Poorly plant

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RWW
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Poorly plant

Post by RWW »

Poorly
Poorly
Poorly1.jpg (47.46 KiB) Viewed 4180 times
As a new member I apologise if I have posted this in the wrong area or have made any errors with my posting.

A few years ago I became interested in cacti, after seeing some on holiday, and started a few from seed. I have really enjoyed watching them grow especially as they were from packets of mixed seeds so I don't know what I am going to get!

Sadly, the cactus pictured has fallen ill whilst staying elsewhere. I believe it was in a room far from a window and was probably over watered. The cactus is now with me at home on a north facing window. The spikes at the top have started to become a bit more spikey since being on a window sill and having watering reduced.

Does it have any chance of surviving or is it on its way out? (The brown stem in the middle is my key worry)

Any advice greatly appreciated. Don't worry about giving me simple advice as I really don't have a clue what I am doing but do enjoy learning!

Thanks

Richard
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Phil_SK
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Re: Poorly plant

Post by Phil_SK »

Welcome and, if you've managed to grow that from seed, well done!
There's plenty of cultivation hints we could suggest but you're right to first of all worry about that brown bit - maybe. Would you say that the brown is on the surface or could it be rotten all the way through (like a bad grape)? Has it got worse in the last few days (rot moves very quickly) or has it looked like that for more than a week?
Phil Crewe, BCSS 38143. Mostly S. American cacti, esp. Lobivia, Sulcorebutia and little Opuntia
RWW
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Re: Poorly plant

Post by RWW »

Thanks for the kind reply. The stem has been looking like this for about a year now. The top of the stem is now larger than the brown bit so it looks a bit top heavy as well!

It is about 6 years old so never does anything in a hurry :)
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Paul D
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Re: Poorly plant

Post by Paul D »

I think the plant is probably fine Richard- just maybe a bit longer than it would be with more light. I would let it dry out completely before watering again. With as much light as you can give it, it should start to get fatter.
Once it gets a little bigger I would re-pot it into some more gritty compost that will dry out quicker. Though cacti need water in the summer they don't like their roots being wet so the key is to let the compost dry out again after watering.
Paul in North-east Scotland (Grampian Branch BCSS)
National Collection Rebutia, Aylostera & Weingartia (inc. Sulcorebutia). Also growing a mixture including Ferocactus, Gymnocalycium, Lobivia, Mammillaria, Lithops, Gasteria, Haworthia.
http://www.rebutia.org.uk
RWW
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Re: Poorly plant

Post by RWW »

Thanks for the tips Paul!

I will certainly let it dry out fully between waterings and ensure it gets loads of natural light.

I'll put a picture of it up on this thread in a month or so so that I can hopefully show off an improvement!

Thanks for the help.
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Julie
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Re: Poorly plant

Post by Julie »

A little spiky light bulb! I quite like the shape. How old is he? It's good to know the centre is not soft and spreading.

Let us know how the patient recovers. :grin:
Happy carrier of Forby Disorder - an obsession with Euphorbia obesa.

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Re: Poorly plant

Post by RWW »

It is probably about 6 years old. Does anyone know what type of cactus it is as it came from a seed packet of mixed cactus seeds
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MikeT
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Re: Poorly plant

Post by MikeT »

Looks to be a Mammillaria, but it needs to get some healthy growth to have a good chance of identifying it correctly.
Mike T

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RWW
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Re: Poorly plant

Post by RWW »

Thanks for the reply Mike.

I'll post a picture every 4 -6 weeks so people can see how it progresses if they wish to follow on!

Here is the latest picture. This is about 5 weeks since the original post. There isn't too much change but some differences are noticeable.
July 5th 2014
July 5th 2014
IMG_0801.JPG (54.84 KiB) Viewed 3902 times
Comments welcome and I'll put another picture up in 4 - 6 weeks.
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Re: Poorly plant

Post by rodsmith »

How long has it been in this pot, RWW? I only ask because the pot appears to be rather big for this size plant. Also, the potting mix looks a bit peaty (not necessarily a bad thing though). I realise that the pot is a "special" cactus one but is this more important than the health of the plant?

I would suggest you unpot it and see what the roots look like. If there are plenty of them and they are taking up a good part of the pot you are probably ok. If there aren't many roots of if there is a lot of unused soil around them I would repot into a smaller pot, using a compost with plenty of added grit and/or Tesco cat litter (a search on the forum under Tesco Cat Litter will give you plenty of info). Good luck.
Rod Smith

Growing a mixed collection of cacti & other succulents; mainly smaller species with a current emphasis on lithops & conophytum.
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