My cactus got root rot and I caught it in time and cut it off. I did some research and and I read you have to wait for the cut part to calcify. Are these roots?? What do I do? I was not expecting this. Should I repot it? I haven’t watered it in about a month as part of the calcification process. Please help.
Yes they are roots 👍 I would keep doing what you are doing, and let the roots grow about 1 inch. Then you can pot it in good draining soil
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I am in this same process with many cacti at the moment. I am letting the roots grow in water! Because I want to put mine in rock/perlite substrate instead of soil. Unfortunately soil is the cause of root rot for cacti. Seriously I haven’t been successful with a single cactus in soil… but once I put them in lechuza pon, they take off!
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grower of 4+years here… cacti need coarse soil with orchid bark sand and lots of pearlite. if you are putting them in plain potting soil this is why. they also don’t need water until they are fully dry throughout the pot. a moisture meter is the only way to ensure the pot is dry all the way to the bottom. also some houses just don’t accommodate them. could be too humid where you are or not arid enough and the soil doesn’t dry out as soon as it should.
0 likes Yeah I don’t know what the issue is because cactus in soil don’t work for me… doesnt matter what type of soil, doesn’t matter how much water… they always succumb to either root rot or dry rot. I read several forums where others were having the same issue. Maybe if you live in more of a desert state, but definitely doesn’t work for myself in Ohio. I was so fed up with all my cacti getting rot no matter what I did… so taking the calloused cuttings with water roots into pon has been a savior for my cactus
0 likes Also the moisture meters can’t always be trusted, they can have very inaccurate readings. I heard the chop stick is more reliable because if it comes out wet then you know it doesn’t need watered. However I don’t like either because facts are you can be damaging roots when you put it in the substrate. That’s why I’ve slowly been transitioning all my plants/cacti from soil to pon, transitioning the soil roots to water roots. Because water roots can’t be overwatered, well it’s way less likely anyway.. I’ve transitioned many to water roots and haven’t had an issue with overwatering or rot… it’s great. I see why so many YouTubers are using lechuza pon now…it’s genus. Yeah your soil roots will rot and die off but you don’t need them once water roots are formed
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