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

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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13 comentarios

  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 🥲

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  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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