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strangebrew

yellow cactus

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What could a nursery do to a couple of Trichocereus that would make them turn yellow?

I spied a couple of metre high specimens with branches, one pach and one a very interesting bumpy peruvianus, in a sectioned off area from the public. These were both in fancy pots and would have had big price tags I'm sure.

It was a very consistent yellowing, so I wouldn't have thought it was sunburn and the tips didn't look green as near as I could get.

I am tempted to make an offer on the peruvianus but am wondering whether it is capable of recovering. Also, is a yellow cactus still active?

Thoughts?

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some form of nutrient deficiency i think. this could be releated to soil the wrong pH or simply its been in that pot for years. if you make an offer make it sound like you know your shit about cacti and that you would be doing them a favour taking it off their hands for such a small amount :D i think it would recover but then again i cant see the cactus.

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it is getting light isn't it?

coz they grow yellow without light

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Some can get yellow with too much light, more of a yellow green.

Magnesium and Iron are important micronutrients that can help green them up. N is good too. When the light, water and pH are accounted for and they still look a bit green I like to use blood meal as a fert, it is rich in N and Iron and a little bit can go a long way.

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i thought cacti didnt like N or is this just prolonged high N levels?

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I believe most Trichocereus species like more nitrogen than the majority of cacti. Although can't too much cause etiolation?

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I have seen a few of these 'bumpy' Peruvianus around my area and all have the yellow (or very pale green/yellow) colouration. The colour drew my attention to start with and then realised they were all from what appeared to be the same species. All of them have one growth parameter in common though.....big plant, not so big pot. Pic soon.

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yeah some species are naturally that colour but prob a nutrient deficiency

most people think cactus equals = neglect is ok

they dont realise that trichs LOVE rich soil

ive picked up shithouse cacti and had them go from yellow sickly to glaucus blue green in afew months

bita fresh soil, compost and well piss to be honest :)

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The cure for golden cacti just might be a golden shower!

lol

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Bongchitis, my T. peruvianus from SAB arrived like that and hasn't changed at all in the following months. It's in fresh soil, an appropriately sized pot, etc.

I'll post a photo so we can compare

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I am a cacti newbie and didn't realise you were talking about Trichocereus Peruvianus, The ones I saw were definately not Trichs, Thin ribs like a Cereus but almost monstrose like in appearance. Could be something completely different also I suppose. A pic will tell more than a thousand words when my shift rotation ends!

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IME SAB cacti are often stunted and N deficient

this is partially a matter of necessity than neglect i believe as the wet climate round mullum dictates that a freedraining hence easily leached bark based potting mix is needed

they also use only organic chook pellets

out west where its drier i go for moisture retentive rich compost plus riversand mix and follow up with soluble inorganics ie thrive and cow manure teas. Ive used chook shit pellets but i find it makes them more prone to black rot and goes fungusy on the surface in a not good way.

they all come good. Ive bought several from sab and put them in my mix and they green (or blue) up in a couple months.

one of their T pach clones - forget the name - damn- is particularly prone to yellowness but it seems to be normal

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Rev, do you think I should just leave them be over winter then give them a large dose of N come spring, or hit them up now?

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I know I am not the Rev, but my advice is wait for spring unless you are using an organic N source like human hair (very good BTW) that takes time to work.

I wait till they start showing signs of growth before I feed them well and even then I use less N than I would for many other plants.

I too want to read what Rev's advice is.

[ 03. June 2005, 18:09: Message edited by: Archaea ]

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LOl

yeah i reckon archaea is on the mark

its sleepy time now kiddos

shouldnt eat a big meal before bed and neither should cacti

(unless u live in nice warm tropical qld - Teo youre a bum )

cold roots draw nitrogen poorly (even when the above ground is warm) and foliar feeds arent too effective on the waxy skin of cacti

but you can have a cuppa of fish or seaweed emulsion as a bedtimetonic mmmmm

BTW im only professing i know my shit in 2 particular climes - the mediterranean and a continental subtropical

o/wise plz defer to others like Teo, T, MS etc

[ 04. June 2005, 12:04: Message edited by: Rev ]

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oh yeah and large dose - no

it needs to be sustained. a weak soluble and a low release organic

once they are green and growing you can throw anything you want at them but dont overload a sick plant

on a related manner ive grought back defoliated nearly dead plants from the brink with a little too much N. it kind of forced them to put their final recserves into leaves which then saved them

with many tho itll just kill them

and the naturally more yelow pach clone at SAB is "Omar" BTW

[ 04. June 2005, 12:05: Message edited by: Rev ]

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Some of my bridgesii seedlings grow yellow green in conditions that other plants grow darker green in, and they (the bridgesii) grow well mind you.

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my omar brightened up to a nice green within a few weeks. wait till i show you the growth i get over winter :D my trichs get a mix of dynamic lifter, osmocote and a orchid slow release with low N and a nice amount of dolomite, every now and then i do a piss fert, and even rarer to that is use of 4 vital from amgrow with some of their harvest fert aswell. some times some mircle grow all in half strength. i think it would be interesting to see the amounts of the diff chlorophylls are present in each species. i found that growing in more shade resulted in deeper green color, there was slight etioliation. also found out some cool info on possible reason for thickness at different places, see ions post on pressure at the nook for that.

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I went back to the nursery and had a closer look as it was a couple of months ago.

The pups are normal coloured and since there is no sign of them being repotted etc.(old faded price labels), I can only think it was environmental.

Not for sale either, I guess they're just trying for pups to pot-on.

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thats one of these about 2 years ago from SAB

normal_T%20peruvianus%20Gnosis-KK242.jpg

it looked shitty for ages but i perservered slowly building it up then one day it took off and hasnt stopped. you can kinda see this by how its grown club shaped from the original which looked much like yours

sometimes when they are deprived for 2 long they need a while to recuperate

Im keeping the main stem for flowering but ill sell one of the pups soon. they are quite massive now about 20cm plus tall and maybe 7 or 8 cm in diamter

[ 06. June 2005, 06:41: Message edited by: Rev ]

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i only skimmed the post as i saw that rev took care of it, but i remeber an older post of myselfe going into the same direction...

one thing i might add though, cacti don't seem to be able to move the nitrogen as freely as some plants can, meaning sometimes they regreen a bit and sometimes they recover fully, but old tissue will never regreen. the cacti moves the little bit of nutrients from the old tissue towards the growing tip, as it's needed there the most.

i observed the same even at wild specimens growing in peru and equator, but let's not forget that very old cacti tissue gets all corky at the surface and as such will not need any nutrients helping with photo synthesis!

but the problem described here is caused b leaching and not keeping the fert up.

again in a nutshell, sometimes regreening can happen, but don't bet on it.

[ 06. June 2005, 10:26: Message edited by: planthelper ]

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