What's going on here?

[Baxter]

Hello folks, I'm new here and I'm looking for some advice on a poorly cactus of mine.

I bought this cactus back in august from a local garden centre and it looked pretty hunky dory or so I thought at first. First thing I did when I got home was get it out of the pot and have a look at the roots. It was in the typical kind of substrate which you find in garden centres over here (peat, more peat with a top dressing of peat) and it was pretty moist. But, the roots were in great shape, so I thought nothing of it. I re-potted it in my own cactus mix which comprises of equal parts coir, aquarium gravel (lime free), kitty litter/LECA and a little bit of sand.

Everything was fine until a few weeks ago, where these strange spots started appearing, which at first looked like scorch marks but have taken on this pale appearance. I'm not sure if it's rot ( I really hope not). Also, it's spreading up the stem from the bottom, which I initially thought was corking (that's what it looks like) but I doubt corking spreads like this.

The plant is currently kept with my other cacti in a dry room which is slightly warmer than the rest of the house. This is where I keep 'em for winter dormancy. They live on top of my snakes tank so they receive a little bottom heat and this has been successful the last 2 winters. All the others are doing fine.

So what's up with this thing? And can I do anything about it? I've already taken some cuttings which I'm trying to root in case the worst happens as I really like this cactus

Here's some with the problem areas highlighted.


Any help would be greatly appreciated!

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[Baxter]

Oh, I forgot to mention, it's still putting out new growth (indicated in the green square) which is odd for this time of year. But quite a few plants have been acting weird at the moment. My rose seems to think it's summer :S

[snarfie]

I wouldn't worry too much, it looks like it is just corking, but i'm not sure, a photo with better ligjting would reveal a lot more

[Aiko]

Usually, if it doesn't go soft it is corking, and happens to many plants. They don't all stay nice evenly green. Rot goes soft. So if it is a soft spot, it might be something to worry about.

[Baxter]

Cool, thanks guys. I'm not sure if the funky areas are soft to touch or if it is my imagination. Either way they're not really mushy. I'll see if I can get some better pictures in the morning.

Thanks for your help.

[hegar]

Just wanted to let you know, that your plant is not a cactus, but a Euphorbia sp.. It does have paired thorns at each raised point along the ribs.

Harald

[Baxter]

Thanks Harald, I didn't realize it wasn't a cactus. Will I need to treat it differently to cacti then?

I managed to get a better closeup of the problem. You can see what looks like corking at the bottom, then above it starts going greyish. It feels slightly squidgy to touch but not mushy.

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And one last question. I got a Christmas cactus the other day, I think it might be S. × buckleyi but I'm not entirely sure. Anyway, how often am I supposed to water it? When the compost is dry or should I keep it continually moist? I keep getting conflicting info online. It's in bloom at the moment.

Thanks again guys

[snarfie]

It looks healthy to me. My schlumbergera's grow best with continuously moist soil, but once they're used to drying out between waterings, continuously moist soil seems to make them rot that's my experience with schlumbergera frances rollason, s. bristol queen and s. Samba brasil. I have about ten of them, and especially cuttings are fragile if they dry out.

[greenknight]

The Euphorbia - which I think is Euphorbia resinifera - needs care similar to a cactus. Main difference is it's somewhat toxic, the sap is a strong irritant - be especially careful not to get it in your eyes.

Christmas cacti I've always watered whenever the soil surface felt dry - in other words, continuously moist - but let them get dryer in autumn to help encourage bud set. Also give them cooler temperatures or long nights then to produce the semi-dormant state in which the flower buds are produced. While it's blooming keep it constantly moist.

[KittieKAT]

Looks like it may be old damage from other cacti in the nursery bumping into it, or a small sunburn you may wanna adjust it to stronger lightgradually next time. Goodluck! And be wweary of sand that's very tiny grained sometimes it compacts to much and leaves the soil to damp or unable to let the roots breath!

[Baxter]

wow, thanks for all the advice guys! I'll be putting these tips into practice. And when I get some decent pictures I'll post some of my collection.

[KittieKAT]

Im not sure what those ball things are you have in your mix but that could be the issue aswell.. when u water the cacti those may continue to stay wet and become heavy and Bruise/rott the cacti skin. U might wanna just try a simple mix of 50/50 sifted cacti&succulent mix and perlite and put some stones on the top, make sure it's apot with drainage holes too, that's very important!
If uwant a more gritty mix u can try using small rounded chips of lava, brick,pumice and turface with some sifted C&S mix/perlite for extra drainage. Or pearl stone and perlite ...but it depends on the plant's and the area you live in i guess. If you wanna use sand is suggest using larger grained sand as opposed to fine sand. Some people are against sand period cause it stays very wet when the plant's are watered causing root rott and other problems like suffocating the roots...etc...etc...and causing the soil to clump up.
If you must try unpotting the plant give it a good look over and test to see if the areas your worried about are soft, or pierce it with a pin and see if brownish fluids come out cause then it may be an infection or rott, and you could re cut the bottom part until you see healthy green tissue and let it dry for a couple of days and then repot it for it to grow roots again. Goodluck

[KittieKAT]

And since this is a euphorrbia beware of the white sap....
Wash your hands after if it touches you and don't touch you face or mouth at all its a latex like substance that seeps from the inside of the plant.

[Baxter]

Hi, KittieKAT, thanks for the pointers. Don't worry I've already been warned about Euphorb sap. There's loads of the other kinds of Euphorbia dotted about my college campus and we must not touch UNDER PAIN OF DEATH.

As for those ball things, they're LECA, which is kinda like the Tesco kitty litter or turface. It's used in hydroponics. I've been using it instead of the kitty litter as they'd run out @ my local Tesco. They tend not to hold loads of water but I'll remove 'em from the surface (they were being used as top dressing) just in case. Also the pot has lots of drainage holes and the substrate drains very fast, within seconds water pours through the bottom - it's mostly coir, LECA & gravel(lime free). Though I'm gonna get rid of that sand!

Good news, I poked the funky bits with a pin as suggested and the normal white sap came out. No brown/manky fluids. I guess I'm going to watch this space and see if the cutting takes root.

[KittieKAT]

Make sure the cutting dries for a few days before potting it up, i usually use only a spray bottle to water my plants not a watering pot. It is better for me atleast because theirs no chance of over watering or root rott.
Goodluck hun