"Easy" Echinocereus -- what happened?

[Steve Johnson]

It has been a long time since I asked the forum for help on serious cactus problems, and even though the collection has been doing so well in general, I find myself back here trying to solve a rather vexing mystery. Here are the facts of the case...

When I installed a new custom-built plant bench in mid-July 2013, it was time for some shopping. One of the cacti I selected was a lovely Echinocereus pectinatus 'Coahuila' from CoronaCactus. Here's what it looked like with bare-nekked roots:



Next transplanting time with pumice-decomposed granite mix in a 3.25" waterproofed terracotta Azalea pot. Since this was the plant's first summer under my care, I figured that 2-3 months would be sufficient to get the roots established. The pectinatus lost a significant amount of water that winter, but nothing to worry about, right? This before-and-after shows you the situation going from 8/3 to 12/21/13:



We'll give the plant another growing season, here on 3/16 and 9/20:



No plumping, and in fact the pectinatus lost a little more water. No signs of new apical growth that I could see either -- okay, now I'm worried. As I'm working on a project to replace my terracotta with glazed ceramic, I repotted it today precisely so I could have a look at the roots. Toward the end of summer I knew something was wrong, and this isn't good at all:



The pectinatus in its new glazed ceramic home:



Don't be deceived by the outside dimensions. The inside diameter and depth are 3.25" and 2.75" respectively -- should be fine if the roots were growing normally. However, that's a big "if", and the question is whether or not the pectinatus stands a chance for regrowing a healthy root system. And here's some irony for you -- E. rigidissimus rubispinus is the most difficult of the genus, and after losing the first 2 efforts I have one that's growing incredibly well. All other Echinocereus species are supposedly "easy", yet it's my pectinatus that's struggling. Exactly the same mix as the rubispinus (and for the vast majority of my other cacti):



The only possibility I can fall back on is my experience with Tephros. Basically I found out that their fine roots won't support a fairly coarse mineral aggregate (for example the pumice-DG mix). Once I added soil to make a 50/50 mineral-soil mix, my Tephros came alive and started pushing out new stems (the paper-spines I got in 2011 didn't do anything until I made the change almost 2 year later). Does the pectinatus want some soil in the mix too? If that's the answer, I'd be incredibly grateful to find out about it if we have any experienced Echinocereus people on the forum who can confirm. I haven't committed to putting top dressing on yet, so in case this is necessary I'm prepared to repot again with whatever change in the mix may be recommended.

One thing is certain -- regardless of how I proceed, I'll have to be patient about seeing signs of new activity before I give the pectinatus any water at all. In the meantime, I hope someone out there can help!

[iann]

Is the bottom half of the cactus even alive? Looks pretty shrunken in the photo.

[Steve Johnson]

Is the bottom half of the cactus even alive? Looks pretty shrunken in the photo.

Good question, although my gut feeling tells me the answer isn't promising. Here's another detail I should mention...

When I first got the plant, I wasn't paying attention to how it felt to the touch. Then about a month after I repotted it, I noticed that the lower part felt soft. Not squishy, but perhaps softer than it should've been. The base of the pectinatus is still soft, but the rest of it is rock hard. I won't come to any conclusions on this, although I do wonder if I'm looking at a cactus on its way to the great compost heap in the sky.

I'm not quite ready to give up yet, although if the pectinatus has been living on borrowed time, I won't be heartbroken about it since I can easily find suitable candidates for replacement. Aside from pectinatus, several other Echinocereus species are quite attractive to me. I'm on the hunt for more of the glazed ceramic pots I need anyway, so I'll be visiting local cactus shows I have on the list for April, May, and June. While I'm waiting, I'll keep an eye on whether or not the pectinatus decides to show new signs of life. If it doesn't by the time a replacement catches my eye at one of these events, my lovely growing (and hopefully flowering!) rubispinus will get a new bunkmate.

If there's nothing else to be said, then thanks muchly for looking into this matter!

[greenknight]

I would put it in a very small pot to try to get a root system established. I wouldn't hold out too much hope, anyway, but that might help,

[Steve Johnson]

I would put it in a very small pot to try to get a root system established. I wouldn't hold out too much hope, anyway, but that might help,

Actually, that's not a bad idea, so I'll give it a shot. Now it's time to play the waiting game, although I came up empty when I tried to restart a couple of cacti that lost their roots a few years ago. Maybe I'll have better luck this time. But as I said, I won't be heartbroken about it if I end up with another failure.

[peterb]

In my experience, Echinocereus root very easily when cross cut sufficiently high on the stem to remove any dead or rotten tissue. Let the cut plant dry for a good long while in dry shade, until you begin to see the bumps of new roots starting on the bottom. It will grow like crazy with a new root system.

In your climate, Echinocereus are not going to be "easy," generally, unless you aim for some of the more Mediterranean climate types (maritimus, brandegeei) or biseasonal Sonoran types. Where had you heard that rubispinus is difficult? It seems tough as nails and fairly unkillable to me, here in Phoenix.

peterb

[keith]

I think it will live it looks like it just really dried out too much. Maybe some organic in the soil with this kind of cactus ? I think they are different than the typical Mexican Living Rock cactus which can survive in almost pure pumice and rock dust.

Anyway that's how I grow Echinocereus pectinatus type species including the rubrispinus, I add some compost to the soil mix making a more acidic soil than my usual diatomaceaous earth mix. I find ridigimuss harder to grow in than rubrispinus. I think your Echinocereus pectinatus var. coahuila is often called a Echinocereus reichenbachii by the 'experts' . I have 2 E. coahuila and hope some day they both flower at the same time so I can get seeds.

If you cross rubrispinus with ridigimuss the seedlings are are easier to grow for me at least.

[Steve Johnson]

In my experience, Echinocereus root very easily when cross cut sufficiently high on the stem to remove any dead or rotten tissue. Let the cut plant dry for a good long while in dry shade, until you begin to see the bumps of new roots starting on the bottom. It will grow like crazy with a new root system.

I like your idea better than greenknight's, and from the look of it I believe there's enough of the stem left for the cut you suggest. I have the perfect place for dry shade too -- as you're saying, let the cut plant dry for a good long while. If I see root bumps, I'd be thrilled!

Re. my comment about rubispinus being difficult, I should've qualified it with "supposedly". I was going by the experience of local growers who can't keep theirs for more than a few years before the plants die. However, the variables of climate and growing practices have to be taken into account together, and in the absence of knowing more about what these growers are doing, I don't know why their track records with the species haven't been good. While my rubispinus is doing well so far, I'll be interested in seeing if it's still with me past the 3-4 year mark.

I think it will live it looks like it just really dried out too much. Maybe some organic in the soil with this kind of cactus? I think they are different than the typical Mexican Living Rock cactus which can survive in almost pure pumice and rock dust.

Possibly, although my thoughts on why the pectinatus is being a "problem child" have gone in a different direction after I repotted some other cacti yesterday...

The DG I get consists of about 60% "play sand" I have to sift out before it's ready to use. Even with all the sifting, there's still a small amount of residual fines left in the pumice-DG mix.
When I repot cacti, I've observed that the residue settles down in the pot after repeated waterings. And in fact more of it than I expected, so the residual crap has been clogging up a whole lot of teeny tiny airspaces that the finer roots could've exploited to good purpose if it weren't in there. Not enough to bother the rest of my cacti in just the mineral mix, although I may be looking at the only cactus in my collection that really didn't like this situation.

Thanks to a recommendation from James in AZ, I just started using thoroughly-rinsed mineral mix. The rubispinus is on my list to be moved from terracotta to glazed ceramic, and I'm confident that residue-free mix will take its roots from good to great. As to the pectinatus, I'm not sure if it would still want some soil in there as well. I have plenty of time to ponder this more before I make a decision. But first things first, so in the meantime I'll wait patiently and see if the cut plant responds by showing new roots. By the way, something I've known for a long time -- DG "play sand" fines make for a lousy soil substitute.

Thanks for your help, guys! I'll be sure to let y'all know if I have a good outcome here.

[greenknight]

If the base of completely dead, cutting and re-rooting it is its only hope - but it may be too late for that, it doesn't have much moisture reserve left. The last time I had a cactus's roots go like that, I started clipping off the dead roots and discovered that they were all dead. That plant wasn't as shrivelled as this one, and I was able to re-root it without cutting any farther. Can't tell from the picture if that's the case with this one.

All you can do is try, good luck with it.

[Steve Johnson]

I just put the pectinatus under the knife, so here are photos of the procedure. Cut #1 at the juncture of the main root bundle and the meristem:



Could be mistaken, but if the roots weren't entirely dead, they were close to it. Cut #2 along the base right above the soil line:



Hmmmmm, not thrilled with that pale tissue color. Cut #3 higher up on the stem:



Color of the tissues looks better, so I think that's healthy enough. Last step, coating the cut surface with sulfur powder:



This the piece that's left:



Hopefully it'll be enough to grow new roots. The cutting stays in my garage for the next few weeks until it gets moved to a dry, shady spot outside. By the way -- the excess sulfur powder flakes off as the cut surface dries, leaving a thin layer which prevents mold from setting in. In high-humidity areas like mine, this is important!

Now the real waiting game begins. My guess is that within 6 months, I'll either see new root stubs or figure that the cutting looks like it's shriveling past the point of no return. If you see my pectinatus on the forum again, it means that I'll have good news to post.

[iann]

Definitely not right at the bottom. I don't think it would have lived.

[KittieKAT]

In my expirence with corona cactus some of their stuff can be kinda sketchy, i got a L. Schotti from them and it was rotton at the base i called abs they sent me a new one, which has a smooshed top and a hole in the side of its skin i poked it to see if it was mushy and a very very unhappy spider came out of the hole, which almost made me Have to change my undies LOL! I figured well no point asking for another who knows what I'll get. So i have one that's trying to root and one that's all beaten up looking...
On the other hand over heard people give them high praise if not neutral. So id have to guess maybe they sent u a slightly rotton plant and that kinda contributed to its health issues, but that's just my take on it, maybe you'd know for sure about that. But i hope the New cut produces a good root system and it thrives. The cut looked fine in the last two pictures but the first one was deff not healthy looking. Goodluck Steve