ebene Posted May 21, 2015 Hope this doesn't sound like too much of a stupid question, but I was just wondering why it is that going through all the different photos of various cacti, some appear to sit up straight and are very clean and free of blemishes, while others have odd curvatures and lots of little sores etc ?? Is it to do with the species, the conditions in which they are grown or something more random? (very new to all this and am hoping to learn a thing or two) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bardo Posted May 21, 2015 Hi, i think alot of the blemishes are caused by scale insect, sunburn, and transpoting/handling them. the ones with curves could be because some are serpentine like in growth, or was potted crooked or could be looking for light ? there my best guesses : ) 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
franky Posted May 21, 2015 Could be a lot of reasons, we recently had some heavy hail where I am, left my cacti outside with a few yellow blemishes at the tips, nothing too bad. Some species skin too tough no blemishes. they will grow out of it though. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ebene Posted May 23, 2015 Scale insect doesn't sound good As you can see the one of the left T. Pachanoi x T. Scopulicola seems a lot more affected than the T. Peruvianus var. matucana on the right. They've always been kept side by side and I was very glad to see them finally get growing a bit last summer only those marks got progressively worse. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bardo Posted May 23, 2015 i would brush off any visible scale insect with a toothbrush : ) i wouldnt be to worried about the scars, maybe just keep an eye on em and if it looks like it going bad/rot then give it plenty of sunlight and try keep the scared bits dry, but they dont look that bad so wouldnt be to worried about that : ) 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
J Smith Posted May 23, 2015 Slugs/snails like eating growing tips too, which leaves permanent scarring. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bert&Ernie Posted May 27, 2015 When they get transported as well they usually stab each other with their spines and leave nasty looking scars..honestly though I think the blemishes add to the beauty of them all... I sure wouldnt want to look at perfect cacti everyday! 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
