Corking or rot?

Trouble shoot problems you are having with your cactus.
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pyehol
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Joined: Tue Jul 14, 2015 12:40 pm
Location: Somerset, England

Corking or rot?

Post by pyehol »

I've had this cactus nearly 10 years. It's gone brown around the base. Is this corking or rot? It doesn't seem to be mushy or squishy although hard to get to touch the flesh due to spines! Also I'm a newbie - what actually is corking? Why does it happen?l

I've now realised that keeping 3 cacti in one pot is a bad idea! As they all have different watering and light needs and space too - so I have repotted them separately since pictures.
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CactusMad
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Joined: Wed Aug 27, 2014 12:07 am
Location: England,U.K

Re: Corking or rot?

Post by CactusMad »

Hi,I'm sorry I can't comment on the brown on your cacti as i feel i am not knowledgeable enough on that topic but the soil your cacti are in doesn't look great,may i ask what it is.Also do those pots have drainage holes in the bottom?
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greenknight
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Joined: Tue Apr 30, 2013 4:18 am
Location: SW Washington State zone 8b

Re: Corking or rot?

Post by greenknight »

Poke it with a stick. When you can't touch it with your fingers, use a pen or something to see if it's soft. However, if the roots looked ok when you repotted it there's probably nothing to worry about.

The top part of a cactus is the only active, growing part. The bottom part a of columnar cactus just gets old and woody, then you see corking. On globular cacti, the old part shrinks up, that's how they manage to remain the same shape as they grow bigger, instead of being shaped like a light bulb. Some are kind of in-between in habit.
Spence :mrgreen:
pyehol
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Joined: Tue Jul 14, 2015 12:40 pm
Location: Somerset, England

Re: Corking or rot?

Post by pyehol »

CactusMad wrote:Hi,I'm sorry I can't comment on the brown on your cacti as i feel i am not knowledgeable enough on that topic but the soil your cacti are in doesn't look great,may i ask what it is.Also do those pots have drainage holes in the bottom?
It's cactus and succulent soil, however the ingredients look very similar to regular compost so not sure what to do. And yes there are a few drainage holes at the bottom
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greenknight
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Location: SW Washington State zone 8b

Re: Corking or rot?

Post by greenknight »

A lot of what's sold as cactus soil holds too much water, needs more grit added. See the "Cultivation" forum, lots of good information on soil mixes there.
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iann
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Joined: Mon Jul 24, 2006 11:10 pm
Location: England

Re: Corking or rot?

Post by iann »

"Cactus & Succulent compost" *is* regular compost. With perhaps an extra cup of perlite. It isn't worthy of the name, and if you want to grow more than an occasional vigorous succulent, you'll have to find something better.
--ian
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