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TomL
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed Aug 23, 2017 12:03 pm
Location: Ireland

Hello

Post by TomL »

Just a small introduction :)
I'm Tom, I joined the forum so I can learn to better care for my t.pachanoi (pic attached).
It has become very weathered from spending its 10 or so year lifetime being ignored and outdoors here in Ireland with little to no shelter from the rain (high wall on one side).
It has done amazingly well considering but now I have cut it down and am trying to root the 2 big salvageable bits indoors and the old root stock has started to put out new growth but looks strange...maybe it's monstrose due to the chopping the plant has endured in the past few months.

I already have learned a lot from browsing the site and would like learn more and participate, any advice I receive here will be put to good use.

Thanks for an amazing resource :D
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The powder is sulphur as I had noticed a bit of white mould growing around the cut
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gemhunter178
Posts: 2762
Joined: Mon Oct 31, 2011 6:10 pm
Location: Massachusetts,USA. Zone 6A

Re: Hello

Post by gemhunter178 »

Welcome!
A cactus and succulent collector who especially likes Ariocarpus. …Though I have a bit of everything! Want some pictures? See my flickr! I also do art and such.
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hegar
Posts: 4596
Joined: Mon Jan 23, 2006 4:04 am
Location: El Paso, Texas

Re: Hello

Post by hegar »

Welcome to the cactus and succulent forum of CactiGuide. You are already doing a great job, keeping the Trichocereus pachanoi plant alive in its pot outdoors in Ireland. It looks, like you did use a well-draining growing medium and also pebbles on top of the big pot. Why did you need to cut the plant to size? It does look perfectly fine on the first image.

Harald
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TomL
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed Aug 23, 2017 12:03 pm
Location: Ireland

Re: Hello

Post by TomL »

Hello everyone and thanks for the welcome :)
hegar wrote: Why did you need to cut the plant to size? It does look perfectly fine on the first image.
Thank you :) I was also very pleased with how it was looking this year but I had started noticing some unsightly marks on the previous years growth and some brown spots (sun burn?) had started to appear on the growth tips.
Also some of the marks that had occurred in previous years started to become bigger/worse.
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I know you weren't implying anything, but for the record, I didn't cut it to eat it lol :lol: I do realise this sp. has a history of being used by indigenous people and in more recent times by hippies :) But that aspect of the plant doesn't interest me in the least bit. Admittedly I did buy the initial cutting in a hippy shop years ago,but only because of its looks and the sales pitch (can grow outdoors, upto 20ft.)

This year I wanted to take better care of it and let the pot dry out and overwinter inside but the pot was just too heavy and unwieldy with the plant included so I decided to remove the two huge pups and cut down the stock to about an inch over ground level.

Maybe I was being overly cautious and the marks were just ordinary weathering but I was worried if I get a bad winter this year it might make it look much worse or even maybe turn the entire plant too mush :?

Anyway this is what I have now :) Hopefully roots will have started to form by next spring?

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I wonder what everyons opinion is? Have I been too cautious?
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hegar
Posts: 4596
Joined: Mon Jan 23, 2006 4:04 am
Location: El Paso, Texas

Re: Hello

Post by hegar »

Well, I was not thinking about you harvesting a pound or more and consume it, in order to feel good. :lol:
Even in this country, which does not allow anyone - except for some native tribes - to legally possess peyote cacti, your plant would not be restricted. I believe, that the chemical substance is not concentrated enough to be of value to the recreational user.

I do understand your reasoning for amputating your plant. Sometimes, if you are not cautious enough and fail to take action early, you may lose the cactus. Looking at the lesions, they seem to be mostly benign scabs, perhaps caused by mechanical injury, feeding damage, etc..
The only spot that I do see, which may have a fungal problem, is the largest one on your photo. On the lower right part there are what looks like small dark grey dimples. Those are most likely fungal fruit bodies. I am not saying, that the presence of this fungus - if it were confirmed - would lead to your cactus succumbing to it. It may well be a secondary organism of very low or no pathogenicity, which took up residence as an opportunistic organism, after the plant's epidermis had been damaged.
Because your plant is a vigorous and fast grower, it was probably a good idea to discard of any part of it, which could be causing trouble in the future.
That way, you did end up with two healthy smaller plants. :)

Harald
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