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I have a cactus that I rescued from a previous job that is doing well except that it's bent over and I haven't figured out how to fix it yet. A few years ago a piece of it broke off and was planted in another pot. That piece is now doing fine although it is also starting to curve a little. Picture included below (sorry for the focus!) of the rescued plant, the piece that broke off is in the background.

More light will prevent this plant from bending. In strong light, preferably direct sun outdoors, it will grow straight up. In a window it will generally lean.

This rescue plant has grown an "arm" from where it broke. The arm set off sideways but wanted to grow up so you got the curve.

You can chop the plant at any point and it will grow new roots. You must already have done this with the broken piece.

I agree, what is done is done. You can't go back and change the plant, but re-starting will be your only way to get it straight again.

It might not be a bad Idea to give it a little bigger pot with some more cactus-friendly soil too. More info here: http://www.cactiguide.com/growcacti/

iann wrote:More light will prevent this plant from bending. In strong light, preferably direct sun outdoors, it will grow straight up. In a window it will generally lean.

This rescue plant has grown an "arm" from where it broke. The arm set off sideways but wanted to grow up so you got the curve.

You can chop the plant at any point and it will grow new roots. You must already have done this with the broken piece.

Would you recommend cutting the plant where it is semi straight ie: on the arm? Also, what do I do with the remainder of the plant? It seems like it would start growing another arm where it is cut, but it will just be bent again. I hate to throw away most of a plant! Maybe multiple pieces?

You can cut it anywhere. It won't hurt to bury the curved part in the soil. The original stem will just keep putting off new arms as long as it is alive. If you want, you could keep making new plants with it, or just let the main plant grow multiple arms and become a clump.

Hello. I found this old topic. So i want to ask is it normaly? or is it sick? Becouse cacti position is in the sun but its stil bending, i dont know what to do.. ?

It's a Mammillaria, they tend to do that when they get tall - perfectly normal.

greenknight wrote:It's a Mammillaria, they tend to do that when they get tall - perfectly normal.

Thank you! So I can repot her childrens, right? Everything will be normal? And how to grow her if she falls down?

Yes, you can root offsets from it and have normal plants.

The old plant will probably be fine the way it is, make sure the soil is well pressed down so it doesn't uproot from the weight hanging off the side. Eventually it will reach the windowsill and find support. You could put it in a shallow trough-shaped planter where it has room to sprawl across the surface, if you could find something like that. It will never stand up on its own again, but you could re-pot it standing up and tie it to a stake, if you don't want it taking up so much space.

greenknight wrote:Yes, you can root offsets from it and have normal plants.

The old plant will probably be fine the way it is, make sure the soil is well pressed down so it doesn't uproot from the weight hanging off the side. Eventually it will reach the windowsill and find support. You could put it in a shallow trough-shaped planter where it has room to sprawl across the surface, if you could find something like that. It will never stand up on its own again, but you could re-pot it standing up and tie it to a stake, if you don't want it taking up so much space.

Thank you very!