Cleistocactus strausii keep dying

Trouble shoot problems you are having with your cactus.
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mikethecactusguy
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Cleistocactus strausii keep dying

Post by mikethecactusguy »

I pride myself on being able to grow and even resurrect any cactus. So why can I not keep Cleistocactus strausii alive. My two 4 ft just died and everytime I turn around a smaller one has turned brown at the soil line, flopped over and is dead. I do not water these until the soil is dry so its not from over watering. If I go the other route and underwater during these very hot months they still go soft at the soil line and flop over dead. The roots look healthy the body is green and growing but all of a sudden one will keel over. Any Ideas? This one did it last night just after I watered the greenhouse so the soil is damp from watering. Its been a full 7 days between waterings ,the pots were bone dry. and temps have been above 110°f for 2 weeks and never drop under 89°f
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Mike The Cactus Guy
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greenknight
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Re: Cleistocactus strausii keep dying

Post by greenknight »

They're native to high mountain regions of Bolivia and Argentina, not adapted to high temperatures - that could be the problem. Might try moving them into the shade in hot weather. Put them in white pots to keep the roots cooler, too, and/or shade the pot.
Spence :mrgreen:
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mikethecactusguy
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Re: Cleistocactus strausii keep dying

Post by mikethecactusguy »

Thanks Spence...
All the plants sit on the middle shelf in the greenhouse. So no direct sunlight, just very bright light. I guess its the high temperatures. I had added these 6 plants 5 months ago when day time temps were in the 90's and nights in the upper 70's. Pictures are from this morning at 6:30am.
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Mike The Cactus Guy
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greenknight
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Re: Cleistocactus strausii keep dying

Post by greenknight »

The coolest place in the greenhouse is on the ground, maybe if you set them down there when it gets real hot it would help.

I'd suggest added shading during heat waves, but I see from your greenhouse thread you already thought of that.
Spence :mrgreen:
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mikethecactusguy
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Re: Cleistocactus strausii keep dying

Post by mikethecactusguy »

Hiya Spence. The 10mm panels have a uv coating. The shade cloth is 60%. This sit on the north shelf of the greenhouse. I have 12" fan running just above groundlevel and an 18" fan up top. Short of moving them into my house, I'm lost. I would have figured that 5 months leading to this heat was a good amount of acclimating. I'm more upset with losing the 2 mature plants.
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greenknight
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Re: Cleistocactus strausii keep dying

Post by greenknight »

Maybe you should forget about growing them in pots and plant them in the ground outside, at least the roots would stay cooler.
Spence :mrgreen:
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Steve Johnson
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Re: Cleistocactus strausii keep dying

Post by Steve Johnson »

greenknight wrote: Sun Jul 31, 2022 3:43 amMaybe you should forget about growing them in pots and plant them in the ground outside, at least the roots would stay cooler.
Not sure if that would do any good. Mike, I just looked at the local National Weather Service forecast for Indio, and your overnight lows are in the 80s. That usually means summer dormancy for cacti -- even if the rest of your cacti are growing in summer, it's possible that Cleistocactus won't tolerate watering when your lows are consistently above 75. With that said, my experience is confined to growing cacti in pots, so Spence may have the right idea for you.
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keith
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Re: Cleistocactus strausii keep dying

Post by keith »

Maybe you should forget about growing them in pots and plant them in the ground outside, at least the roots would stay cooler."

yea good idea try that :D
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