is this rot?

[prickle]

about 2-3 weeks ago my trichocereus was knocked off the side (not by me!) while it was just starting to throw roots.
one of the roots was broken off but there was another long root that looked undamaged and healthy, as did the other beginings of roots that were starting to show. i repotted it in the same, dry soil and put some scaffolding around it. i have not watered it at all, before or after the accident.

today i pulled him out the soil to see how the roots are doing and i saw the image below.
the one good long root is gone and there is a black mark that looks like rot.

is it possible this is damage from the fall and not actually rot? it has not been watered at all. can a fall cause rot?
i am worried about making a fresh cut and starting again because the cold weather will be creeping in very soon here (UK). it is also quite shrivelled already because it has used a lot of resources throwing roots, twice!



thank you very much for the help <3

[hegar]

Hello prickle,
that discolored area around the areole does not look very nice. However, that does not mean, that there is a rot present. It might just be only the result of mechanical damage, which destroyed some of the tissue of your plant. What can you tell though by pressing your finger on the spot?
Is the tissue underneath firm or even dry? If that is the case, your plant is most likely going to do OK. After all, it is forming healthy looking roots.
If it is possible, keep the cactus out of the pot for another week or so and observe, if the darkened area expands in size or becomes soft like jelly-like.
That would indicate, that there is indeed a rot happening below the plant's epidermis.

Harald

[prickle]

thank you for the reply.

i just had a look to see what it felt like and it is not soft at all, it is just as firm as the rest of the cactus and it is dry. i was also surprised to see that already a lot of the black colouring has faded.

i feel like this poor little guy will be okay! <3
i will keep it out of the pot for a week. i have been keeping it in a box cusioned with newspaper, so it is in the dark, but still warm. will that be okay for the rest of the week?

here is what it looks like today:


thank you very much for the help! <3

[hegar]

That report sounds encouraging. I do not believe, that observing that discolored spot for one week would cause any harm to the cactus. If you do spot a change in the size of the lesion, be it that it grows or softens, or even discharges an ill-smelling brownish liquid, you will need to cut the infected part off, let the cut end heal and form a callus and try to get the stem to form roots once again.

Harald

[greenknight]

It looks like that damaged area is drying up. That's good. you want to encourage that - I would give it free air circulation. While you don't want sun to hit the roots, they don't need to be in the dark - indirect light won't hurt them.

[prickle]

thanks guys <3

it looks even better today! the black area has dried up more, it is now quite hard and shriveled and the black colouring is pretty much all gone.
it looks like he is going to be okay! im excited about giving him his first drink in 1-2 weeks!

thanks for the help guys <3

[LawyerNinja]

Mine do that sometimes when they're cut, even when I allow them to dry out for weeks they'll still sometimes look exactly like what you have there.

As long as it is not soft and spreading, you're good.

[prickle]

it did not look like that until after it was knocked off the table. i had pulled it out to check for roots a few days before and it was looking great. it is still hard though, so thats a good sign.

today is a week since it was pulled from the soil. i think i am going to give it a few more days though because a few of the roots coming from the bottom have died. i will put it in soil in a few days then give it another week before watering, just in case i damage any roots potting it.

thanks for the help