Thoughts/advice/opinions??

Question

I noticed some yellowing/wrinkling around the base of one of my #paperspinecactus today...

It's not squishy, per say, but it is a bit soft. What little roots it has look just fine, no signs of rot as far as I could see... There's also a wee white/yellow spot on the side of one of the pads... It's been in this pot since October and it pulled right out no problem, but it's little buddy is fully rooted into the pot... Any ideas what's wrong with my lil man? How can I help him? Should I pull them out of the 4" pot they're sharing and try putting them in their own 2" or 3" pots? Should I just leave them till spring and simply just not water them until it starts warming up in a couple months? Should I bring them in for the "winter" since they're so new/young? Help me save my #wishlistplant please! 🥺

(Never fear, my hands are fine, this boi is nice. It's his #angelwingcactus #opuntia neighbor that scares me... 👀🌵)

#cactusclique #notsohappyplants #happyplants #plantsmakepeoplehappy #plantaddict #wickedvalkyrie #socalgreg #socalcacti

@roxyvivien · Accepted Answer

This is the dilution I did with 3% Hydrogen Peroxide (food grade) Amazon link: https://amzn.to/3FvVSTD
 
FYI... I did wait until the soil was dry before I applied the drench.

Mix ½ cup hydrogen peroxide with 2 cups filtered or distilled water.  Use this solution as a drench, pouring it over the soil until it comes out the bottom.

This is the recipe I typically use...

- 3 parts - Pumice (because it's cheaper than the rest and all succulents love it!) 
- 1 part - Gritty Mixed Rock (the variety of rocks in this mix will provide great nutrients to the soil as well good drainage! 
- I part Coco Coir 
- 1 Tablespoon of worm castings per 2-3 inches of pot (optional but also amazing for plants!)

Here are the links:

-Pumice (1/8 particle size) https://amzn.to/3B6ID90

- Gritty mix https://amzn.to/3OU0aqS

-Coco Coir https://amzn.to/3H5ECFL

-Worm Castings https://amzn.to/3Ut0i1I

Also, for cacti I often add a handful of corse sand the mix, cacti like it and it increases drainage even more. 
https://amzn.to/3B6esiq

After potting, I use the pumice, gritty mix or corse sand as a top dressing depending on what looks good, but keep in mind the corse sand will HOLD moisture more when applied as a top dressing!

@TwistedThreads · Answer

@SirLiquorice any suggestions?

@roxyvivien · Answer

@SirLiquorice will prolly know best as I'm not as expert at cacti - but as somewho is struggling to keep my babies dry in this wet SoCal winter, I'd say you have two options...

1) repot the li'l guy who is struggling & (has suspect roots) in a smaller more porous pot with very gritty soil and leave the other guy where he is for now and don't water until it warms up...

2) repot them both in smaller pots with grittier soil.

Personally, I like cement pots for my cacti, as is dries out even faster than terracotta.

I use 80-85% gritty mix for my outdoor growers (pumice, lava rock, etc.) I can provide links to the rocks I buy online in bulk if you'd like. You go through supplies pretty fast when you have as many plants as we do so I find it's a good investment and often works out to be the same priced as bagged soil.

A lot of people will say to plant cacti in 100% gritty mix, however I find that when you do that in outdoors container succs in SoCal and it gets to summer you wind up having to water every 2 or 5 days which is ridiculous! Lol 😂

So I've struck a balance with about 80% inorganic material (give or take 5% for the plant species and/or pot type) .

Oh! Also, I recently experimented with using hydrogen peroxide diluted as a soil drench to kill fungal/mold infections and aerate the soil to prevent rot.

You can dillute it a lot for a general tonic or do a more aggressive 'flush' if the plant is having an emergency.

It worked well for my Oputina and Blue Chalk Sticks and saved me from having to repot. I can provide the dilution measurements if you wanna try it?

Hope that helps! 💚 💙 💜

@roxyvivien · Answer

Oh! And since you allready remove him from the pot you could rise his roots, let them air dry and treat the roots with a hydrogen peroxide solution spray OR dust with sulfer if you suspect any fugus/mold issues infections. Personally, I think the sulfer works better if treating the roots out of the pot.

@roxyvivien · Answer

Oh, P. S. to keep things dry and clean make sure the top layer of the soil is 1/2 to 1 inch of ONLY the pumice or gritty mix rock... This really helps keep things dry. You can always swap out the top dressing in summer with a white or polished pebble or corse sand to help keep moisture in! 😊

@roxyvivien · Answer

Your welcome! ♥

I spend way too much time researching things 😳 😅... But I'm happy my obsessive personality, and  perfectionism issues can be used for good not evil! Lol

@roxyvivien · Answer

@WickedValkyrie Poor little guy! 😔

Don't feel bad tho you're a caring plant mom! ♥ I had a similar problem with my Oputina last year, which sent me down the soil rabbit hole! 🐰 🕳 😵‍💫 Lol

I'd say let him 100% air dry for a couple days, remove any bad parts of course and dust in sulfer before repotting.
This is the sulfer I use: https://amzn.to/3UtVrNw  Be sure to wear a mask when applying!

Oh and I almost forgot, pumice and the gritty rocks need to be rinsed throughly about 3x and fully dried  before using otherwise the dust can affect the plant's roots!

@SirLiquorice · Answer

You could place it in 100% perlite for now.  See if it will dry out and callous over and heal itself.  If not you may have to remove the top head from the bottom one and may have to try to grow roots on the top head if you can’t save the bottom one. Sprinkling cinnamon on the rotten part may help some. But it’s just a waiting game at this point.  I had one with the opposite problem and the top head seemed to have rotted and fallen off and I don’t know why.  I just got it, so it may have been an issue it already had before I bought it.

@roxyvivien · Answer

@WickedValkyrie I have ADHD so I've learned to be a careful note taker and organizer of my brain's crazy info!😂

So, I have all my plant info stored in notes on my phone! 😉

@KrunchyWrapz · Answer

Cut any and all brown mushy spots (roots as well as any spot on the base of plant that may have it) make sure to use something sharp and sterile the dose it with peroxide. I don't dilute it but you can.  Then set it out in a bright area that gets good air flow (no direct sunlight). Let it sit out and air out for 4 days to a week or so (I promise it'll be OK if you did it for longer bc he needs to dry thoroughly). You don't have to but I put cinnamon on the spots that had rot and also the roots in general. Helps keep bacteria out and is also a natural root hormone. When you repot into dry fresh soil. Wait another 3-4 days before you even think about watering. Or wait until it looks a little wrinkled,  that's when it's telling you it needs the juice. Lol when you start watering again be sure to baby it. Small amounts of water spaced out so itll dry completely but also not trigger the rot back.

@SirLiquorice · Answer

If you buy rabbit hill farms soilless cactus mix it seems to help prevent rot since there isn’t really much actual soil or organic material.  It drains and dries fast and everything seems to grow well in it.  You can probably still overwater but it’s more difficult.  Also having a fan circulating by the plants helps dry the soil faster.  Sometimes that’s the issue inside is no air blowing on the plant and soil.

@roxyvivien · Answer

@WickedValkyrie perlite you don't have to rinse but pumice always!

Some manufactures pre-rinse their rocks multiple times, but most don't - it's good to ask the seller if you're unsure.

@SirLiquorice · Answer

@roxyvivien I also like using certain bonsai soils as a top dressing.  Drains and dries fast and looks pretty.  In Japan they always use akadama but it’s so expensive to get here.  But I want to buy some eventually

@KrunchyWrapz · Answer

Add extra perlite, pumice, any little rock,, gravel, pebble that's clean will do the job too, also orchid Bark helps. You can either #buttchug the watering or if you top water, do so slowly and the outer edges so the moist soil doesn't sit and basically chaf the base of the cacti.

@KrunchyWrapz · Answer

@WickedValkyrie well that's great then! I'd pour some peroxide on it and let it dry out a few days just incase (won't hurt either way) and you can never go wrong with cinnamon! I have jars and jars and jars for days of it grounded and the sticks too. I put the sticks in my container of soils or bonsai jack and also put some in my watering jug. ♡ 😊

@KrunchyWrapz · Answer

Helps keep bugs aways too

@SirLiquorice · Answer

Main thing I’ve noticed with the paper spines cactus is to water once the bottom parts are getting wrinkled and shriveled.  If the bottom heads are still full of water they won’t shrink.  So it’s easy to tell when they’re dehydrated.  Water once it tells you it needs it. On my larger one it’s easier to tell than my smaller ones.  But still about the same

@dreamlettuce · Answer

Late to the post! Sorry, have been so busy 😅 but absolutely agree with @roxyvivien @WickedValkyrie 😁💚🌿

@SirLiquorice · Answer

I need to get pics of my larger paper spines cactus when it needs to be watered

@SirLiquorice · Answer

@WickedValkyrie you can probably still grow roots on the one that fell off.  Cutting the bottom slightly and dipping it in clonex rooting gel should help. You can try to put it in 100% perlite so you can water it without it staying wet too long. But you may need to water a little more often then.  But that helps to prevent overwatering until it grow big enough roots. I have also had success putting cutting right into rabbit hill farms soil.  I just took pictures and mine isn’t ready to water yet, but it’s getting closer.  Only one part is wrinkled so I am going to wait.  It’s cold outside so it’s taking longer to need water.  When all 3 bottom parts are more wrinkled like the one already is, then I’ll water.  You can see in the pics that only one part is getting dehydrated so far.

@SirLiquorice · Answer

@WickedValkyrie mainly using clonex rooting gel should help. Might have to make a small cut and then dip it in the gel.  That should encourage the new roots to grow more.  May not be necessary but will help.  And then pot in a soilless cactus mix like rabbit hill farms.  Then maybe water once a week or so.  Mainly occasionally just mist it in between. Or could also pot in 100% perlite instead of cactus soil until the roots grow

@SirLiquorice · Answer

When I had a cat jump onto one of my ming thing cacti it broke off a branch.  I got the broken limb or piece and dipped it in clonex and potted it in rabbit hill cactus mix and just watered about once a week or so and misted occasionally in between and it’s been growing.  I was kinda surprised because this cactus isn’t supposed to grow like this.  Makes sense with the paper spines cactus that they reproduce by breaking and growing roots on the broken part.  But the Ming thing isn’t supposed to grow roots or break like this one did. It’s been doing great

@SirLiquorice · Answer

This is the Ming thing piece that broke.  Definitely grew bigger

@SirLiquorice · Answer

This one lost the top part randomly for some reason.  Just fell off.  And I hadn’t had it long or even watered it really

@SirLiquorice · Answer

@WickedValkyrie yeah I really like the Ming things.  Haven’t had any of them flower yet but they probably need to be older to flower.  I have one that’s a brighter almost apple green that I call the Toxic Avenger and then I have one with a blue skin tone and another with the dark green skin tone.  That’s the one that got broken is the darker green.  It’s cool that they’re the same plant yet they look a lot different with the different color variations

@SirLiquorice · Answer

@WickedValkyrie these are old pics.  Need to take new better pics.  But that’s the blue one on the left and the toxic avenger on the right.  They have all grown a lot.  I am just surprised the dark green one healed from the damage and you almost can’t tell where it was broken.  And even more surprised the chunk that broke off was able to grow roots.  The clonex gel probably helped a lot. But still weird since that isn’t natural for it to be propagated like that.

Thoughts/advice/opinions??

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