This little guy was grown from a seed mix. Have any idea what he might be?

Roland

Roland,

It’s too early to tell for sure, but it does look like a Ferocactus.

Peter

I have recently seen this appear on my cactus it is hard to the touch. Could you tell me what it is and how to treat if I can.

Neal

Neal,

From the photo it looks like it could have been beetles chomping on your cactus, or a simple case of winter rot. Since you say it is now hard to the touch you probably don’t have to do anything, however I would spray with hydrogen peroxide and follow up in a week with an organic fungicide like Neem Oil (never use any neem product called Rose Defense) just to be sure. On the other hand if you see it spreading then send me another picture, a closeup in good focus.

Peter

We bought some black bamboo about a year ago from you guys. They are doing great and wow does it grow fast!

I had a question about an agave that we’ve had a little while longer. It has been sporting these little yellowish spots on it lately and they seem to be multiplying. We’ve been watering it about once a month over the winter. This one and another one we bought are the first we’ve owned so I’m not quite sure what its ailment might be. (the other one seems fine aside from re-potting shock it endured a little while back)

Is this indicative of something wrong? Pic is attached. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

-Jared

Jared,
It looks like your Agave attenuata has taken some winter damage from the freeze we had in January. Over time these damaged leaves will die off and be replaced by new leaves that will come out of the center of the plant. In the meantime there’s not a lot you need to or can do.
Peter

Hi,

I have a plant that I purchased about 2-1/2 years ago from you. While I left it in the pot, it continued to grow and looked heathy. Last summer, I transplanted it into the ground in a sunny spot. It stopped growing, and developed a yellow tinge. Now, the yellow spots are turning soft.

I have a new raised bed with much better drainage and a bit less sun. My question is: can I move it right now, or must I wait until it warms up? I live in Sacramento. Is it too late to save? It is soft at the top of the plant, not near the roots.

Thanks for any suggestions you can offer,

Kathryn

Kathryn,
If when it was in the pot it was in a less sunny location, it may have sunburned from being put out into full sun, especially in a Sacramento summer.

And then in winter, it looks like you have automatic watering at the plant? If so that could make the problem worse in winter. It is possible that the soil was moist when we had our freeze in January.

So it looks like it is rotting from the tip. In general that means you want to cut the rotted tips off down to where you can see fresh clean green tissue on the inside of the plant. You will then have to protect the tips for a few weeks while they callous over. Given how far this has progressed, I would recommend doing the cutting now, turning off the water and protecting it from any rains, and then waiting until April or May to transplant it. Basically you want it to start getting better before you cause any transplant stress.

You should spray the cut tips with hydrogen peroxide to help them heal over. Watch for further rot and if needed spray with an organic fungicide like neem.

In the future it is best to water Opuntia subulatas in the ground very very sparingly. Once established you don’t have to ever water them unless you are getting over 95F.

Good luck

Peter

Elizabeth has a question for Yahoo Answers. I thought I would post it here so you all can join in and pass along your cactus expertise to Elizabeth.

Cactus for Valentines Day?
So my boyfriend and I have been together for three years now and I always make him crafts or get him odd little things for Valentines day and he loves it. So this year I was going to get him a Venus Fly trap that said You caught me ;D but all the fly traps were dead and i bought him a “Golden Ball Cactus”…

The cactus has a yellow straw flower actually hot glued onto the poor cactus… stupid people.. and all the others were like,,, dead and such and i was wondering if there is any way i can keep this crinkly little flower alive. I wasn’t sure if it was fake or not.. but im assuming fake flowers can’t die although it has obviously been glued on.

I’ll start it off by saying that if all the Venus Fly Traps and all the Cactus except one were dead that the store she bought the one from is not doing a good job taking care of the plants and I would watch the cactus carefully for signs of stress and not worry about the straw flower.

Can you top my advice?

Ask.com has this question up:

How Long Can a Cactus Survive Without Water

And then the answer includes this part:

…although (cacti) may show some signs of death when it lacks water, in most cases, it never dies completely…

What a bizarre answer.

Felicia posted the ID question on Yahoo Answers and already has her answer, so you don’t need to click through to help her out and answer.

But can you ID this cactus anyway?

I’m having an awful time with mildew (or some similar fuzzy gray fungus) on Euphorbias in my house, one room in particular.[1] I tried neem oil, but that just makes everything defoliate. Then I tried spraying with basic copper sulfate (it was the cheapest and least toxic thing I could find at the garden center), but that has no effect. So I’m looking for something not found in nature, ideally something that’s illegal in multiple countries. Bonus points if it’s a yellow-green liquid that produces its own dry ice fog. Can you recommend anything?

Pedilanthus tithymaloides w/fungus

Euphorbia drupifera w/fungus

–mr_subjunctive

–

[1] Affected so far: Euphorbia milii, Euphorbia drupifera, Pedilanthus tithymaloides, Synadenium grantii, Euphorbia bougheyi variegata, Euphorbia trigona, Euphorbia lactea, Pedilanthus ‘Jurassic Park 2.’

Good evening. Two days ago I noticed these spots on my Santa Rita Prickly Pear. Are these spots insects? Any suggestions on what to do? I bought this plant at Cactus Jungle and it’s one of our favorites.

Thank you,
David

David,

Those spots are insects – Scale insects – the big spots are the adults and the tiny spots are the babies. Prickly Pear Cactus are prone to these and it’s fairly common in the Bay Area. We recommend starting off by dipping a soft-bristled paintbrush into rubbing alcohol and gently brushing as many of them away as you can. The alcohol will break through their shells.

As this is a fairly extensive infestation, you should use a strong insecticide – we recommend natural pyrethrins (not the synthetic varieties) and we do sell a couple brands that are safe for use on cacti – that you can spray on directly. You will need to get into the cracks and crevices around the plant, and even spray the top of the soil. Re-spray after 2 weeks and that should take care of it.

Peter

Hi there,

My boyfriend bought a really nice plant for me from your store and apparently he mentioned that I have some succulent questions and someone there said I should just email you. So here goes!

I bought these succulent clippings for a wedding in June. After the wedding I put them on a tray with paper towel underneath and just soaked the paper towel occasionally. They seemed to be doing fine but haven’t really grown any serious roots.

I tried to put them in dirt (as you can see) but the don’t seem to be doing as well now (maybe because the dirt absorbs the water before the succulent can get to it?).

Anyway, can you advise me on how to turn a succulent clipping into a free-standing plant? Thank you!

Best, Megan

Megan,

It sounds like you are doing fine with them. It can take a few months, especially in winter, for those succulents to develop good roots. The plants should be fine in the meantime. Water every 2 weeks or less during the winter, more in the summer.

In general the best way to root cuttings is to let the cut end dry and heal over, then put them straight into dry cactus soil (we sell our own cutom blend). Don’t water for a week, and then start watering regularly same as if they had roots.

The plants do look like they might not be getting enough sun. I can’t tell if that was from before the cuttings were taken, or if it’s because they’re on the floor below where the sun gets to. But I would make sure they’re getting 3-4 hours of direct sun every day.

Good luck!

Peter

Mystery bug on pot with blooming Rebutia fiebrigii. Do you have any idea what it could be?

Hi, I’m a big fan of your blog and i was hoping that you might be able to identify this agave? I just picked it up at lowes and it was labeled as an aloe.  Fingers crossed that it’s hardy.

Thanks
Paul from VA

Paul,

You have an Agave, probably Agave potatorum. Also see here for lots more pictures.

They are hardy to about 25F (Zone 9b), so probably not hardy outside in VA.

Peter

Hello!
I stumbled across your blog and I have a few questions regarding my new copiapoa.
How often should I water it, and how much water should I use when I do? Now that it is winter I thought I would need to water it less. I just got it about a week or two ago and it was flowering–now the flower has closed up. Is this usually the case with this cactus?

I also have a succulent that I have had for about a year, I think I over watered it recently but I thought maybe taking a look you could tell if it is doing okay. I was wondering if I needed to plant it in a bigger pot?

Also, I live in Oklahoma, just so you could get an idea on weather.

Thank you in advance!
Alicia

Alicia,

Cactus flowers only last 2-4 days, so it is not unusual that the cactus has finished blooming so quickly. It is unusual that it was blooming so late in the year. Normally you should see it flower in early summer. I would recommend some low strength fertilizer in spring and a little bit of extra bloom food.

For winter, put it in the sunniest window you have, water every 4-6 weeks, and pretty much leave it alone. In spring you can start watering about every 3 weeks.

When we water we prefer to drench the plant and let the water drain away – a kitchen sink is a good place for that.

The succulent is Crassula ovata, and it is fine. It definitely wants a bigger pot, but I would wait until spring.

Peter

About a month ago, I purchased 4 Candy Stripe clumping bamboo plants along with pots and soil. Recently, they have started dropping leaves. I increased water to 2x a week from the originally advised 1x per week.

What else should I be doing?

Amy

Amy,
Your bamboo plants are having a little bit of transplant shock – which is perfectly natural and nothing to worry about. Stop the extra watering – these are drought tolerant plants and need to dry out between waterings. Only water more than once per week if its very hot or very windy. You should see new tiny leaflets starting in the next few weeks.

If you used the Bioturf organic fertilizer we recommend, you don’t need to do anything more. Otherwise I do recommend some high nitrogen organic fertilizer.
Peter

Hello Peter;

I have a question on what to do about my Euphorbia trigona – it had been ill about 2 years ago and was treated with Neem and then brought into the house and recovered nicely. It kept growing taller and taller and never branched. It finally threw two branches this summer and grew another foot taller…it is now 40 inches tall! It is still completely upright with a chop stick secured to the bottom 6 inches, planted in a 6” deep terra cotta and happy. Should I just let it continue to get taller and taller? OR should I cut it down to size and let the potted bottom half alone – will it sprout branches? Then I would re-pot the top half?

Is it a must to use a rooting solution? I did not use any kind of rooting solution when I put the top of the cleistocactus that rotted off (of course, I did remove all rot and then let the bottom dry for awhile) into some cactus soil. It seems happy and has started growing a new fluff of top furry hair J. Will it root without rooting solution?

Thanks for your time, once again, to help me figure all this out.

~Karen

Karen,
It’s just about too late in the year to take Euphorbia cuttings, so if you do want to cut it and re-root, I recommend waiting until next year and taking the cuts between May and August. We do ours on July 1. The Euphorbia cuts are easy to get to root without hormones so long as they are well callused over.

The pot its in is too small, so it would be happier in a larger pot. Probably a 10-12″ pot.

And finally, these Euphorbias can be grown much slower with much less water. It’s amazing how long you can go between waterings. I recommend about once per month to really slow down its growth, although if its in a sunny hot window it may need a little water every 2-3 weeks.

With regular water, these will top 8ft. pretty quickly. We’re often asked to come into people’s homes to cut them down before they hit the ceiling.
Peter

Good day-

I purchased an Aloe plant from you about 3 months ago. Everything seemed to be going fine with it until about a month ago I noticed that at the base of each leaf, it appeared to be dying out. Over the past week its gotten worse and now the whole plant is rotted and needs to be throw out (see photos). Im wondering if you have any tips or ideas as to why this would have happened? It was in excellent temp and light all day long.

Any thoughts would be great, as Id like to get another one. Feel free to call me or email me.

Best,

Zachary

Zachary,

It does appear that the plant rotted out from the stem. I don’t know what caused it to rot, but it may be over-water, or sitting in water so the soil doesn’t dry out. I don’t see any sign of pests, but something could have been chewing on the roots and that could cause this problem too.

If you see something like this happening again on another plant, send us a photo or bring it by the store before it’s too late, and we may have a better chance of diagnosing it and helping you save it.

Peter

Hello Cactus Jungle!
I recently moved my dinteranthus from a bright shade location to a full sun (bright shade for half the day) spot about two days ago. Today I noticed a strange lesion developing on one of the leaves (see photos). Overall the plant feels soft/a little mushy compared to before the move.

Any thoughts on how to approach this?
Thanks,
Tony

Tony,
That’s definitely a sunburn. These are very delicate plants, so the prognosis is not great. The best I can suggest is to get it out of the direct sun, and spray with hydrogen peroxide to help it heal. If it survives the week, you can also spray it with some Neem Oil to help prevent any fungus.
Peter