CactiGuide.com

Hello,

This is my peruvian torch. Does anybody know what happenend? And most important, what can i do about it?

Eeew...don't know what caused that, but I think surgery is needed - it looks like there's some rot involved. Cut it back until it's clear of any discoloration, sterilizing the knife with rubbing alcohol before each cut. Slant the last cut so moisture will run off. It should then put out branches.

Probably froze. At least part of it is now dead.

Just out of interest, how cold did it get? These are pretty hardy.

Thanks for your answers. I will cut the rotten part off the plant.

It didn't get really cold, previous winters it was colder. I am not sure how this happened.

So, i should just cut the sick part off and then it will grow again?

Yup give it time it well re grow a neww offset. Id also recommend swiping the open cut with sulfur Powder to stop infection or anything happening to it while healing.

If the damage is limited to what you can see in that picture, it should grow. Dusting the cut with sulfur, as KittieKAT advises, couldn't hurt.

They are pretty frost hardy when dry and dormant - if the stem is plump with water it's vulnerable to damage from freezing. Could that be what happened?

Yes it could be that the stem is plump with water. Good to know that its not a disease. I'll cut it off and put it in a dry place. hope it will grow again.

I cut the cactus open. I had two with the same problem. Now one looks normal inside with a white flesh color. The flesh of the other cactus is not white anymore but greyish color. Is it still good?

See the pic i added...

Hoping for your replies...

Keep cutting the other one till it looks like the healthy one on the right

It deff like like it was frozen id let it defrost a little too!

Hi Kittiekat,

I cut it down to the root but its the same color through the whole cactus.

Do you think its still consumable?

If u let it kinda D-frost and just swipe the pieces your gonna try to re-root with sulfur powder and let them dry for a few days then pot then up, swipe the end that's rooted in the pot with sulfur powder let it dry and itll prob make offsets if its not completly gone. I think it may be fine but u never kno, trt rooting the pieces you cut from it if they are big enough chunks and if/when they root they may have offsets. Be patient it takes a while sometimes a few months. If any thing starts going mushy brown and soft its prob not gonna live but at least try and root some. Don't water the ones yr rooting until they grow a reasonable amount of roots or they will rott. Goodluck

Thanks Kittiekat for this advise. I will try this and hope it will help!

rimbochteld wrote:Hi Kittiekat,

I cut it down to the root but its the same color through the whole cactus.

Do you think its still consumable?

If consumption is your concern I'd bet it's still okay. As far as planting and rerooting, maybe not so much.