Sick or sun-burned?

[Mrs.Green]

I have been anxiously watching and ‘cuddling’ my Hatiora herminae and the Hatiora rosea var. riograndensis. Both have grown a fair bit since I got them and everything was going well. Yes..shouldn’t have thought that obviously now there is something wrong . Some of the new stemsegments on the riograndensis have dried up and there are some spots on it I don’t like. The H. herminae have lost three new stemsegments and the growing points look both pale and crusty, if that make any sense? See pics.

Is there any chance this could be sunburn or could it be something worse? If its just sunburn ( they don’t get much direct sun ) I will place them in my bathroom with some of my Schlumbergeras and Hatiora hybrids but if there is something bad going on, I don’t want to risk my other cacti in that room.

[greenknight]

They look sun-stressed, not quite sunburned. These can take early morning/late evening sun, maybe winter sun, but no direct sun other than that. We're approaching the summer solstice, when the sun is most intense, maybe it just got to be too much where they are.

I've never seen H. herminae in person, but from photos I've seen those tips look normal. Shedding segments is a clear sign of stress, though (but you should be able to root them).

[hegar]

Hello Mrs. Green,
Spence is most likely correct with his assessment of the cactus problem. Most likely, your two cacti belong into the category of "jungle cacti", like Rhipsalis, Epiphyllum, Schlumbergera, etc.. Those do best in filtered light.
I am only slightly concered about the region on the two stems of the first plant shown (Hatiora rosea var. riograndensis), that you did mark with red arrows. These visible spots could be caused by a pathogen. Keep an eye on them, to see, if they do enlarge or multiply. If you are in fact dealing with a fungus, there will be either a fuzzy layer appear (mycelium) or you will see either cushion-shaped or spherical tiny dots develop.

Harald

[greenknight]

Agreed. If you see any sign of spore-bearing bodies appearing, remove that segment and throw it away. That should be enough to prevent spreading.

[Mrs.Green]

Thank you Greenknight and Hegar it’s definitly something wrong with the H. herminae, hopefully nothing that will be transmitted to other cacti. I did repot it in a slightly bigger pot maybe that was a stressfactor for it. I have moved both of them to the bathroom who is one of the coldest places in the house and there is very little sun there. Hopefully it will react well to this. They both grew a fair bit before the sun got stronger. I will keep an eye of the spots on the riograndensis. Not that I haven’t kept an eye on them before..in fact I have anxiously watched them every day since I got them. I was very pleased with how they developed so far , maybe that is the problem, I got to content..

[Mrs.Green]

I have studied these two plants a lot , also with a magnifying glass and I suspect I have found the culprit in this case.. Only one on each plant ( that I could see) but it sure looked a lot like thrips..

[MikeInOz]

They both look over-watered to me. The mix for the herminiae is way too fine and the pot way too big. I can't tell for the other one. For continued health they need to dry out between waterings. Continuous moisture will lead to root rot and the segments falling off or browning off at the tips or both. That size plant should be in a pot no larger than 2 inches and the mix should be based on 3-5mm orchid bark. You can always add water but you can't take it away!

[Mrs.Green]

They both look over-watered to me. The mix for the herminiae is way too fine and the pot way too big. I can't tell for the other one. For continued health they need to dry out between waterings. Continuous moisture will lead to root rot and the segments falling off or browning off at the tips or both. That size plant should be in a pot no larger than 2 inches and the mix should be based on 3-5mm orchid bark. You can always add water but you can't take it away!

Thank you MikeInOz I have been watering both plants very sparingly since I got them, but they were misted every day. They live indoors all year. They both grew well until the sun came back , in the same substrate but off course you are right about it isn’t the best choice ( it was the only thing I had at the time I got them) . The herminae doesn’t look that ‘fleshy’ all the time, its just after watering. I don’t know if it have any relevance but I did notice that the stem segments falling off shriveled very fast, tree days after falling off they are almost invisible. Stem segments from
Hatiora bambusoides who falls off ‘lives’ a lot longer. You don’t think the thrips have something to do with both plants ‘unhappines’?

There is another possible explanation I forgot to mention ; the water itself. Normally we have excellent drinking water, very soft and no chlorine added. Due to an upgrade we will for a period of time have water from another source of lower quality and as a result the water is now chlorinated. Which leads the water to be undrinkable, it not only stinks of chlorine but is also containing humus. I am no chemist but I have understood that airing the water to getting rid of the chlorine doesn’t work when humus is present? If I remembers right the humus binds the chlorine, so airing doesn’t work. The problems with both plants started around the same time as the water changed, could off course be an coincident but I do wonder.

[MikeInOz]

They both look over-watered to me. The mix for the herminiae is way too fine and the pot way too big. I can't tell for the other one. For continued health they need to dry out between waterings. Continuous moisture will lead to root rot and the segments falling off or browning off at the tips or both. That size plant should be in a pot no larger than 2 inches and the mix should be based on 3-5mm orchid bark. You can always add water but you can't take it away!

Thank you MikeInOz I have been watering both plants very sparingly since I got them, but they were misted every day. They live indoors all year. They both grew well until the sun came back , in the same substrate but off course you are right about it isn’t the best choice ( it was the only thing I had at the time I got them) . The herminae doesn’t look that ‘fleshy’ all the time, its just after watering. I don’t know if it have any relevance but I did notice that the stem segments falling off shriveled very fast, tree days after falling off they are almost invisible. Stem segments from
Hatiora bambusoides who falls off ‘lives’ a lot longer. You don’t think the thrips have something to do with both plants ‘unhappines’?

There is another possible explanation I forgot to mention ; the water itself. Normally we have excellent drinking water, very soft and no chlorine added. Due to an upgrade we will for a period of time have water from another source of lower quality and as a result the water is now chlorinated. Which leads the water to be undrinkable, it not only stinks of chlorine but is also containing humus. I am no chemist but I have understood that airing the water to getting rid of the chlorine doesn’t work when humus is present? If I remembers right the humus binds the chlorine, so airing doesn’t work. The problems with both plants started around the same time as the water changed, could off course be an coincident but I do wonder.

If you have bad water you might need to install a good charcoal filter. They are reasonably cheap and easy to install. First test how bad the water is by using it on some sensitive plants like Maidenhair fern or begonia. If they are ok after 6 months, it's not the water.
The thrips will need to be eradicated with an oil spray or something but I doubt that is the main problem. Note too that the way to water is not a little bit here and there. Let them dry out completely and then drench them several times until completely soaked and repeat....The faster they dry out, the more you need to soak them, the happier they will be.

I have been watering both plants very sparingly since I got them, but they were misted every day.

Yes but with a fine mix, it may take a week to fully dry out (especially indoors where there is little air movement. Remember that these plants particularly herminiae grow high up in trees and are subject to constant air movement or even wind which quickly dries them out during the day) and in the meantime, not enough air reaching the roots because of a low air-filled porosity. Even misting everyday will allow the fine mix to retain some water and slow down the drying process. It is much safer to have the correct mix from the start. Very open and slightly acidic, and them mist more often if needed. It's a bit of trial but that's the way to grow them. Is there some place outside where you can put them over summer? They will do much better - in the right position.

[Mrs.Green]

Thank you very much MikeInOz The only orchidmix available here consists of rather coarse pinebark chips, varying in size from 1-3 centimeters. Apart from the size of it I worries it would be to acid for the plant? Placing them outdoors would require a cage of some sort, since they are so small that even a small bird or cats could easily knock them over and destroy them.

[7george]

Placing outdoors these forest cacti can cause sunburns of course. Often fungi follow and damaged tissue gets secondary infections very soon so it's not easy to get what is going on wright away. Successive adaptation can take weeks of shading and other smart approach.

Here is a plant I took outside and it got damaged by sun and other things afterwards.

Hylocereus

IMG-7127d.jpg (97.14 KiB) Viewed 2336 times

[Mrs.Green]

Placing outdoors these forest cacti can cause sunburns of course. Often fungi follow and damaged tissue gets secondary infections very soon so it's not easy to get what is going on wright away. Successive adaptation can take weeks of shading and other smart approach.

Here is a plant I took outside and it got damaged by sun and other things afterwards.
IMG-7127d.jpg

Thank you 7george I do have places to put them outdoor with no risk of sunburn but the temperature can easily go as low as 7-8 degrees celsius at night, even when its summer here ( now). It can also get quite humid here, especially at night. I did came up with an idea of how to place them outdoors safely though, in an empty birdcage. I have studied both the H.herminae and the riograndensis a lot with a magnifying glass and I suspect there is some form of fungi at work.. Which is a bummer since they both did so well for several months.

[Mrs.Green]

Update; After both plants lost several stemsegments, I feared they were bouth lost causes. I repotted them and placed them in the bathroom , which is both cooler and have only a bit of evening sun. Today I noticed new growth on both plants! Fingers crossed and knock on wood!