Topic: Cactus collapse

[davholla]

I have a cactus in my office - no natural light.
It has started leaning quite strongly, the base looks discoloured possibly rotten, has it had it?

[goodlife]

Code: [Select]

has it had it?
It could have, but it could also be sign of older plant tissue...just like with some other plants, different 'generation' of growth look different.
Leaning can be just a sign of it trying to reach what ever source of light is producing right wave length to support its growth...

BUT...it could be sign of rot too, which often start with cactuses from soil level and that would be case of over watering it.

If you can poke at the different looking area...and it is softer than the growth higher up...well, I would take it that 'is has had it'. The rot line will eventually creep up and the whole plant will give away, maybe even collapse under plant's own weight.
Is you cactus big one?

[davholla]

It is 30 cms tall.  The brown areas are softer and when I poke them liquid comes out.

[gray1720]

I'm afraid that it's rotting. You might be able to salvage it by treating as a cutting - cut it off above the rot, dry the base off, then pot into a very well-drained compost, but I fear that growing a cactus somewhere with no natural light is a bad plan anyway.

Adrian
 

[Robert_Brenchley]

Remove all the damaged tissue and have a go at rooting it. Leave it till the cut area is well callused over, then pot it and keep it really dry - barely water at all - until it shows signs of growth.