saguaro Posted May 15, 2012 My ~3.5 cm lophophora is a little wrinkled and sagging a bit on one side, and is soft the the touch all around. I watered it about 3 days ago, and don't water it too often, maybe once a month or so. I am scared that I made it rot, what should I do? I don't have access to a camera at the momemtn so I can't take any photos. There is no obvious sign of rot such as discolouration etc, it is just a bit sagged, wrinkled and soft. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
space cadet swami Posted May 15, 2012 Shouldn't you be drying it off at this time of year? I haven't watered mine for about 3 weeks & don't intend giving them water while the temperature continues to drop. I am a n00b, but it seems with cactus, less is better then more as far as water is concerned. I'm sure once EG sees this thread he'll give u more accurate detail. Good luck my friend. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
watertrade Posted May 15, 2012 My first guess is that it is probably just due to the colder temps. I find all mine get sagging over winter - & a sure sign to be careful with the water. if you are really worried you could unpot it and have a look at the roots - you should be able to see any rot if there is any. otherwise just leave it and keep an eye on it. if it is rotting it is probably a lost cause anyway! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
saguaro Posted May 16, 2012 the roots are fine, this was the last watering it was going to get until it starts heating up and it is still 20 degrees and over where i lve. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
watertrade Posted May 16, 2012 its probably just 'the wintering effect' that I have noticed. I occasionally ( against my better judgement ) water my lophophora in winter and they are mostly fine. I have mine in a greenhouse that gets quite warm during the day. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Distracted Posted May 16, 2012 I keep my lophs in pots indoors during winter, if you have them outside and it's been raining frequently i'd take them inside. it's better to underwater than to overwater, they're not gonna die in a week from under watering it, but could from over watering. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
saguaro Posted May 16, 2012 (edited) I removed it from soil, dried soil, and replanted it to be sure. I took some photos of the bare roots to see if there is any rot: I'm sorry if the image comes out huge, I'm having trouble trying to figure image posting out. I'm beginning to think that I was just overly worried it was rotting when in reality it's just doing its thing and shrinking and softening for winter. Edited May 16, 2012 by Pseudo Mexican Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Heretic Posted May 16, 2012 It looks okay to me , but hard to tell from photos . My first thought at " sagging " was it may be getting too much N . If it is softish and spongy , it may be excess N . Where I live it does not get really cold , so unable to speculate on this . When starting out , I over - fed my lophs which resulted in a softish - sponge like feel to them . Re-potting and less fert worked wonders . Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Evil Genius Posted May 16, 2012 Two questions. What soil was it in? Did you took a lense and check for Spidermites? Loph looks good so far and i think you probably caused it way more stress than necessary. Cant see any rot but if you have a lot of humous in your soil, it may have been some early sign of it. But i rather think you´ve been an overprotective cactus father. ;) Now get yourself some purely mineralistic soil consisting of stuff like pumice, coarse sand, granite and some very fine quarz gravel. You can also add a very little bit of very fine coir but thats not even necessary. Zelly posted some great recipes for soil as well. And exclude spidermite infection before you do anything. They sometimes make the skin shrivel. They look like tiny spiders running around like crazy. If you see very fine spiderwebs on your Loph one day, its probably them. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
etherealdrifter Posted May 16, 2012 (edited) But i rather think you´ve been an overprotective cactus father. ;) that's gold eg the cactus peoples here@sab make me learn exponentially mine all look reddish and shrunk over winter down here in melbz. i rarely water them.....too much love will kill only plants....not humans Edited May 16, 2012 by Evil Genius Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sallubrious Posted May 16, 2012 My lophs were all doing that too so I repotted them and they've firmed up, now they look bigger than they did before. We got a cold snap the night after I did it, but they seem much happier now I had coir in the last mix they were in, but I found coir can become repellent with infrequent watering schemes, so any water I gave them just drained straight out of the bottom of the pots. I've used zeolite for cation exchange this time. I got it for about 5 bucks at woolies in the BBQ section. It's used for soaking up oil in drip trays. It makes an excellent additive for most potting mixes and works as a wetting agent too. Don't be tempted to plant it in a big pot or will have a very long wet cycle. For a plant that size you could probably put in a 50-60mm wide pot so it goes through the wet dry cycle fairly quickly. My soil mix was 1 part sifted worm castings 1 part crushed basalt 1 part river sand 1 part perlite 1/2 a part zeolite 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
etherealdrifter Posted May 16, 2012 "part" is an underestimated weighing out quotient of the equashun 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marcel Posted May 16, 2012 What about a loph grafted on peres? How should one approach winter watering of such a thing? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Evil Genius Posted May 16, 2012 (edited) Peres need it warm and moist. Dont think they would do very well in a greenhouse over winter. Pereskiopsis is a great stock but it is not very hardy. Edited May 16, 2012 by Evil Genius 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
