white fuzz

[Jodeci]

my cactus has been growing a lot recently and he grew hair and he has fuzz in it. what is this? are these bugs? also what is that black spot?





also on this cactus it had white fuzz on it in the summer, i put him outside and it blew off but right before he died he got it back. he was leaking water


help pls
-jodeci

[Steve Johnson]

my cactus has been growing a lot recently and he grew hair and he has fuzz in it. what is this? are these bugs? also what is that black spot?

Ooh, it looks like a classic case of mealies. Mealy bugs are a type of scale insect, and every cactus grower has dealt with them at one time or another. In fact, both of the cacti in your photos are badly infested. The black spot on your first one looks like mechanical damage, possibly it got poked by the spine(s) of another cactus. Two questions:

1. How long have you had your cacti?

2. Where do you live? I ask because what you can do depends on whether you live in the northern or southern hemisphere. In Europe perhaps?

I looked at your thread on the Cacti Identification forum, and you have some serious problems going on. If you can give me a little information, I'll do whatever I can to help.

[Jodeci]

thought so. i saw one crawling on the table a few weeks ago before the other cactus died and i just killed it and it went away. could it had gotten it from the deceased cactus before i threw it away?
i live in new york. they don't go outside anymore.
the one in the painted clay pot (other thread) i have had since january 2012. the dead one and the long one i have had since august 2012.
i have a venus flytrap (dead but regrowing stalks) right next to them on the table. could this be doing it?
should i get rid of the cactus? i don't want the one in the colored pot to get sick. it's my favorite
please help me steve

[Jodeci]

just went to go check on it and it looks liek this. is it gone??

also wanted to add that he had a little stalk taht died the same day that the little plant died. it shriveled up now. this was ~3 weeks ago

[Steve Johnson]

just went to go check on it and it looks liek this. is it gone??

also wanted to add that he had a little stalk taht died the same day that the little plant died. it shriveled up now. this was ~3 weeks ago

I'm sorry that the news isn't good for you. But let's see if we can save your cacti. If not, the advice I'm about to give you will also apply to any new plants you get. Unfortunately, you fell into some common mistakes, although you shouldn't feel bad about it -- this helps you to learn, and we were all beginners once!

Mealies attack many different types of plants. I don't know if it could've been your venus flytrap, but unless you've gotten any new cacti recently, I suppose it's possible. In any case, you'll need to get the infestation under control. What you're about to do will address 2 problems at the same time:

1. Gently remove the plants and their soil from their pots. Shake off the soil from the roots, but be careful -- tearing off roots is unavoidable, although you'll want to minimize that as much as you can. Examine the roots and see if they look healthy or rotted. If you see any root rot, you'll definitely tell. At that point, the plants won't be worth saving. However, if the roots look good, then the next step is to gently soak them in warm, soapy water for about 15 minutes. Plain dish soap is effective, and it will kill any root mealies. (I'm willing to bet you have some in there.) As you soak the roots, move them around to remove as much of the remaining soil in the root ball as possible. Rinse off the roots in running water. Now you'll have nice clean roots ready for repotting!

2. Next, spray the plants thoroughly with Isopropyl alcohol. This kills the mealies you've already seen on contact. After your cacti are dried off, you can use a q-tip or tweezers to carefully pick off the dead mealies. It's very important because mealies can be stubborn, and if you don't remove the dead ones, you won't be able to see if mealies have appeared again. If you do, spray again and repeat the process until you see that the mealies are totally gone. Be persistent.

3. The roots need to stay dry before you repot. Keep your cacti in a safe place, a dark spot is good. Since it's Winter, they can stay that way for weeks without hurting them. However, sooner is better. A major problem with your soil is that it's too rich for desert cacti (that's what you have). Throw away the plastic pots you have and replace them. (They do make good liners for terracotta pots, so keep your terracotta.) Go to your local nursery or garden center and get a cactus mix. Commercial mixes on their own aren't very good, so you'll need to add a mineral component to the soil for free drainage. I use pumice, which I can find very easily in my area. If you can't find it there, a good alternative is NAPA 8822 (Floor-Dri) available at auto parts stores. Some people use Perlite, but it's the least desirable choice. Others on the forum may be able to help you find better alternatives, so go with Perlite only if you can't find anything else. A ratio of 50/50 mineral/cactus mix is good, although you could go more in favor of the mineral component.

4. Now that you have your new cactus mix and plastic pots, repot the cacti in dry mix. Do not water yet. Your cacti should be dormant in Winter (I'll address that more in a moment), and they won't be ready to start growing until Spring. The plants will need to let their roots settle in and start growing before it's time to water. Unless you have a cold Spring, I'd say that first watering in mid-April should be fine. The reason for your free-draining mix is that the water will go through quickly without retaining too much moisture. (When your cactus was leaking water before it died, that tells you the soil you were using held moisture way too long.) Water every 1-2 weeks in Spring and Summer. If it's warm enough in September/October, water every 2 weeks, but don't water when the weather starts getting cold. Don't water at all in the Winter. Some shriveling in Winter is normal, and people who don't know cacti think that their plants will die without water. No -- a good way to kill them is watering when they want to be asleep for the Winter.

5. This is the last problem I need to address for you. Your plants have a thin, stretched appearance caused by inadequate sunlight. This is called etoliation. Desert cacti want to be outside in plenty of sun when they're growing in the Spring/Summer season. Trying to grow them indoors just doesn't work well because the light from a window is directed at one side of the plant, while the other side won't get nearly enough. The result is unnatural growth and sickly-looking plants. Keep your cacti outside in the growing season. Keeping them inside for the Fall and Winter is fine as long as they're not being watered. The reason why your plants look etoliated is because when you've been giving them water, the warmth in your home has been forcing them to grow. Unfortunately there's nothing you can do about the etoliation now, but when they start growing outside in the Spring, the new growth will start looking normal again. If you feel that the unnatural growth looks too bad, you may want to throw out the ones you have and start over with replacement cacti.

I've just given you some good basics on how to grow healthy cacti. If you need any more help on growing them, please don't hesitate to ask questions on the Cultivation forum.

[Jodeci]

could that have been dust? last night i went to go look at it and it was gone and this morning i looked and nothing is there. all that is there is more white hair bceause it's growing.
so I shouldn't water them at all now, but keep them inside? i watered my first cactus a lot in the summer and he grew twice the size.

[Steve Johnson]

could that have been dust? last night i went to go look at it and it was gone and this morning i looked and nothing is there. all that is there is more white hair bceause it's growing.
so I shouldn't water them at all now, but keep them inside? i watered my first cactus a lot in the summer and he grew twice the size.

It can be difficult for a "remote diagnosis" based on photos, so what you saw may have been simply dust. And yes, don't water your cacti at all until they're ready to grow in Spring. As I said, water in the Spring and Summer, keep them dry in Fall and Winter.