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The Corroboree

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Hello! 

A cactus cutting i was given a few weeks ago appears to be rotting, does anyone know what could be wrong and how i can fix it? :) 

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Chop it an inch above the highest rotten part. Look at the cut piece,  if you can still see rot or it's overly soft or you even suspect it's on the way to rot,  cut again a bit higher. After that,  re-callous and start again. 

 

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If you suspect rot then dig it up and confirm rot. If there is indeed rot, cut at least an inch above the rot.. yeah, what he said! Lol, literally beat me to it as I was reading at the same time.

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you have a glazed pot with probably a single hole in the bottom & rocks on top of your soil, so basically you drowned your plant until it said fuckit & rotted. 

 

ditch the pot, ditch the rocks, cut the plant  an inch above the rot & let it callous for 2 weeks or so in a warm dry place & repot in well draining soil

 

if u insist on clay pots find one thats unglazed

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9 hours ago, zelly said:

you have a glazed pot with probably a single hole in the bottom & rocks on top of your soil, so basically you drowned your plant until it said fuckit & rotted. 

 

ditch the pot, ditch the rocks, cut the plant  an inch above the rot & let it callous for 2 weeks or so in a warm dry place & repot in well draining soil

 

if u insist on clay pots find one thats unglazed

I've sprayed it with water once :/

I'll follow your advice though! Would it be worth grafting it to a rooted ceres?

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Any well calloused Trichocereus that can't handle sitting in water isn't worth growing in my book. As you can see from my Icaro specimens all grown from seed and in standing water that has grown algae no less from the length of time they have sat in the water.

 

Why save bad genetics by grafting them? 

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3 minutes ago, Inyan said:

Any well calloused Trichocereus that can't handle sitting in water isn't worth growing in my book. As you can see from my Icaro specimens all grown from seed and in standing water that has grown algae no less from the length of time they have sat in the water.

 

Why save bad genetics by grafting them? 

StillgrowinInDaBog_Like_A_Boss.jpg

I've got to give it a short, i'd say it was due to my impatience with drying or the pot/ location

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What soil are you using below that covering layer? I like covering layers, but the problem with them is that the soil can look completely dry on the surface, but below it´s a swamp and you wouldn´t even notice. I´ve seen plants that looked dry as a desert, but the topping layer kinda trapped the water and that´s a problem if the soil is too organic. If I were you I´d probably look into a good potting mix made of Lava, Pumice and Coir and ditch the topping layer. 

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I'm with Evil Genius on the topping layer as it just obscures the green mat that sits on top of a well watered Trichocereus cacti's soil.

 

However, I don't use lava, or pumice in my Trichocereus soil. I have used good strong composted cow manure, bone meal, blood meal, fish emulsion, etc. however mixed into my soil. However, with the latter especially one must be aware that the smell can get very strong and it can attract wild life to ones cacti. 

 

I'm also not knocking the use of material to make your soil dry out faster. Bogponics or hydroponics is not for everyone. But I will say that I have grown many different species of cacti from germination up to adult specimens that way and it does work. Everyone has their own way of growing cacti and as long as it works for you that is what matters. 

 

Open fresh cuts in a cacti however can be very much like an open wound on an animal. Wetness or humidity simply adds to the ability of microorganisms to feast on the open wound and once an opportunistic pathogen takes hold it can spread throughout the tissues of your cacti if  you don't get it in hand and removed. Better to cut and remove too much than to have to cut twice. 

 

of course, if your grafting and growing your Pereskiopsis in hydroponics, bogponics, etc.... then things just got a whole lot faster. bogponics2continued.thumb.jpg.65234b93f080272ec91b64868b5751bd.jpg

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For rooting i prefer soil with a high content of minerals like pumice. Pumice alone is a great substrat. The pumice absorbs the water and at the same time allows ventilation. It drys out quickly.

Often i water from the bottom, so the water doesnt reach the cut, but the plant can “smell“ the water just a few centimeters away and send out roots in thar direction.

I never put pebbles on top. That is a hindrance for ventilation.e

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