Another rot-related question

[HP22B]

This time on ... "Rot or not!"

I'm worried about my loph. The corking you see at soil level has always been there and is just an older hard area. The wrinkly yellow however developing above this cork is new and is somewhat soft, although the whole plant is also soft because of dehydration.



Is rot developing? This is surprising since this cactus has only received one or two good waterings this year so far.

If emergency surgery is needed, could I cut the main head off and try to reroot, or would this be fruitless?

Thanks!

[adetheproducer]

I cannot see the picture while in work, Ill take another look once I get home see what can be done.

[pins&needles13]

I'm not sure that's rot but I don't like how it looks. If you look above the yellowing the skin is slightly discolored.

[adetheproducer]

Cant see anything of too much concern that yellowing just looks like corking in the early stages keep an eye on it but does not look bad. The plant does look quite plump which if it has only had 2 waterings makes me think its in the wrong type of soil, to much organic material does seem to bloat lophs out quite a lot so even when dehydrated between waters they still look quite fat, nitrogen is like steriods to them and turns them into water babies. Take a look at the soil I keep mine in, what you see on the top is the same all the way down to pot just minerals no organics.

[HP22B]

The mix I'm using is 2:2:1 pumice:gravel:light soil. Would you suggest repotting so I can both check on the roots near the yellow spot and switch to a purely mineral mix? How frequently do you water/fertilize your lophs with a strict mineral mix? I haven't used anything without at least a little organics before.

Thanks for your help!

[Robb]

I wouldn't worry about your soil mix HP22B, I use a similar mix for most of my cacti and they do fine. Definitely re-pot the plant to check the yellow spot. It doesn't seem like anything to worry about, but it's better to be safer than sorry .

[adetheproducer]

I water very regularly in summer at the moment between one a week and once a fortnight I do not use fertilizers I collect rain water so any algi that builds up in my water storage is the only organics they see but even that is very limited due to how quickly I use my stored water, we get so much rain over here I only use about a 20 litre storage bucket as it fills regularly. In spring and autumn watering is less frequent and only when dry at all times of the year.
I am a definite subscriber to the stone eaters clan of cacti enthusiast and only use organics in a very limited number of plants but many do not subscribe to this method of care and seems to be on the fringes of generally accepted care. I tested the pure mineral on a few cacti not long after starting my collection and had such good results I made the switch to pure mineral quickly.
I get great growth each year and lots of flowers so it is working for me, I may well need to use fertilizers in the future but after 2 seasons in mineral mixes my plants have not yet yearned for organics and are always nice and firm. I had to re-pot a few this year too where root balls got too big for the pots, the most surprising one was my young ariocarpus trigonus. It was about 1.5cm wide at the tap root when I got it, I move to a wider pot and found it now looks like an upturned light bulb about 3-4cm wide, much wider than the green parts above ground.