden with many outdoor cacti. He advised me to take a sharp knife and cut off the shriveling parts. I don’t think this is a good idea. Is it?

1. Your desert cactus looks fine to me. Unfortunately I don't know the species, but if you post up a photo on the Cacti Identification forum, you should be able to get a good ID on what you have. Knowing details like this can sometimes be helpful.
2. Better drainage yes, although the ratio of mineral to soil should be different for your moon cactus and the desert cactus. For the moon cactus I'm thinking 60/40 soil/mineral. Flip the ratio around for the desert plant, although you could up the amount of mineral to a 70/30 mineral/soil mix.
2b. Everyone growing cacti has gotten stuck by spines at one time or another. Thick gardening gloves are fine for some cacti, although with others the spines will poke right through the gloves and bite you. One good way to avoid the problem is by rolling up a strip of newspaper and wrapping it around the plant when you manipulate it. If you have a pair of tongs, that's also good.
3. You should be adding mineral to the mix for all cacti you grow -- see #2 on my advice re. mix ratios. Some people do well with perlite or vermiculite, although I would avoid both unless you simply have no other options for a mineral component you can find.

As to cutting off the shriveling parts, I assume that the advice coming from your acquaintance of an acquaintance pertains to the moon cactus that seems to be on its way out. If so, we're talking about de-grafting the scion from the rootstock, then re-grafting it to a healthy Hylocereus as new rootstock. While it would be difficult for you first time out, the Grafting forum will give you hints and advice for this. However, a big question you'll need to ask yourself before you're willing to even try -- is the scion worth saving? If you can post a photo of the entire plant here, I should be able to tell you whether or not it's worth going through the time and effort.

Since you're a beginner, I share your frustration and disappointment about your first experience. But we were all beginners once, so don't give up! As long as you're willing to learn, you'll get access to more and better help here than you'll find from many other places.

[WayneByerly]

Kitchen tongs work well for cacti with fierce spines. If you don't want to use your kitchenware, newspaper cut into strips and wrapped around the cactus work better than gloves. Spines CAN pierce glove, break off and leave you with a pair of gloves that will SEVERELY irritate your skin. And when I say SEVERELY, I mean a skin condition which can last for months. BE CAREFUL of spines.

[greenknight]

I've always favored the rolled-up newspaper method - roll up a sheet of newspaper and bend it double around the plant, use that as a handle. Less chance of damaging the plant than using kitchen tongs.