Share The Seeds
Gardening Area => Growing questions and answers => Topic started by: JMZ on October 30, 2015, 08:26:50 PM
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I have a 24 inch bridgesii that just became flaccid and fell over, but the rest look fine. I had a hybrid that did the same thing last spring and I just planted it deeper and it did find. I brought my cactus to a well lit room inside maybe 10 days ago. So is this a natural thing they do so they can grow "log style", or is it the symptom of a problem? I'm thinking of chopping it into thirds and root the top section.
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Unless there was some other underlying health issue I doubt a two foot trich is going to pitch over. You know better also if the pot was top heavy or other variables.
Check this thing for black spots, found some on a year three seedling, next day leaning heavy, day 3 it was too late the black spots were oozing.
As for repotting/cutting. I find the 8 to 12 inch range to do the best without additional support.
-Ian
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May just be a cactus genetically prone to leaning.
Here is an example from solaritea
http://www.sanpedrocactuses.com/blog/2015/6/5/trichocereus-glaucus-ss
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That's a lot like mine. Kind of looks like the Jolly Green Giant after the viagra wears off. It just got soft and fell over. When it happened to my other one last spring I repotted it and buried it deeper, and it stiffened up again. That one was such a beautiful cactus that cutting it wasn't an option.
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https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2LM0CZZ9Uw8
Soft ? I suspect mold and in that case recovery is not possible.
Lets hope its the genes tho.
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It must be a genetic thing, it doesn't look sick or otherwise compromised. I realize that plants don't think, but I believe it's just trying to expand outward rather than upward. I'm sure it would perk back up if I repotted it and buried it deeper, but this one is getting cut today. This doesn't happen to anybody else? This one has done the same thing, and look at it now, strong like bull!
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Didnt you say it is squishy / mushy ? If so it doesnt spund healthy to me :/
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I'll talk some crazy stuff here, but what if this is part of a past gene that would have made trichocereus similar to epiphyte cacti. If it indeed grows log style (without rotting) it would sprout roots all along that bottom. I'm curious if it could too use a tree and root up it...
MY climate is so humid root nubs form above the soil sometimes, but I've never seen them develop past a nub.
Just some crazy speculation from someone who doesn't really know anything :)
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I'll talk some crazy stuff here, but what if this is part of a past gene that would have made trichocereus similar to epiphyte cacti. If it indeed grows log style (without rotting) it would sprout roots all along that bottom. I'm curious if it could too use a tree and root up it...
MY climate is so humid root nubs form above the soil sometimes, but I've never seen them develop past a nub.
Just some crazy speculation from someone who doesn't really know anything :)
No one knows anything; IIWY, i'd hollow out a section of rotted/withered/damp outer tree bark, place a spare trunk cutting in it, wait a few months and see what happens. Would be interesting to see if it's possible to graft trichs to trees...
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"Tree" is was too generic, I doubt anyways you could find one that is compatible, even if by far not all trees would be. The "sap" must be compatible to that if the cactus, amongst other things.
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i mean like how a selenicereus grows, not grafting. the snake like growth reminds me a lot of those kinds of cacti
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There is a naturally creeping/crawling trichocereus that I believe keeps rooting along the body. I'm sure that you can lean a cactus along a tree and those adventurous roots would grow onto the tree if moist enough.
I'm positive that grafting to a tree would be impossible in the traditional sense. However the cactus can be 'grafted' by the roots attaching to the tree bark
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Epiphitic cacti are my favorite. The prostrate type growth happens in lots of terrestrial cacti as well. A good example is Echinopsis thelegona, or Stenocereus eruca.
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How's it doing at the base? It looks like there was rot that scabbed over? No? See the pic below. If it had/has rot, that's probably the issue.
To get them fatter, introduce them to more and more light. You'll probably want to wait till next Spring to do this. This makes a HUUUUGE difference. They'll never reach their potential without close to full sun.
Many Trichs will grow log-style naturally: candicans, brevispinulosus, spachianus, ect. Bridgesii are prone to falling over as well. They grow upright for a long time then one day an arm will just kind of start leaning. Over the course of about 24 hours or less it will be touching the ground. And, yes, you can just leave them on the ground and they'll root, then the tip will start growing upwards. It's like they crawl around if you give them the space.
Lack of direct sunlight is probably the issue unless: 1) it's a cross of a Trich that naturally falls over, 2) its rotting at the base.
I would cut it up and re-root each section.
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It has been cut, and they are calloused enough to plant soon. There was a brown scab, but I don't feel like it was rotten. It really wasn't getting much direct sun for the past month, so that probably had something to do with it. I've heard conflicting advice on other forums about how much sun trichs can tolerate, so what's your advice on that? That one hybrid that I posted a photo of could use some more girth, so maybe I should be more aggressive with the light next year? My plan for the rest is to put them in a well lit room with no water over the winter.
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It has been cut, and they are calloused enough to plant soon. There was a brown scab, but I don't feel like it was rotten.
Yeah, I wasn't quite sure. As long as it wasn't squishy to the touch, it probably wasn't rotting.
That one hybrid that I posted a photo of could use some more girth, so maybe I should be more aggressive with the light next year? My plan for the rest is to put them in a well lit room with no water over the winter.
It really wasn't getting much direct sun for the past month, so that probably had something to do with it. I've heard conflicting advice on other forums about how much sun trichs can tolerate, so what's your advice on that?
Well, like you, I've read conflicting things on the internet.
So I tend to go by what the Arizona growers tell me. One of them (he's been growing Trichs for 30+ years) is a firm believer in "as much sunlight as possible". He's okay with them turning yellow during the Summer months and they'll turn back to being green in the Fall, Winter, Spring. Keep in mind, this is Arizona. He says that if you water them enough during the Summer, they won't yellow as much. He always tells me that they just won't reach maximum diameter unless they get full sunlight. On the other hand, he has a few big ones under a Palo Verde tree that grow magnificent blue columns, but they're much thinner compared to the Trichs in full sun. This is drastically apparent with his terscheckii's: the ones in shade have diameters of about 9" where the ones in full sun are about 14" in diameter.
With younger plants, it's important to acclimate them to sunlight. They can burn. I had really good success this Summer by starting them off in early Spring (after the last freeze) in about 50% shade. Over the course of 2 weeks I moved them further from the tree, reducing the shade each time I moved them. After about 2 weeks, I had them in 8+ hours of full light. They grew nice n' fat.
Often times, I think people are a little too protective of their Trichs and don't go for full sun.
The other AZ grower, wraps his big plants in 30% shade cloth during the Summer months. Again, this is AZ where temps regularly get over 110F. I'll be meeting with him soon and will report back with more information about what he does with his younger Trichs.
That one hybrid that I posted a photo of could use some more girth, so maybe I should be more aggressive with the light next year?
Yes, I think so. You'll be in for a surprise ;)
My plan for the rest is to put them in a well lit room with no water over the winter.
I've read about a grower on the East Coast (MS_Smith) that keeps his Trichs in his garage with: no light, no water, and a dehumidifier to keep them very dry. So you might consider no light as well so they completely go into dormancy instead of etiolating.
I hope this helps!
Hcc
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Thanks for all the help. That cactus wasn't really squishy, but that brown patch at the base could have been rot. It seems like a lot of problems with cacti present as a brown spot which make the cause hard for me to destingiish. I've read that bridgesii is more prone to rot, and the rain and humidity here in Georgia may have been too much for it. I think I'll need to shield it from the rain next summer. For winter, I think I'll keep some in that bedroom, put some in the garage, and put some in a dark and unheated part of my basement. I'll know what works out the best when spring rolls around.
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Just make sure they've gone into dormancy first: if the tips don't have the neon green color they haven't gone in yet.
Hcc