Gymno saglionis no roots

[Lorraine]

Hi, I have a Gymno saglionis which is 50 years old. It has lost all of its roots but the body is still firm and looks ok for its age. Do you think it can be re-rooted or will it slowly die ? It is currently sitting on dry compost in the house, should I water or mist it occasionally or will that just encourage rot, it would be a shame to lose it. With thanks, Lorraine.

[Ali Baba]

A similar thing happened to my large plant of Gymno spegazzinii. I potted it up in the smallest pot that would fit using a layer of my usual mix covered with a thick layer of pure Tesco’s finest. I kept it damp and it rooted eventually.
Having said that it did have some short healthy roots, but I am sure it would have rooted even if it had been totally rootless

[rodsmith]

It is a pretty old plant but you should be able to re-root it. Wait for a couple of months till spring arrives, then place it on top of a slightly damp, free draining compost - or you can use perlite, vermiculite or non-clumping cat litter (Tesco's is best). The compost should be kept slightly moist but not wet. Keep it in the warm but out of direct sun. It may take several weeks or even months, but I would be surprised if it doesn't root eventually.

[el48tel]

I have had good results with normal compost mix JI#2 50 50 with grit ... but sieved at about 1mm. But had better results with perlite 50 50 with JI#2.

[Herts Mike]

I have the same problem with Astrophytum asterias of similar age.

[Lorraine]

Thanks for all the advice, it sounds like there is still hope it may re-root. I'll follow the advice in spring and keep my fingers crossed. Thanks, Lorraine.

[el48tel]

Thanks for all the advice, it sounds like there is still hope it may re-root. I'll follow the advice in spring and keep my fingers crossed. Thanks, Lorraine.

If it's any help .... in the summer of 2019 I had a species Echinopsis have its roots completely eaten by mealie. And I mean completely.
The body shrunk down to about 25% of the original size and it looked decidedly unwell. I thought it was for the compost bin. But I was going away on vacation, and thought I'd try to recover it.
I cleaned it in meths. I made a compost with mychorrizal enzyme and diatomaceous earth in it. I dropped the body onto the surface. The weather was pretty warm. I expected a dead shrivelled plant on my return. In the space of a fortnight it started to recover. Over the winter I had to repot it because the had grown so much.
I have a Gymnocalycium I'm treating similarly at present.

[D^L]

The problem with rooting older plants is that sometimes the base is cloaked in thick cork. I try and work out if there is some live flesh near the surface and, if not, deploy a knife to cut away old thick dead stuff.
You need to let the damage dry we before exposing to damp compost or water.
Cheers
David Lambie
Bristol