New Sulcorebutia in trouble

[Jerry-001]

I purchased this little guy about a month ago and repotted it. The next day it got caught in an unusual November rain shower (I am 20 miles east of Los Angeles, California). The weather is cool in the evenings, +40's F, and in the 70-80 where it sits next to a wall on the south side of the house with lots of ventilation and sun. It's settling next to some very happy Lithops.

I usually go with a Darwinian approach to cactus but I really would like to save this one. I did the squeeze test and it is a little soft, but it could just be desiccation or my lack of experience. The potting soil is commercial cactus mix, pumice and DG in equal amounts and the bottom of the pot is full of larger DG. When I repotted I noticed that the pups were not tightly held to the button and kind of drifted away a little. I also left the button a about 1/4 inch higher than I got it, which was flush with the top dressing. After taking and looking at the pictures below I noticed several dark and white spots at the base and decided I needed help.

I may be just paranoid because it's the first new cactus in a while and its so small (about the size of a quarter) that it will fade fast if anything is out of whack. Most of my cactus are old brutes in the ground. It just doesn’t seem to be popping back from the repot like I thought it should. Does it look sick to you and if so, what steps do you recommend to bringing it back?

Thanks for any help


<EDIT>
I have zoomed in on the areas I am uncertain about. After looking at more pictures of this variant on line it may just be the way this cactus looks. In the close-up pictures I see little white things on the surface and I was concerned that they were fungus heads poking through the body but they may just be chunks of pumice stuck to the side and the side buckling my just be the look of this variant. The reason for my concern was that I got a nice plump pink one at a cactus show and in comparison, this one looks like a collapsing sick-o. I guess time will tell if there really is an issue.

[Steve Johnson]

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 down" as they get ready for going dormant in winter. IMHO establishing newly acquired cacti can be problematic beyond the end of September, especially if rainfall becomes an issue. Unfortunately, I think that November rain came at a bad time for your Sulcorebutia, and I suspect a fungus problem which began in the roots, then went into the plant bodies.

The only thing I could recommend is to do some "surgical" cutting on the plants, then keep the healthy parts as cuttings. I vaguely recall dusting sulfur powder on them as the cut parts are dried, and finally putting them in some cactus mix to set new roots. However, roots will not come in until spring, so the cuttings must stay dry during winter. Even with that, there is no guarantee cuttings will do anything more than just dry up and die, so at best this is a crap shoot.

Hate to say it, but if my assessment of what you were thinking is accurate, you may be better off trying a new Sulcorebutia in the spring. I know that experienced cactus growers aren't shy about bringing new plants into their collections even during the fall and winter months. Personally, I'm not at all enthusiastic about getting any new cacti until April. Such being the case, you may want to consider springtime for new acquisitions.

Hope this helps!

Steve

[CactusFanDan]

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 in the bottom picture as well, which is a good sign.

[Steve Johnson]

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 in the bottom picture as well, which is a good sign.

Yes, it is certainly possible that the situation may not be as drastic as one might think. With that said, cacti simply do not like getting rained on during winter. You may not have much of a say about it in the ground, but at least pots can be a more of a controlled situation regarding winter rainfall.

If you can keep your potted cacti under shelter until March/April, you'll be better off. Hopefully your Sulcorebutia is fine, so just keep an eye out if you're able to shelter it from rainfall, then you'll be good to go. The only caveat would be to (carefully!) dig up the soil and check to see how the roots are looking. Assuming they're fine, I'd recommend a fresh, dry potting of cactus mix if the soil you already have in the pot is looking moist or wet. I know that I tend to be fussy-paranoid, but I err on the "better safe than sorry" for this kind of thing.

Best of luck, and having a Sulco of my own in the collection, I really hope it works out well for you.

Steve

[Jerry-001]

Well, things don’t look very good. Two of the buds shriveled and collapse when I touched them. The top is starting to change colors and when I pulled some gravel out around the base a little, well, you can see in the picture.

I guess all that may be able to save something out of this is a budectomy. They are very small (less than pea size) so I would imagine it’s a lost cause. I did spray it with an fungicide about 2 weeks ago, but to little to late I’m afraid. I won’t dump it till it’s really gone, but that’s just dreaming at this point I think.

Thanks for the inputs. I will chock this one up to lessons learned and not buy rot prone cactus in late fall. I still have an Ariocarpus seeding I got at the same time that I’m crossing my fingers on (looks good but hard as a rock, like it wants a drink real bad).