I’m not optimistic that my Long Boi can be saved, but I’m...
I’m not optimistic that my Long Boi can be saved, but I’m doing all I can before giving up. A couple months ago, his base softened/rotted. I cut a significant amount off and let it callous over a couple weeks. Put him back in cactus soil and have been watering very seldom, like every month, and now he’s turning black and the base is once again rotting out. He’s 10 years old, so I know the chances of saving him are slim as his life is approaching the end anyway. But I would be doing him an injustice if I didn’t try everything. I already cut his pups in an effort to keep him going. Thanks in advance ♥️ #help #CactusClique
0ft to light, direct
10” pot with drainage
Last watered 2 months ago
7
Ooh you’re puttin’ up the fight for him, that’s awesome 👏. I’m not experienced with cactus but I’ll tag a few people who do. Good luck!! @RefinedSandwort @stephonicle @ZestyWhiteghost @DreamMachine @AwesomePlants @BEsucculent @TheConservator
@PlantsWithPaige oh there’s still green! Yay, keep up the fight for him 🥂 That being said, I’m not experienced with cacti either 🙃 But I’ll tag @CactusAdjacent @WickedValkyrie @CordialWildYam @RefinedSandwort @PrincessPitStop @MamaLinne @SirLiquorice @Ms.Persnickety
If it’s rotting at the base you can remove it from the soil and cut off the rot, allow it to cauderize and replant it in much more open soil. Here’s what I found if the root is sound and you want to stabilize at the base. If the plant is already growing and you are just adding soil around the base to stabilize it, ensure the soil is gritty and fast-draining, and avoid keeping it constantly wet. It will put up pups and that will help it stay straight. Also the staking and rotating toward the sun will help keep it straight. You might remove that bit at the top, callous it and put it beside its parent to make more interest down there. Also bigger rocks might hold it up better. Choose any or none of this advice as I’m not a prickly plant person.
@PlantsWithPaige I think that the mistake was watering the cutting. If a plant any plant is being watered but has not established roots yet there is no way for the plant to absorb the water, because that is generally done through the roots. When planting a cutting you can put the calloused plant into a gritty cactus mix but you have to wait a significant amount of time for roots to grow. After that you can begin to introduce water little by little! Good Luck 🍀
He's nowhere near the end of his life! Organ pipe cacti can live to be centuries old in the desert. Obviously their life expectancy is shorter when they're kept indoors, but at 10 year old he's barely entered his teen years lol. He's definitely worth your efforts to try and save him.
When you cut off the rotten areas, make sure to sterilize your pruners/scissors first with 70% or higher isopropyl alcohol. Unfortunately many soils that claim to be for cacti/succulents still have far too much peat and organic material (as @slayonium mentioned). The type of substrate in their native habitats is rocky & gritty, so you want to replicate that as closely as possible. I typically use cactus soil as a base, then add a ton of extra perlite or pumice rock (50/50). This, along with 6+ hours of direct sunlight and always making sure the soil is completely dried out before watering can help prevent rot issues in the future 😊
When you cut off the rotten areas, make sure to sterilize your pruners/scissors first with 70% or higher isopropyl alcohol. Unfortunately many soils that claim to be for cacti/succulents still have far too much peat and organic material (as @slayonium mentioned). The type of substrate in their native habitats is rocky & gritty, so you want to replicate that as closely as possible. I typically use cactus soil as a base, then add a ton of extra perlite or pumice rock (50/50). This, along with 6+ hours of direct sunlight and always making sure the soil is completely dried out before watering can help prevent rot issues in the future 😊
@stephonicle thanks for the advice!! How long after pruning do I place back in soil, and do I have it avoid sun until it roots? Also how long do I go between watering to establish roots? I found this soil on amazon and it didn’t look bad, is this still one I would mix with Pearlite? Also how far past the rot and black areas do I cut? Sorry for all the crazy questions LOL I’m trying so hard to save him! https://a.co/d/00RHGznB