Sick p.pachycladus

[maurozzz]

Hi all,

So I have some P.pachycladus and temps dropped here in LA to about low 40’s. I noticed this a few days after on the tip (purple,bluish) today I looked closer and saw what i think is rot in one. Any suggestions of what it is or should do? Thanks in advanced.

[ElieEstephane]

Cut as soon as possible

[greenknight]

Agreed. Cut it back until the cut surface is free of any discoloration. Sterilize the knife before each cut (alcohol or chlorine bleach work well).

[adetheproducer]

I had this on a astrophytum myriostigma and it was fatal. It's a fungi infection I cannot remember the name of it off hand but it's talked about in and early xerophilia issue. As said above cut it off, slice it like a cucumber cleaning the blade between each cut until the black is gone and all you see is bright pale green but I think it's a gonna personally. The fungi spreads down through the xylem and phloem tubes pretty swiftly then spreads out so what looks healthy lower down externally is already infected internally. Good luck though hopefully I'm wrong and you can save it. If you do manage to keep it alive once it sets new offsets and they get a decent size take them off a root separately you will then have multiple plants and without the ugly scars.

[maurozzz]

I had this on a astrophytum myriostigma and it was fatal. It's a fungi infection I cannot remember the name of it off hand but it's talked about in and early xerophilia issue. As said above cut it off, slice it like a cucumber cleaning the blade between each cut until the black is gone and all you see is bright pale green but I think it's a gonna personally. The fungi spreads down through the xylem and phloem tubes pretty swiftly then spreads out so what looks healthy lower down externally is already infected internally. Good luck though hopefully I'm wrong and you can save it. If you do manage to keep it alive once it sets new offsets and they get a decent size take them off a root separately you will then have multiple plants and without the ugly scars.

Thank you all for the helpful tips. I will cut it off as instructed and hope for the best. I believe I know what happened? I bought these from a cacti vendor at a flea market. I didn't transfer it to a bigger pot as there was construction on my backyard going on. I came out a few days later and found the pot on the side and the roots were exposed. The temp dropped to the low 40's during that week, I'm thinking the roots got exposed to the cold temp? Just a guess, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. Either way I will proceed with cutting the tips and hope for the best. Thank you all!

[adetheproducer]

This infection usually starts at the apex in amongst the fur and spines in the growth tip and spreads down. It happens if there is damp sitting there for a while. It probably was not great being pulled out of the pot but not it's demise.

[maurozzz]

This infection usually starts at the apex in amongst the fur and spines in the growth tip and spreads down. It happens if there is damp sitting there for a while. It probably was not great being pulled out of the pot but not it's demise.

It came out of nowhere, one day one tip got blue and purple, then a week later the other did. A week later one has a hole with rot. I have other P. pachycladus next to them with no problem. These were in the same pot, and these were knocked over with the root ball exposed for possibly a night or two.