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[MadPlanter]

This stuff has been on pretty much all my outdoor cacti for some time. Some cacti have been growing with this for three plus years with no apparent actual damage. Most new cacti I bring in quickly start developing it but it never hurts them from what I can tell. So my question is what is this crap? Should I at all be concerned? I'd guess not but want to see y'alls opinions. Take a look...

[Bach]

Mine get that too. I think it's a kind of mildew that gets under the skin when conditions are really humid. It doesn't seem to hurt anything except sometimes it causes scarring which can occasionally envelope the whole plant.  Given good conditions though they will generally outgrow it during the cooler and drier parts of the year.

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[oplopanax]

It must be from year round humidity since mine never get that & they only live outside when it is dry here, then are kept in the dry & the dark during the wet season (PNW)

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[MadPlanter]

Cool thanks guys! Its humid as balls here pretty much year round. I'll have to live with it I guess at least its not a dire concern.

[New Wisdom]

I've gotten that before. Mostly on bridgesii.  It sometimes will get pretty bad and ooze black goo, but then usually scars over and turns a brown/tan color. It's never killed any plants in my experience, but I've never had that much on one plant.

[MadPlanter]

That's basically how all my cacti look pretty much all the time. Only cacti that don't get it aren't trichos. These being opuntia species. They never get that ever. All trichos do though and it really only seems to effect them aesthetically. Bridegesii are the only trichos that I ever get rot with. Some clones of bridgesii seem really hardy and don't have that problem but many rot over and over. Cut the tip then grow back a nice column then rot and repeat...its very odd. But then again its crazy humid and rainy here a good portion of the year which isn't great obviously for rot prone cacti.

[misplant]

yup, its a symptom of too much humidity.

theres a world of difference between the black oozing goo and rot & imho a person should never concern themselves with the black goo / discolored or mottled epidermis. 


plus, if you live in an area of high humidity, I'd recommend cutting back on watering  most all cacti

[Bach]

Nobody needs to water cacti around these parts...

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[MadPlanter]

I pretty much never water them due to our rain frequency.