Broken Cactus - what to do?

Trouble shoot problems you are having with your cactus.
signal
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Location: Charlottesville, Virginia (USA)

Broken Cactus - what to do?

Post by signal »

I received this tall cactus, which had fallen off a window sill and broken in half.
Is there anything I can do, or just wait for it to (hopefully) heal and grow roots for the top part?
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(Sorry about the picture orientation, I don't know why it's doong that)
KittieKAT
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Re: Broken Cactus - what to do?

Post by KittieKAT »

Well i would start by getting a sharp clean knife and rubbing alcohol.
Prepare for small surgery by taking the knife and sterilizing it with the rubbing alcohol
Then make a thin cut on the potted plant where the break is so that the wound is clean and flat and not rough looking...
Then leave it be. It will pup out in a few months or so after it calluses.
Next step is to get the broken top part in order.... so Sterilize the knife again and proceed to cut a small sliver off the broken end like you did to the otted plants rough edge, make it fast and as straight and UN rough as you possibly can, then take it and move it to a cool dry place with some light (indirect if possible with some sun from time to time) and after the wound has calloused over in about 4-5 days you can either swipe the cut ends of both plant's pieces with sulfur powder to prevent infection and after they are calloused over take the top half that broke off the potted plant and pot it up like you would any other plant with a mix of 50/50 cacti and succulent mix and perlite. (Or your proffered mix) and leave it be, after a few month's it should start growing roots, do not water it until roots are fully formed, you can see if they are formed by giving the plant a light tug, if it moves leave it be, of its stuck in the dirt it's got roots!

Now to make sure this doesn't happen again i would suggest taking a stick and sticking it into the soil as far as you can and anchor the plant to the stick so it helps keep the cactus straight and upright so it doesn't snap again when it starts to grow again. You can find a long thin stick at any garden store like home depot in the garden area, make sure you use some string or something so the stick is actually holding the plant and not just sticking in the soil next to the cactus. Just tie the stick and the cactus together with some string not TO tight just right enough to hold it comfortably without bruising or warping of the cactus ,

Goodluck hope everything works out!
KittieKAT
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Re: Broken Cactus - what to do?

Post by KittieKAT »

And I'd strongly suggest that you should give this plant more light Cause it's stretched really thin at the bottom, you can anchor it like i suggested above but in they end you might have to gut the corked (brown bottom half of plant) off along with the roots and keep the newer green part of the cactus and swipe it with sulfur powder and repott it up like i told you to do with the broken topof the plant and leave it be till it reroots itself. You should slowly adjust your plant to strong light over a period of a week or two slowly letting it adjust itself to full sun without damaging it by Sun burn, or you could use a grow light/system if it's not sunny out,
Remember in the winter the sun os really really strong and it can burn your cactus to death! So you might wanna keep it in a sunny spot for only a few hours at a time before moving it to some indirect light or shade, and then in summer or spring start adjusting it to full sun light

Goodluck
signal
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Location: Charlottesville, Virginia (USA)

Re: Broken Cactus - what to do?

Post by signal »

Thanks. I did what you said for cutting it.

It was not my cactus, I rescued it from an office where it was not well cared for, after it was dropped. I hope it will be okay.
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I had to put up a "fence" to keep the cats away…
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oldcat61
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Re: Broken Cactus - what to do?

Post by oldcat61 »

What kind of wimpy cats do you have? My guys wouldn't even notice that fence on their way to the window. Just teasing you a bit, Sue
KittieKAT
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Re: Broken Cactus - what to do?

Post by KittieKAT »

Heehee mine too sue. :D
KittieKAT
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Re: Broken Cactus - what to do?

Post by KittieKAT »

It looks good to me, if u get your hands on some sulfur powder id give it a little dusting on the fresh wound where you cut just to make sure nothing infects it, but that's just being extra careful usually they do okay without it.....but you can't ever be completely sure!
If itstarts to get mushy brown and looking yucky id re-cut it until u see fresh green tissue making sure you sterilize after each cut and then put sulfur powder on the new wound so it can heal nicely, good luck hun !
Can't wait to see a pup growing off the top of that one in a few months or so !!
signal
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Re: Broken Cactus - what to do?

Post by signal »

oldcat61 wrote:What kind of wimpy cats do you have? My guys wouldn't even notice that fence on their way to the window. Just teasing you a bit, Sue
One of them is just lazy, and the other is afraid of everything. She'll be afraid of the fence. The lazy one already figured out how to get in easiest (taking the side approach) but he won't try to eat the Christmas cactus, while the other one will. He just rubs the tall ones. So it works well enough.
signal
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Re: Broken Cactus - what to do?

Post by signal »

Just an update, both pieces look the same and neither has started healing over.
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greenknight
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Re: Broken Cactus - what to do?

Post by greenknight »

If there's no rot, everything's good.
Spence :mrgreen:
KittieKAT
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Re: Broken Cactus - what to do?

Post by KittieKAT »

Be patient it takes some time trust me :)
signal
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Re: Broken Cactus - what to do?

Post by signal »

New roots have sprouted on the top piece, and surprisingly, 2 new sprouts have grown on the bottom piece.
How many roots should it have before I plant it upright?
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greenknight
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Re: Broken Cactus - what to do?

Post by greenknight »

The cut is well healed, you could have planted it some time ago. Do it now.

The bottom part growing 2 new shoots is not at all surprising, totally normal.
Last edited by greenknight on Sat Jul 04, 2015 8:03 am, edited 1 time in total.
Spence :mrgreen:
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Saxicola
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Re: Broken Cactus - what to do?

Post by Saxicola »

Both halves look great! Two sprouts isn't unusual at all. If you like two stems keep it that way. If you only want one you can always remove the other. As for the top half, go ahead and plant it. Just don't be too rough with it while potting it up. You want to make sure you don't break the root tips that are forming.
I'm now selling plants on Ebay. Check it out! Kyle's Plants
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greenknight
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Re: Broken Cactus - what to do?

Post by greenknight »

Yep, doing great. That dry crust that formed over the cut is how they heal, they don't grow new skin over the wound - we could have explained that better.

Since the cutting already has that root sticking out, stand it in a pot partially filled with cactus potting mix and gently fill in around it. I would have a stake already in place before I put the cutting in, with whatever you're going to use to tie it up tied to the stake in advance.
Spence :mrgreen:
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