What The?? Cactus pups

[Barnard]

Hi guys,

check out one of my trichs, anyone seen this many pups before?

So far ive counted about 10.

But my concern is one is some of the rot. I already had to cut off one pup because it turned black and now another is doing the same... You can see it in picture right hand side.

How should I proceed??

cheers

[OneEyeAscension]

Woah 10 pups! What are you feeding them?! :D

I noticed that areas that stay relatively moist along the base of the cactus is where pupping occurs most often, so my guess is cut back on the watering a bit/water the cactus from the bottom/get some decent airflow happening around the cactus (if possible)...but it seems like you're doing just fine and don't need my amateur advice.

Best of luck!

[Evil Genius]

Probably fungal. Do they pup on top of each other? That would be a dead giveaway. But even without it, I think it´s fungal. They look healthy, but It´s not normal that new pups turn black. Can you rule out frost? Remove the ones that turn black asap. This doesn't look like black rot to me. Please show a closeup of the black Ones. Besides, can you rule out sunburn for the black ones? Sometimes they pup below the soil, turn white and when they reach the light, they get burnt very easily.

Maybe dust with sulfur and if that doesn't help, fungicide. And keep it away from the others. It also needs plenty of fresh air now.

Edited April 4, 2014 by Evil Genius

[Barnard]

Have not fed anything for months..

EG yes they are pupping on top of each other, but not all. I've attached a couple close ups for you to look at.

I have quite a large healthy collection and this is the first time I've had anything like this happen. Definitely not sunburn.

Shall I cut off the other pup that is starting to go black? look at the colour of the one I already pulled of its super black.

From a healthy pup to super black in maybe three days...

Cheers,

[Nemisty]

I have been getting this on a few plants lately. One of my psycho0 x N1 degrafts on its own roots is continually doing this and so is one of my smaller peru clones. I've been wondering if excess nitrogen or something along those lines is to blame?

[Evil Genius]

Exzessive Nitrogen can do something similar but this is definitely fungal. The Overfertilisation is basically often the cause for fungal infections. In fact, Plants that get excessive nutrients get infected much faster.

Barnard, remove every pup that looks dodgy asap. These pups are able to kill the mother plant and if not that, they pose a constant risk of re-infection. Read a bit about "Witches Broom". It´s only one type of Many, many others so don´t be surprised if this does not look like any other Ones you might find on google. There are so many molds and fungi that you can't compare one to the other.

And i would treat this plant with sulfur, repotting, the whole program. If that´s not helping, you might need to use fungicides. And place it far away from your other plants. You know, when plants suddenly die and no one knows why, Infection Heards like this are oftenly the cause. The infected Plants survive and don´t look very suspicious apart from the hydra of pups that grows out their ass, but infect other plants, that then die. Fungi are smart. They don´t kill every host. They live in the weak and the wounded.

Edited April 4, 2014 by Evil Genius

[Barnard]

Thanks EG, I really hope this is not serious, I have removed both pups that look suspicious, not happy about having to isolate the plant from my collection though. Hope it is gone... cheers

[Evil Genius]

This is usually not deadly if the rotting pups are removed. I had plants like that and they lived for years. Looking like they´ve been growing in Tschernobyl during the 80s, but still alive, somehow. I kept them as a science project so to speak. It was crazy... They even got hair and were fur where it didn't belong. Wouldn't have been surprised if it puts out teeth. Looked like a Terratoma-Cactus.

While it´s likely not killing the plant, i can´t tell if you will be able to get rid of it completely. Would assume so, but probably not without treatment. We´ll see.

Edited April 4, 2014 by Evil Genius

[zelly]

I had a fat new pup on my juuls giant do this crap, immediately turning black & looking pretty bad.....right at the soil line.

I ignored it.

So then a new pup formed, and it too went immediately black. I ignored it also.

Fast forward a month or so.......

Pic's are of the second pup, and now I'm seeing new tip growth on the first pup (on the left), & it too is growing out of the black mess.

The lessons I've learned regarding the black weeping / rotting mess is to totally ignore it & do not attempt to cut it off. Take a few pics to document the occasion & then totally ignore it.

[Barnard]

Interesting Zelly,thanks for the info mate

[Evil Genius]

Of course, there are plants that can outgrow a fungal infection. So can humans when they have foot fungus. But that doesn´t mean it should generally be left untreated if you don´t want your baby's feet to look like Spongebob´s Asshole. overlydramaticlookinggopher.jpg

The Infection may not be life threatening for an adult plant. But it sure is for a seedling.

Edited April 9, 2014 by Evil Genius

[Kykeion]

I had a TBM cutting (an ugly rooted segment with a large pup/segment) contract the weeping black rot. All I did was withhold water. After a while the rot cleared up and the un-rooted segment threw a new pup.