Advice

[paulonion]

Hello all, I was hoping to improve my knowledge of all things cactus related, I have noticed some discoloration on the odd plant. I am not sure if it is a good enough photo for people of offer advice on but anything that helps me keep them looking good would be appreciated.

Many thanks

Paul

[topsy]

HI,

It looks as though you are keeping your plants on a windowsill indoors, which means they should not have been too cold during the winter. However it does look as though your plants are in rather small pots which in turn means that they most probably are not getting much nourishment, i.e. food, unless you are feeding them when you water them. The damage i can see has been, most probably caused by a deficiency and not a disease. The marks will not disappear but as the plants grow it will be less obvious and will become part of the aging process as the stems of trees do by becoming bark.

So what your plants need is repotting into a soil based compost, no peat if that is possible, with added drainage and then monthly feeding when watering. Don't water the plants in when you repot, leave them a week before watering in order for any damage caused to heal.

Hope this helps.

Suzanne

[DaveW]

You can get the same damage with sunburn through glass, particularly early in the year when plants are not acclimatised to the sun, but unless you turned the plants away from the window to take the photograph the damage is away from the window. But a similar effect can be from them getting frosted in winter, though in centrally heated houses with double glazing that is not so common these days as it was in the past with single glazing and plants near a window at night..

[paulonion]

Thanks both of you, the plants are in a conservatory it does get quite cold in the winter but also they are not in direct sun due to the garage blocking alot out. I really need a greenhouse.