I'm not a Sulco expert, I must admit, but this just looks like corking due to old damage and it shouldn't cause any significant problems. If you notice it spreading, then that might be cause for concern, but the growing point looks nice and healthy. It looks like it's pushing out a pup at the side ...

I used to have a really nice cactus collection when I was much younger. I'm getting back into it again, although it seems like I'm right back to newbie status after what I knew so long ago. But I'll take a shot in the dark here... From what I understand, after summer cacti will start to "wind d...

Unfortunately it has turned out that my Turbinicarpus was much worse off than I thought. My problem was not being able to take any time for an attempt on the situation until this weekend. By then, I could see that rot was well involved going from the taproot into the crown of the plant. The one good...

Back in June I purchased a small collection from the California Cactus Center (Pasadena, CA). Their cactus mix seems to be working well. I'm adding an additional 20-25% pumice for 3 Astrophytums, a Cephalocereus senilis, and a Melocactus matanzus. I'm a few miles south of downtown Los Angeles, so I ...

The orange spots don't look immediately fatal, but the plants do look dehydrated considering all the water you've been giving them. The soil should stay dry from now until perhaps April. These plants have a taproot for a reason, and that would be to survive long dry periods. You can dig it up if yo...

Thanks to some help on identifying a Turbinicarpus macrochele var polaskii, I'm discovering what I believe is a fungus problem. This plant has about 7 or 8 small reddish-brown spots that started manifesting sometime in October (maybe about 3 weeks ago or so). Here's a photo: https://farm5.staticflic...

What is the size of the plant/flower? My first thought was Turbinicarpus . The large plant is about 1 3/4", and it flowered a few times over the summer at about 1" or so. Also, the plant has three seedlings that came with it in the pot from the California Cactus Center. The largest seedli...

Hello, all! After being away from cacti for a lot of years, I'm back into it again with a small collection. I have some really nice plants from the California Cactus Center, although I'm a bit puzzled about this one. It was originally identified as a Neochilenia (or is that Neochilena?) sp. Frankly,...