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[Sherman]

Hello folks!

I have some advice to ask some of the experienced trichocereus growers. I recently took a cutting from my Peruvian Torch, and unfortunately it has some rot issues now. I have attached a pic, which is actually a bit old now. The whole top of the cut is now that reddish/pink color. The top about 1/4 inch (1 cm) is a bit soft and mushy. Should I cut the rot off? Should I leave it alone, and let it fight it?

Some information which may help. It is the beginning of spring here, so the cactus is dormant, and has not been watered for about 6 months. It is still pretty cool, about 50 degrees F (10 degrees C), during the day on most days.

If any other information is needed, just let me know. Thanks for the help! I really like this cactus, and I hope it can make it through this, and throw out some nice fat pups over the summer!

[Sunshine]

I would recut and apply sulfur powder.

[New Wisdom]

Yeah, cut it down about an inch past any orange spots then apply sulfur powder.

[Sherman]

Thanks for the advice!

How low can one cut a cactus, and not hurt its chances of continuing growth? I actually have cut it twice now, and there's only about 6 inches of stump left. It is a particularly fat specimen, so it seems to me like I could make it pretty short if it needs it. Is this accurate?

[New Wisdom]

Well if you want to save the cactus then you have to cut down past the orange spots.  It will grow slower the smaller it is, but it's better than no cactus.

[Sherman]

Cool, that's what I figured. I'll update when (hopefully) its better!

[Sherman]

Well the sulfur has helped, but I'm still fighting this damn rot. It seems like cutting cacti when dormant is a bad idea. The more awake ones have had little to no rot issues, but the sleepy ones have suffered. Even after cutting well past any orange (at least that I could see) the rot has come back.

Most of the rot on the torch I pictured is gone, except for a small area that had sort of crusted over, and rotted underneath. I found it by prodding the cut to check for firmness, and it broke through and there it was. I am hoping now that it has warmed, the days are longer, and the cacti are outside that it should harden over and be OK.

[New Wisdom]

Sorry to hear, but cutting it is just about the only way to fight it. If you don't it will spread, if you do it can spread.  Kind of a lose-lose situation.

Hope it works out.

[Sherman]

Yeah, I went ahead and scooped out the rot, since it was fairly localized. It didn't seem very deep, so I'm hopeful. Luckily that's the only one with it left, after about 6 other plants that had it! I have 2 more segments of the same torch that are doing well. So at least I can keep my good genes, but it would just suck to lose my well-established, fattest part of the plant!

1 Like New Wisdom likes this.

[Sherman]

Just wanted to update! I haven't been on for a while, and wanted to include my experiences with this issue!

The thing that seemed to finally stop the rot, after cutting a nice 6 inch plant down to about 2, was spring time. Once the plant woke up from dormancy, the rot stopped! I'm pretty happy, because I really like this plant, and it would have been a shame to lose it. As of now, it's just beginning to bust out a couple of pups!

I did apply sulfur, which seemed to help a couple of my other cacti stop the rot sooner. For whatever reason, this torch just had it extra bad.

Thanks again for the advice!

1 Like New Wisdom likes this.

[solaritea]

Too late to be of help for this plant, but for others in the future...

I would have considered leaving a fan blowing on the cut end for a day or two or three. That's not something I do all the time but I do it occasionally when conditions aren't favorable. Like if it's too cold or humid, or there are signs of rotting.

3 Likes happyconcacti, Sunshine and fairdinkumseeds like this.