I’ve never had a cactus deflate before! What on earth did I do? The only thing I can figure is that I overwatered or something because the mid to deep soil was damp. It’s in a window and the other cacti are in great shape. The skewer shown was in the pot permanently. I only just today pulled it out to check the soil. (The other cacti are in the same location. Final skewer was left in for about a minute. Is there any hope at all for him?
So I had this happen and it’s definitely overwatering. The cactus in my case looked like it was getting bigger and brighter before “deflating” one day when I jostled the table a bit. The rot starts on the core and works out so it can be super surprising when it finnaly collapses and never gave a warning. Unfortunately most times if the rot is all the way to the crown or head they it’s too far gone.
2 Likes Thank you so much for replying. I’ll keep watch on the others to make sure they dry out before they get watered again. Welp… here’s to Stile. Rest in peace buddy.
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Poor fella. Sorry this happened. When you purchase a cactus, observe the type of soil it’s in. Sometimes it’s best to gently clean the entire root system and change the substrate all together. Heavy peat based soils hold on to too much moisture so when you go to repot in your own well draining soil, the surrounding soil seems dry but the root ball is damp. On the other hand, peat based soils also become hydrophobic, repelling water which leads to inconsistent watering. Hope that helps.
1 Like It does. I was noticing that the seed starter mix I was going to use to root a cutting wasn’t absorbing the water at all without being thoroughly soaked. I’m learning 🤗
1 Like I would say, in the case of rooting, dampen and mix your soil well first then things won’t move around on you too much. If you need aeration and better drainage, perlite is a great sterile amendment to add in.
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