ref1ect1ons Posted April 27, 2010 After moving my loph diffusa indoors it has gone soft & spongy, when I have felt it before it was firm and healthy. Is there a name for this condition, is it a problem? I have been watering it less recently due to gnats. The other factors that have changed are the light (outdoor summer sun, to indoors with a flourescent bulb) and the temp is getting lower. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dworx Posted April 27, 2010 All my cacti go a bit soft at times it is their adjustment phase I guess.. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mac Posted April 27, 2010 (edited) If there no obvious signs of any other problems & you have been watering less it may just be a little dehydrated. Make sure it still feels firmly rooted & if so i would give it some extra water If it feels loose in its pot i would re-pot it to make sure there is no rot & that the gnats have not infested the root system The other thing some mixes can become hydrophobic so it wouldn't hurt to re-pot to be on the safe side Edited April 27, 2010 by mac Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mutant Posted April 27, 2010 Nice advice by mac... what can I add. if you are really worried, inspect and repot. But if it is going dormant, it's natural for it to be softish... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hellonasty Posted April 28, 2010 Yep at this time of year, assuming you live in Australia, the plant is probably going dormant and by the sounds of it by bringing it inside you have altered the cycle of light and this may have triggered it. If night time temps are getting below 14 then I would suggest this is the case. Dormancy is a natural healthy process by the plant which helps it to survive winter, the plant will cease growing and can become spongy and loose turgidity in some cases. Just be very careful with watering, too much water on a dormant plant will cause the tap root to rot. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bℓσωηG Posted April 28, 2010 Yep at this time of year, assuming you live in Australia, the plant is probably going dormant and by the sounds of it by bringing it inside you have altered the cycle of light and this may have triggered it. If night time temps are getting below 14 then I would suggest this is the case. Dormancy is a natural healthy process by the plant which helps it to survive winter, the plant will cease growing and can become spongy and loose turgidity in some cases. Just be very careful with watering, too much water on a dormant plant will cause the tap root to rot. This is good to know , as i am experiencing a softening of lophophorae also ,I have grafted ones that are softening, one on top of pereskiopsis and one is on top of pachanoi stock...so it is dormancy ?...Then would i just water less or shouldnt it matter as the stock is hardy? I initially watered as i thought they were needing this softening....but also pondered whether they may need degrafting . I am glad you brought up this thread reflections * Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
blangschpeer Posted April 28, 2010 If your stock is looking a bit shrivelled Blowng then I'd suggest a degraft, some of mine are well overdue for this but uni keeps getting in the way... Also maybe check to see that they haven't been knocked off the join, this can happen if you let them shrivel and then give them too much water too quickly as the stock rapidly expands to its normal size and pushes the scion off the join even though it is still quite firmly stuck if that makes sense at all. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kindness Posted April 28, 2010 My collection had moved outdoors over the summer and had been turgid the whole time - up until about a month ago when I had a look at them and noticed that they were all spongy. I thought shit what have I done! These guys have been in the family for three years now and I really didn't want to lose them, so I took them all inside and put them near a window that gets a little bit of afternoon sun. Within a week they had all returned to a turgid state. Does this mean that I am keeping them growing when they would ordinarily want to have a little sleepy for winter? Is there any benefit to having a sleepy? The other thing that happened with them is that they changed to a darker colour. I figure this is because they were cupboard plants but have now become outdoor ones, (well you know what I mean, they do live inside right now but not under lights). They seem happy enough though. Good to see others experiencing the same thing with their lophs. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KanJe Posted April 28, 2010 With growing slow cacti, they adapt to new conditions slowly too. From my experience, just by rotating an Ariocarpus it stopped growing for the rest of the year. I would avoid moving Lophs at all unless you have to. Pretty much like HN said, I think dormancy is crucial to the cycles of cacti, especially as far as flowering is concerned. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kindness Posted April 28, 2010 Yeah, I've felt pretty dodgy moving mine around heaps but they are still powering on. I'm not sure of other types of cacti but loph's don't require dormancy to flower - at least not when they are growing under lights... mine flowered all the time and never got a break, just continual 18 hour light cycle. Pretty unnatural life for them but they did grow quickly! I wonder how they will flower now that they are being grown under natural light? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
