what should I do if anything ?

[madkactus]

Hi guys,
I have this old man cactus that started shrivelling and began growing a new attachment. Should I separate and repot the newbie or leave it be ?
Thanks

[jerrytheplater]

This is what I would do and why.

what: depot your plant to look under the potting mix. Check for rot. If any, cut off the offset and re-pot after callous formation.

why: It does look like your plant is rotting and it has formed an offset under the potting mix. I'd be afraid of the offset dying.

Please wait to see if others agree with me. But I know that's what I'd be doing.

[Aiko]

The plant on the left is dead. The one on the right is an offset growing from it. I would also take the offset off (assuming it is not a separate plant), allow it to root and then try to grow it further. Unless you like the dead one to stay in view, of course. It will not be in the way if you leave it there, but it will certainly not pretty up again. It will stay like this forever as it is completely dried out.

[keith]

I agree remove offset and re-root. Or depending on the roots remove the dead stem. Probably from looking at the picture re-root the offset.

[madkactus]

Thanks guys. I'll get to it.

[madkactus]

the offshoot is dead too. Oh well.

[jerrytheplater]

So now you should try and figure out what went wrong. Do you know when it started?

[DaveW]

The old gardeners rule was "when in doubt, knock it out" meaning if a plant looks to be ailing "knock it out of the pot" or de-pot it and try and find out what the trouble is before it goes too far. That means de-pot a cactus at any time of the year, even in winter as you can always leave it dry root for a time and replant it in dry soil again later when you have solved the problem. But then don't water again until the growing season. Our plants can stand dry root and unpotted for quite a time, unlike most garden or house plants.

[keith]

The old gardeners rule was "when in doubt, knock it out" meaning if a plant looks to be ailing "knock it out of the pot"

good advice

[madkactus]

Thanks for the advice. Actually, I'm not too broken up about it. I have a nice large old man of the Andes cactus and small Espostoa megalacantha. Peruvian Old Man family.
I'm looking at the soil and I don't see anything that indicates what happened. Maybe some pest attacked the roots last summer ? I'll keep a close eye on my other Espostoa's.

[mikethecactusguy]

Not all plants will live a long life.

[madkactus]

Yeah . Just like people I suppose. It grew from a very small thing and looked pretty good, then it just tuned brown and shriveled up and died. That actually makes sense.