Cacti murderer looking to be reformed

Trouble shoot problems you are having with your cactus.
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jerkchicken23
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Jun 08, 2014 3:55 pm

Cacti murderer looking to be reformed

Post by jerkchicken23 »

Hello All, I'm a self confessed cacti & succulent killer looking for some guidance to quit my murderous ways! I'm also a newbie to the forum, but not to the site. I'm hopeful one day I'll be reformed and building greenhouses until my heart's content. Until then, could I ask for some help please?

I've attached photos so y'all can have a good look at my 2 sad fellas, I really haven't a clue what I've done or haven't done to them to make them so ill. They're suffering from what I can tell, two different problems. But as I say, I really don't know. Both became ill early on, so I brought them home thinking they looked healthy and shortly thereafter I managed to mangle them!

I do not over water, that I can say for certain. If anything, I truly underwater. Lots of sun, and I even wrapped the sides of the container (pot) in bubble wrap to try & keep them warm winter past. Seriously, I'd be great at caring for them, if I knew what I was doing that was wrong. Also what to do that's right.

Any and all advice welcome, thanks so much in advance.
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One sad sap
One sad sap
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Another one bites the dust
Another one bites the dust
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iann
Posts: 17184
Joined: Mon Jul 24, 2006 11:10 pm
Location: England

Re: Cacti murderer looking to be reformed

Post by iann »

Where are you? And where do the plants live? Were they frozen in winter?

The Mammillaria looks happy enough, although its friends are not good.

Although you say you don't overwater (hard to imagine!), that soil looks to be very rich and even very occasional water might leave the roots soggy for too long.
--ian
jerkchicken23
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Jun 08, 2014 3:55 pm

Re: Cacti murderer looking to be reformed

Post by jerkchicken23 »

Hi iann, thanks so much for the reply and help.
iann wrote:Where are you? And where do the plants live? Were they frozen in winter?
I'm in the UK, they live on a windowsill with sunlight throughout the day. Nope, no freeing in the winter, I kept them indoors with the heating on.
iann wrote:The Mammillaria looks happy enough, although its friends are not good.
No, it's friends are not happy at all, I was wondering if I should remove him from his friends and repot him? Any thoughts on that?
iann wrote:Although you say you don't overwater (hard to imagine!), that soil looks to be very rich and even very occasional water might leave the roots soggy for too long.
Haha, I know, it is hard to imagine! Hmm, well, I really don't believe I overwater, in fact I believe I underwater. Mainly because they became ill so early on and the UK has a fairly damp climate. The soil is the soil they came in, I've had them just under 1 year. The soil is constantly dry, and the last time I watered them was a few weeks ago. Before that, approximately 1+ months, it hasn't been all that hot until this past week and I just didn't want to do anything that might compromise their health any further.

I'm at a total loss, I don't know what's caused them to be this ill and unhappy or what I can do about it. ](*,) Obviously I want to save them, and learn from this. I'm a huge fan of cacti and succulents, but I'm afraid I know very little about how to care for them. Which is why I'm here. :)

Do you think repotting in better soil would help? Feeding them? Or even watering more often? At this stage, I'll do anything. I've even tried cinnamon (you can just about make it out in one of the photos), as I thought maybe there was too much moisture in the air and that was hurting them. The UK being one of the wettest places on earth! Any help from you would be great!

Thanks again! :D
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greenknight
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Re: Cacti murderer looking to be reformed

Post by greenknight »

By all means, repot any that aren't already rotted into better soil.

Cacti often come from the nursery potted in a mix that contains a lot of peat. They grow large plants quickly by keeping them at a constant moisture level, so they can get away with using this - but it doesn't work with normal watering. When this stuff gets wet, it stays wet too long; when it dries out, it resists re-wetting. You could have some plants suffering from too wet soil, and others where no water reached the roots, caused by the same thing - the wrong soil.
Spence :mrgreen:
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globose
Posts: 32
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Re: Cacti murderer looking to be reformed

Post by globose »

Keeping the pot really insulated might not necessarily be a good thing. If it gets hot then the soil could overheat the roots. To keep them warm you could try keeping them under a light a few hours a day when dormant, or maybe keeping them on a low heat pad.

I killed one of my cactus one night trying to keep warm. It took a few weeks before I realized the full extent of the damage.

However, it appears very much that the soil is in fact the main problem. But it could be something to keep in mind.
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CactusMad
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Joined: Wed Aug 27, 2014 12:07 am
Location: England,U.K

Re: Cacti murderer looking to be reformed

Post by CactusMad »

Hi,I am in the U.K also and all my cacti are in south facing windows and so get sun quite a lot,I put them outside a lot too.Mine get watered every 2 weeks without fail from March till October and no water at all the rest of the time.In winter they need a rest and do not need to be kept warm if they are in your house.In fact they need to be kept much colder over the winter rest period.

What i would do if i was you is get them out of their pots and see if their roots are in a tight concrete like state.If they are then you need to squeeze the roots and get all of the hard dry soil out of them and untangle them and set them free from this hard mass so that they can breath and drink.Don't worry about damaging the roots they will heal.I leave mine out of soil after doing this for a day or two to give chance for the roots to heal a little.Then i repot and don't water for a week,again to give the roots chance to heal and dry.You need to get some decent compost ready to repot them.I make my own but if you aren't confident you can buy some cactus compost.It isn't ideal but it will definately be better.Take the dead parts away and repot the healthy parts.I would say that yours are definately underwatered and need out of that soil.


Sylv.
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Rod Smith
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Joined: Fri Sep 28, 2012 11:31 am
Location: Staffordshire, UK

Re: Cacti murderer looking to be reformed

Post by Rod Smith »

CactusMad wrote:Hi,I am in the U.K also and all my cacti are in south facing windows and so get sun quite a lot,I put them outside a lot too.Mine get watered every 2 weeks without fail from March till October and no water at all the rest of the time.In winter they need a rest and do not need to be kept warm if they are in your house.In fact they need to be kept much colder over the winter rest period.

What i would do if i was you is get them out of their pots and see if their roots are in a tight concrete like state.If they are then you need to squeeze the roots and get all of the hard dry soil out of them and untangle them and set them free from this hard mass so that they can breath and drink.Don't worry about damaging the roots they will heal.I leave mine out of soil after doing this for a day or two to give chance for the roots to heal a little.Then i repot and don't water for a week,again to give the roots chance to heal and dry.You need to get some decent compost ready to repot them.I make my own but if you aren't confident you can buy some cactus compost.It isn't ideal but it will definately be better.Take the dead parts away and repot the healthy parts.I would say that yours are definately underwatered and need out of that soil.


Sylv.
I agree with Sylv. It looks to me as though your plants are too dry and the probability is that there is a hard ball of peat wrapped round the roots that never gets wetted. As Sylv says, you have to untangle the roots from the ball of peat. Inevitably some roots will break off but cacti are resilient and more will grow, once the damage has healed.
Cactus enthusiast on and off since boyhood. I have a modest collection of cacti & succulents.
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