This beautiful cactus was my motherās, itās about 40 +years old, got sickly looking a couple weeks ago, Does anyone have a tip? I know she needs no water, had a break near the root, tried to winch it together, hoping it might heal, but still not doing very good. in a glass pot with no drainage, Iām afraid to repot it as I donāt want to traumatize it any further š¤·āāļø
Wow, 40 years! Most likely itās a Christmas cactus, and actually doesnāt look that bad. You say itās been going downhill. I donāt know what you mean by that but the leaves look a bit limp and dull, should have more of a sheen. You could have root problems. These guys can be managed in a container with no drainage, but that can be a little tricky. Iād repot it. The size of pot to use will be determined by the extent of its root system. First thing Iād do would be to take it from the pot itās in and place it in a bowl. Holiday cacti have very fine roots so you want to be careful not to damage them. The plant could have root rot. if so, youāll smell it, not pleasant. If there are rotten roots, youāll need to carefully separate them from the viable roots if there are any. Iād leave it in the bowl and let it dry out, as Iām suspecting the soil will be pretty damp if not wet. once itās dry enough to manage then go about separating the good roots from the bad if this is the case. when you repot you donāt want to use a pot thatās overly large. Holiday cacti do better when theyāre a bit root bound. Repot using a succulent mix. If all the roots have rotted, the plant can still be saved rather easily. Good luck and good growing!
4 gillningar
Thatās amazing! I agree with the other comment about checking the roots etc, but wanted to mention that these guys are tropical cacti, so they actually like high humidity and cooler temperatures compared to desert cacti. In the wild, they mostly live in shaded areas, so too much direct sunlight can cause stress on the plant
2 gillningar
The wrinkled, thin and dull leaves indicate it needs water. Maybe the break has slowed the spread of water from the roots if the soil is still wet.
3 gillningarI was under watering my cactus. Once I started misting and increasing frequency of watering-I have gotten a lot of new growth. Follow app recommendations for watering and light. Good luck! I have plants with sentimental attachments too.
3 gillningar
Tbh, it looks thirsty! Iād definitely check the roots before watering but if the roots are okay repot and water!
1 gillaThank you everyone, I will definitely try these recommendations, hopefully I can post a healthy update in a few weeks š
1 gilla