a little over a month ago, my moon cactus (I guess what that's what he is?) fell over and all the rocks and everything came out of the pot. when this happened, he tore on the side and started losing his color. the top is fine. I just took these pics 5 minutes ago. 2 weeks ago I replanted him into a clay pot with a hole (he was in a cup with no hole- pictured below) and I buried him a little more deeper to cover up the original tear. he tore last week again from being outside but the tears healed up/'scabbed'
the stem is very sturdy and isn't weak or anything. is there any way to save this? I've been just letting nature take its course over the last month but he seems to be thriving (?)
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Sigh don't by moon cactu unless you have another grafting stock you have to change it every few years that's why I don't grow moon cacti regular cactu live much longer and are way better
spikef35 wrote:Sigh don't by moon cactu unless you have another grafting stock you have to change it every few years that's why I don't grow moon cacti regular cactu live much longer and are way better
it was a Christmas present. Let me relay this message to the gift giver and be totally offensive
spikef35 is right. The top of the plant combination is a mutant, which cannot survive by itself, because it does not produce chlorophyll.
It is dependent on the rootstock. Your rootstock - most likely some species of Hylocereus - developed a root rot and died.
In order to save the orange Gymnocalycium cactus you need to find another cactus, preferably with roots, onto which you could graft the former.
I have never done any grafting of a cactus, but there should be some information available about this technique under the tab "Growing Cacti" on top of this page.
Hi,I'm not sure that the OP is aware that it is two plants to start with.
Hi Jodeci just incase you aren't aware.You have two cacti there.The top one that looks healthy (at least for now) and the bottom one which looks not good at all.They have been grafted together because the top one cannot survive on it's own due to it's colour.It now needs to be separated and put onto a new bottom one as that one is no longer any good and the top one will die off.
I have no experience of how to go about it so you need to find out about grafting.
Anyone who's been following this Forum for a while will know that I hate these abominations, but that's just my opinion and doesn't help the OP.
If it was mine, I would try to find a hobbyist who has some experience of grafting to help you. There are 3 baby offsets on your scion (the top bit) that should graft with a good probability of success. Use a stock (the bottom bit) of something like Harrisia and if successful, you should have a long lasting moon cactus. I don't think that going it alone will have a happy outcome.
If you are unable to find a local grafter to help you, here is something I wrote a while back which shows the basic moves. If you leave your plant as it is now, you will lose it, from what I can see, the stock, which is all that is keeping the scion alive, is dead and no longer offering any sustenance to the scion.
