Is my notocactus leninghausii a goner?

[Mox]

For some background, I bought this guy in about September. I accidentally neglected him for a while because I had brain surgery the next month. He was gently watered a few times and I accidentally dropped him and he hit a nightstand on the way down, if that is noteworthy
He is very squishy, collapsed, moreso on one side, his spines are long and hairy and not very sharp unlike the trio of leninghausii I bought a few days ago. I am a bad cactus owner and only recently repotted him with cactus soil a week ago He's just generally smaller and collapsed. No brown or black or oozing though. Roots look fine. I lightly watered him when I repotted him and out him in the later afternoon sun every other day for a half hour. Here are some pics:



(comparison, he actually looks a little worse in person than he does in this pic)

So should I give up?

[greenknight]

It might make it, just have to wait and see.

What the heck kind of cactus mix is that? It doesn't look good to me.

[Mox]

I've been playing the waiting game and staying optimistic. It would kinda suck for your first pet cactus to die. That's even worse than having a goldfish die on you after a few days.
Also, I picked up a huge bag of succulent cactus soil at Home Depot. Also, I hardly know diddly squat about cacti yet but it was a little surprising when I opened the bag. It's really mulchy.

[iann]

It doesn't look dead in the pictures. Could be though, but only time will tell. Leave it for a while, then try watering when it is nice and warm.

Probably the last thing you should plant a cactus in "cactus soil". Universally awful stuff, the cheapest type of potting soil with a couple of grains of perlite if you're lucky, followed by a hefty sticker shock. At the very least, it needs to be mixed about 50:50 with more perlite, or some other form of drainage aid. This cactus will do OK in mulch provided you help it out a bit (or a lot!).

That pot is too big, of course.

[Mox]

Here's where my newbie is showing and I get embarrassed over my pitiful cactus knowledge. But I've been a newbie in many things (dog shows, primarily) before and am now a mentor in said things so hey, it's a start!
Is there any certain brand of soil you recommend or would this crap soil still be okay if I mix perlite in with it? And are there downsides to a large pot? I had a friend who lost it at the sight of such a tiny cactus in a large pot. One of those things that catches you off guard as hilarious for some reason.

[iann]

I can't recommend a brand. Partly I'm pretty sure I don't live in the same country as you. Partly I've never seen a commercial cactus soil brand that I'd recommend to anyone. The minimum advice is to add loads of perlite. Or search here for other things you can add that are nicer than perlite.

Large pots are dangerous (and look hilarious). If the roots of the cactus don't easily fill the pot then the soil will stay wet for too long and then your cactus will rot. To prevent this, people come up with all sorts of tricks, like porous pots, hardly ever watering, watering with an eye-dropper, etc. None of these are entirely successful. The correct solution is to put the plant in a suitable sized pot that it can suck dry in a few days, maybe a couple of weeks at the outside. Usually this is about thw width of the plant itself, although really you should be fitting it to the root system. Sometimes that gets difficult, plants with massive taproots, big clumps with very shallow roots, but your's should be simple enough. You can always drop whatever pot that ends up being inside a larger decorative pot, just make sure it doesn't end up sitting in water. Last thing, just in case, the pot needs holes in the bottom.

[greenknight]

I completely agree - where you have 3 of them in that size pot, that might be okay, but not the one by itself. I'm shocked at what Home Depot is selling for cactus soil - the Cultivation forum has a lot of discussion about potting mixes, you definitely need to change what they're in now.

This is the dormant season in the Northern Hemisphere, so they can go dry for now.

[adetheproducer]

Go to xerophilia.ro and download the copy called "the stone eaters" it will give you some really good insights to cactus soil preparations and ingredients surprisingly you may find dirt is not very high up on the actual list that cacti need.

[Steve Johnson]

I also agree with what's being said, and forget perlite -- go with pumice instead. You can find a good source for it on eBay here:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/3-5-GAL-PUMICE- ... 3384a94694" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I've been growing my cacti quite successfully in a pumice-decomposed granite mix, although a number of growers do well just with straight pumice. Only drawback for you could be the fact that the climate in AZ is very dry, in which case you may need to add a little something for better moisture retention. Unfortunately commercial potting soils are pretty horrible these days, but if you can take out most of the organic crap, you may get enough actual soil that's useful for a pumice-soil mix. 50/50 is pretty much the standard recommendation, however I don't think you'd have a problem if you tilt the ratio more in favor of pumice.

As a general rule, there should be a margin of 1/2" - 3/4" around the roots to properly size the pots for your cacti. Address the over-potting problem, get your plants into a more suitable mix, and they'll be a lot happier.

[Mox]

So, update on this guy for anyone who cares
Thinking he was dead and thinking it wouldn't harm since he is dead and just wanting an answer to whether he's a goner or not, I stuck a fine pin into him. There was resistance and he is not hollow, just a little soft and seems hollow around the edges like there's a layer of skin separated very slightly from the actual flesh inside in some areas if that makes sense.

So there's hope? I'm going to see if home depot has some pumice or perlite.

And yes, I used my poor cactus as a pin cushion but he has deteriorated slightly since so I legitimately thought I was just pricking a dead cactus

[tomo]

how's he doing? I hope he makes it!