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Lemnaminor
Lophophora - eyed



Registered: 11/13/13
Posts: 1,366
Loc: Sicily
Last seen: 1 month, 25 days
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Several rotting cacti.
#22500314 - 11/09/15 12:40 PM (8 years, 2 months ago) |
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So today I go retrieve some cacti from my old agitation, and I discover that several are dead rotten. The plants were all together inside a closed room and we're not watered when I left them. ThE substrate was all the same , very mineral ( definitely something good ) . There was light inside the room but apparently not enough, because several plants are a bit eviolited. Anyhow, the strangest thing is that some plants that died were couples of the same species in same pots ( Wich only one died and the other is perfectly fine. ) Deaths : one gymnocalycium spegazzini, one oroya neoperuviana, one grusoni brevisppinus and one mirabilis. Plus one theprocactus hexadrophorus is in danger and I had to perform emergency surgery graft on a really nice lophophora Japanese
I unrooted all of them and I inspected soil. Nothing strange in there. Now I just don't understand how come so many casualties. Anyone can guess?
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      "The best things in life, come covered in spines."
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Spanishfly
$$$Rich€€€Bich£££



Registered: 03/19/12
Posts: 1,851
Loc: Spain
Last seen: 6 years, 26 days
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Re: Several rotting cacti. [Re: Lemnaminor]
#22500651 - 11/09/15 02:20 PM (8 years, 2 months ago) |
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Happens to us all at some time I guess - a plant rots and maybe dies for no good reason that we can discern. Sometimes we can catch the rot in time, and perform emergency surgery successfully. Perhaps we can only remain vigilant and carry out best practice at all times.
-------------------- I am currently BANNED from using Private Messages - so can anyone who wants to contact me do it via my Journal thread. Link is https://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Number/23831115 Maybe some mod or whatever might think this has now been long enough.
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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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Re: Several rotting cacti. [Re: Spanishfly]
#22500978 - 11/09/15 03:49 PM (8 years, 2 months ago) |
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Yeah, every once in a while a couple plants will rot for no apparent reason. Always good to clone what you can and keep some redundancy in your collection so you don't lose anything important even if a plant or two dies. I suspect that when this happens it's more that the cause was so long ago you can't attribute the cause-effect very easily. These plants can hide disease from us very well and be fighting for their lives without us even knowing it.
Months, even a year can go by after that one watering mistake, bug damage or rotten roots from a bad repotting happened, then all of a sudden the rot finally takes over and almost over night the whole plant turns to mush.
I've had several cases where I knew why the plant died when it did, but I had already breathed a sigh of relief and thought it was ok for a good 6 months before it finally decided to die. With other plants I just had no idea whatsover had gone wrong, they just up and kicked. I'm sure I fucked up at some point, but it was so subtle and so long ago that the cause was a mystery. You might want to check for root mealies, they can do a lot of damage while plants are dormant.
Edited by P.Zappatecorum (11/09/15 03:51 PM)
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Spanishfly
$$$Rich€€€Bich£££



Registered: 03/19/12
Posts: 1,851
Loc: Spain
Last seen: 6 years, 26 days
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This Astrophytum capricorne is a survivor (pictured Oct 2015).

In 2011 I noticed that it was collapsing in on itself - the dense coating of spines prevented me seeing what was happening earlier. All the roots were gone and most of the body was mush. There wasn´t much left after I had cut back to healthy tissue. But I dusted the cut surface with cinnamon and persuaded it to re-root. It is now bigger than it was before and (I hope)very healthy. P.Z, your notes about redundancy is a very good point - but I have some plants that were hard to find initially - I doubt I could do it again.
-------------------- I am currently BANNED from using Private Messages - so can anyone who wants to contact me do it via my Journal thread. Link is https://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Number/23831115 Maybe some mod or whatever might think this has now been long enough.
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LSoares
Farmer



Registered: 10/09/13
Posts: 3,209
Loc: Portugal
Last seen: 4 years, 2 months
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Re: Several rotting cacti. [Re: Spanishfly]
#22501225 - 11/09/15 04:38 PM (8 years, 2 months ago) |
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Were the plants fresh repotted when you left them? Random casualties happen, of course, but very rarely on well established plants in my experience. I'm guessing repotting shock/rot or root mealies, these can be sneaky and easily missed. Look for a sort of ashy deposit around the roots.
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Lemnaminor
Lophophora - eyed



Registered: 11/13/13
Posts: 1,366
Loc: Sicily
Last seen: 1 month, 25 days
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Re: Several rotting cacti. [Re: LSoares]
#22501422 - 11/09/15 05:06 PM (8 years, 2 months ago) |
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Yes plants were freshly repotted.
luckyly i didin't find any root mealy , so that should not be the problem. I will repot tomorrow and place them in a repaired sunny place.
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      "The best things in life, come covered in spines."
Edited by Lemnaminor (11/09/15 05:09 PM)
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