Still in trouble with my L. williamsii

[mimzy]

Hi there cacti crew

I'm in a bit of trouble with my L. williamsii again. I've had a few problems with squishy-ness and recently a few have started exhibiting some troubling indentation patterns (see photo).

I'll give you the history on these little guys....

I received them on the 26/9 this year. They lived under my pergola in their original soil and pots until the 15/11 when I re-potted them in a 50/50 cactus soil and perlite substrate. They were all still happy at this point, except one which died while I was away in Nepal.

About 1 week from today I noticed an indenting pattern in 2-3 cacti and thought it might by etiolation from too much shade under the pergola. Subsequently I moved them to my greenhouse, but indenting and discoloration has increased. The soil is dry and I have only watered them 2x since receiving them... so I don't think it's rot.

I'm pretty worried because I've already lost one... I suspect to the same thing, but I was away in Nepal so can't tell.

As always, your advice would be much appreciated.

[Idon'tstudydinosaurs]

I found the same indentation from mine during winter. They will go soft during their dormncy phase. Mine also developed corky scab from getting too wet. I would take them out of the greenhouse and either put them under a 6500K fluorescent inside or in a warm dry place in the sun.

[mimzy]

Full sun? I've been told full sun it also bad for lophs. I will try putting them on the veranda, that way they'll get more sun and still be undercover. Thanks perthshaman.

[Idon'tstudydinosaurs]

If they haven't been acclimatized to full sun yet I would give them a couple hours a day in sun for a while until they get used to it. I have both my grafted lophs and ungrafted in full sun (temps upwards of 37c), watered once a month and they love it. I would stop being fussy, put them in a non humid area with some decent light and temperature and forget about them! The more they are moved around the more they will have to get used to the new surroundings. I learned from my mistake of fussing. You could also try grafting if you feel brave ;)

[GoOnThen]

Don't just put it out in full sun you will burn it. Dappled shade or under shade cloth 50 to 75 percent.

If you are in Aussie land it should be loving the warm weather and growing now. How much water has it had. I think you can ether take it back out of the pot and check the roots and also check for rot or if it seams ok other than just a bit soft you could try watering it ( only if you havent watered it recently )

I don't grow my Lophs in soil with much organic matter so I water mine quite often.

I would also take the top dressing of rocks out for the time being so you can check your soil to see if is dry or not.

It is a bit hard to tell from the photo but when a Loph is dehydrated or could do with a drink it looks like it has been deflated and they sink back into the soil.

Cheers

Got

[AndyAmine.]

Only bottom water your lophies.
Im guessing they are unhappy campers and have gone dormant, then with the added sun shock and top watering they have dehydrated and or gone soft.

Is there any orange or red coloured flesh? perhaps bacterial/fungal issues have taken foot.

Personally, I would make sure nothing is touching their soft areas like soil or rocks and water them with a drink of Mancozeb Plus.
Follow that up with some very light foliar misting with 1/4 strength seasol solution a week later on a day that it will allow it to dry quickly, if you see it plump up the next day or two then give it another spray if not don't do it again until its happier.

I find misting really helps to plump up cacti but you dont want to over do it on a plant suffering from major fungal/bacterial problems but thats what the Mancozeb is for.

I have recently found that my cacti love Nutriboost, maybe give them a shoot in the arm with that or something similar (Superthrive?) a couple of weeks after using the fungicide if you have it around.

Edited November 28, 2013 by AndyAmine.

[mimzy]

Thanks guys. I checked their roots this morning and all appear quite dry. Roots are still woody and firm, no visible rot. The course action will be:

1.) Take top dressing off

2.) Bottom water with Mancozeb Plus in case of rot I can't see.

3.) Fertilise 1 week later

4.) Move inside next to window sill

5.) Hope for the best

Thanks for helping to save them

[AndyAmine.]

The Nutriboost and Superthrive are more tonics than than food.

Ive also been hearing of people using beneficial bacteria and fungi with their cacti and have received very, very good results with new growth pushing out on lophies that have been unwell or very slow growers and 'explosive' new root growth with roots that a really thick and juicy on rooting cuttings.

You can use a premade product like Roots Excelurator (if you have more money than sense ;p ) or make yer own by brewing up some tea-bag'd worm castings etc, there is heaps online about it so I wont go into detail. but, the shit is amazing.

Edited November 29, 2013 by AndyAmine.

[zelly]

that size loph, in that sized pot AND with rock top dressing shouldn't need water but once every 10 years !!!

I have 8 cm lophs in 10 cm pots, no top dressing, in full sun in a gh, and they get watered 6x yearly.

[hostilis]

I can see a few problems with it. The big sized plastic pot, the bark chunks (I think) i see in the soil, and the rock top dressing, That is the ultimate mixture for moisture retention and it's probably overdoing it for the loph causing some rot. I usually stick to terra cotta pots with loph and mineral soil. This way it can dry out faster.

Edited November 30, 2013 by hostilis