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Hi! I’ve been regularly watering my Christmas cactus as it starts to… | Pests, diseases and problems | Planta community

Alex

Hi! I’ve been regularly watering my Christmas cactus as it starts to dry out, and it was doing really well until about two weeks ago. It’s under a grow light for eight hours a day, and the soil is currently damp, but it’s been droopy and hasn’t perked up no matter what I’ve done. Dr. Planta says it’s underwatered, which is what I thought at first too, but extra water hasn’t helped, and neither has cutting back on the water. I wanted to see if anyone else had better ideas, as my other cactus (red pot) is doing really well. Thanks in advance!

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1 like 13 comments

13 comments

  1. eatyacarbs

    these will quietly rot on you. you want to water only when it dries out completely. if that’s taking a while, you’ve got root trouble. it looks like your roots are compromised 😔

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    • Alex

      That’s kind of what I was afraid of. I’ve been holding off on watering it like the app wants because I didn’t want to cause it to rot. I’ll pull it out and check on it. Thank you!

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    • eatyacarbs

      your other one in the red pot is looking a little questionable too if i’m honest 🥴

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    • Alex

      Yeahhh I just added some of them to the pot because they were not doing well in the other one I had them in, but I’m getting ready to give up on them all 😅

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  2. Kades

    I just took cuttings from my Easter cacti (like 30 mins ago) and ditched the mom plants because I’m a notorious over waterer and I nitpick with them too much. Somehow I’ve managed to keep my Xmas cacti alive but I have to force myself not to water weekly or even bi weekly

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    • Alex

      I live with my grandma and she’s got TONS of them so I may start over completely tbh. I also lean toward over watering but I was doing pretty well with these until recently 🥲

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    • eatyacarbs

      they’re not good communicators. they look fine for a long time before you notice something bad is going on under the soil. the soil staying wet is a good indicator that the roots aren’t doing their job. all a learning experience! you’ll know more next time!

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    • Alex

      Thank you for your help! Dr. Planta hasn’t been much help unless I already know what the issue is 🥲

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  3. Kades

    I totally feel you, starting over sucks! 😭 my one with white blooms had such a bad fungus gnat problem on top of everything else so I ditched the whole thing. Easier than dealing with pests… I’ve had to segregate my cacti to my window bay so I don’t walk over to them and water just because

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    • Alex

      That’s what I did with my aloe 😭 they’re in a window in the partially underground basement where I usually forget about them and they’re THRIVING. Maybe I should take the Christmas cactus down there…

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    • Kades

      I think it’s a great idea! Unfortunately just get to enjoy them less 🥲

      1 like
  4. Sunny

    I can’t figure them out anymore. We did not communicate well this summer. She looks emaciated because over watering killed 2 branches a couple of months ago. So, I cut back on watering. I’m going to leave these types of Cactus alone.

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    • Alex

      I’m not good at plants that don’t like a lot of water because I’m so worried about them drying out, so I get it! I may give them one more shot but if they don’t work out then I’ll probably leave them alone too

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