Dragon fruit cactus looking rather sad...
My stepdaughter's dragon fruit cactus is not looking so hot. He just relocated to our house from her mom's house because she saw me starting to get some plants and she thinks our house has better light. Hedgie is wilted-looking in spots, maybe a bit leggy? And brown and shriveled in other places. He's in a plastic nursery liner inside of his cute metal cachepot so he's got drainage but I'm fairly certain it's not sufficient, especially since he's still in the original nursery potting mix rather than a good succulent/cactus mix. Is he just suffering from being too wet a bit too often or is anything else possibly wrong with him as well? What should we do for him?
3ft to light, direct
3” pot with drainage
Last watered 3 years ago
4
@RelentlessZebra Hello and welcome to Greg, Stina! I am going to ask @SirLiquorice to see if he can help you.
Welcome to Greg, Stina! There seem to be so many new #Greggers in Texas!
My concern is that perhaps it wasn't getting enough light and perhaps too much water.
I wait until my dragon fruit is REALLY dry before I water it and I keep the smaller on in a very bright southwest room in direct western light for about two hours.
I would also suggest keeping an eye out for brown blisters- they are common on dragon fruit plants and are easily combatted by spraying hydrogen peroxide on the blisters several times a day for a few days until they dry out.
My concern is that perhaps it wasn't getting enough light and perhaps too much water.
I wait until my dragon fruit is REALLY dry before I water it and I keep the smaller on in a very bright southwest room in direct western light for about two hours.
I would also suggest keeping an eye out for brown blisters- they are common on dragon fruit plants and are easily combatted by spraying hydrogen peroxide on the blisters several times a day for a few days until they dry out.
I agree with @sarahsalith. My dragon fruit's soil doesn't seem to dry out quickly. I find that I "snooze" my watering task in the app til the next scheduled watering and he's doing fine with that. If I feel any moisture whatsoever, I don't water him. I make sure he's bone dry
I’ve noticed dragonfruit can be tricky because they need more water than some cacti but still can’t be watered too much. Just make sure the soil dries completely in between waterings but don’t go too long without water because they do need more than my other cacti it seems. And they don’t do well in cold weather