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flannelsnakes
Stranger
Registered: 08/29/15
Posts: 2
Last seen: 8 years, 4 months
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recovering peyote
#22162602 - 08/29/15 09:41 PM (8 years, 4 months ago) |
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a group of us have owned a few different cacti and one of them is a peyote. when we got it, it had almost no roots and already had the strange brown crust at the base. over the two years we've had it, it's hardly changed at all, though its roots seem to be doing a little better.
it's spent the last year in extremely dry conditions with a little bit of slow release fertiliser every so often, and indirect light.
what is the brown crust at the base, and what steps should i be making to give this peyote the best chance at survival? i've fed it more, i'm going to up the watering, and it's now indoors with some indirect light from a window and also a 40W LED light on it. we're in a mediterranean climate near the ocean, with little rainfall, mild winters, very hot summers. about to go into spring now. i could keep it outside if that's going to be better for it but i'm concerned about rot/bugs etc.
Edited by flannelsnakes (08/29/15 09:42 PM)
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Psilosopherr
A psilly goose



Registered: 02/15/12
Posts: 12,278
Last seen: 1 month, 10 days
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P.Zappatecorum
Lophophilus



Registered: 10/15/12
Posts: 2,094
Loc: Cactaceae
Last seen: 3 years, 5 months
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Damn, that thing looks nasty. Stop feeding it so much and stick to a more mineral soil. I use a mixture of 50% horticultural (river) sand, the rest an even mix of lava, pumice and coco coir, plus a pinch of lime and some gypsum for the soil mix, top that off with some washed gravel and you're good to go. You only want to water these plants a few times a year at the hottest part of summer, for me that's only a couple months a year. The rest of the time keep them bone dry.
For your summer season, put it somewhere where it gets some direct morning sun, then gets dappled shade (protected by either a shade cloth or a leafy shrub or tree, then indirect light during the rest of the day and it will be happy. You only need a few good waterings during the hottest part of the year, maybe once or twice a month once nights are in the 70s and you're getting days in the 90s. (temps are farenheit, sorry ) If you're getting over 100 degrees in the day and staying in the 80s at night then you can water weekly.
It's better to underwater than overwater. These plants grow slow, but if it's plump and firm it should be happy. They're slow growers when not grafted so don't try to push them to grow with overwatering and too many nutrients. You'll just kill it that way. If you really want to boost growth speed, you'll need to graft it to a stock like trichocereus pachanoi or myrtillocactus geometrizans. However, a plant in that bad of conditions would not likely survive a grafting. You need to get it back happy, this summer it should return to health if you do things right.
Hard to tell from this pick, looks like maybe you just watered? You may want to take it out of the soil and let it dry before returning to a more mineral soil. Right now it looks like it is rotten and about to be completely dead, and if not it will be soon if you keep watering and feeding it so much.
Edited by P.Zappatecorum (08/29/15 10:35 PM)
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flannelsnakes
Stranger
Registered: 08/29/15
Posts: 2
Last seen: 8 years, 4 months
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thanks for your suggestions, i had just watered but it has been dry for months, as i said. the appearance of rot at the base has been there ever since we got it, and since then it has put some small roots down. i will be careful about overwatering to avoid any further rot. at the moment i think the most important thing is to develop a good tab root. hopefully it will get better once we head into summer!
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P.Zappatecorum
Lophophilus



Registered: 10/15/12
Posts: 2,094
Loc: Cactaceae
Last seen: 3 years, 5 months
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It's probably fine then. They grow slow, especially when they're on their own roots. In your climate the less you do the happier it will be, you could probably just find a good spot for it and leave it alone completely and and watch it thrive. Depends on when your rainy season is. You definitely don't want them to be moist at all when nights are below 60 degrees, even better if it's never wet below 70. I live in a damp, cold environment so I have to be really careful even in the summer looking out for cold snaps and unexpected rain when the nights are too cool.
Edited by P.Zappatecorum (08/29/15 10:58 PM)
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