Dear CJ,
I have a number of cactus and succulent varieties planted in the ground and they are doing much better than when they were in pots.

I am not too happy about the weeds among them.

After pulling all the weeds, should I cover the ground with medium sized redwood chips, clean rocks, or what? What I want is to have something easy enough to move aside to add more plants when needed and also something which will deter the weeds?

Thanks for your help.
David

David,
We recommend gravel or lava, some kind of rock mulch that is rough, not smooth, and will dry out quickly. Also, we can recommend Corn Gluten, either liquid or pellet, after you’ve pulled the weeds as a pre-emergent herbicide.
Peter

Hello,
We’re hoping you can tell us a bit more about this type of cactus, so that we can enjoy it in its full glory. I’ve searched online for care guidance, with no luck.

We purchased a beautiful Echinocereus grandiflora (lemon yellow) from the Cactus Jungle this past weekend. It had three fantastic yellow blooms when we brought it home. We placed it (in its pot) in our sunny yard and gave it a bit of water. After a few days, the blooms closed up and have a brownish appearance. Is this normal? We haven’t planted it just yet, but it is worth noting that we’re in a very sunny and windy location. Hope that’s okay for this beauty!

Thanks in advance for your help.
Vanessa

Vanessa,
Cactus flowers tend to last only 2 to 4 days since they’re from the desert where they lose a lot of moisture very quickly. That’s also why they’re so big and beautiful – to attract the bees to pollinate them very quickly. So there’s nothing wrong with the flowers having finished. A sunny location is perfect for them, and they can handle lots of wind, too. As these grandifloras grow, they will have dozens or more flowers throughout the spring and summer. I recommend adding a bloom food in to the mix in February to get even more blooms after that.

Here’s one in bloom that’s been in the ground a few years (with different colored flowers).

Peter

Hello,

I saw you have great reviews and excellent knowledge of cactus’ through Yelp and I’m hoping you can help me out. Attached you will find pictures of a cactus tree we have in our backyard. We are trying to figure out what type of cactus this is, can you help out? Thank you for your time in reading this, have a nice day.

Thank you,

Sinta
American International Metals
Anaheim

Sinta,
The picture is small, but the plant is not a cactus at all but rather a Euphorbia, probably Euphorbia ammak, which is also known as an African Candelabra.
Peter

Hello-

I have what I think is a 44″ 3-prong Euphorbia Ammak variegata.

I’d like to sell it on Craigslist. I’m curious if you would have an idea of how long it took to grow to this height? My (now) husband got it in 1999 I believe and has never repotted it. So my guess is that it’s been stunted.

Any info would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks so much,

Aimée

Aimee

Nice! It is indeed an Ammak. I would be concerned that it hasn’t been repotted in 12+ years, as that means it is underpotted, will be root-bound and could suffer from stress if moved. I don’t know how old it was before that; Ammaks can grow as much as 1ft. in a year, but 6″ per year is more normal. We would make sure the Ammak is freshly potted in a larger pot and in cactus soil (we would let it sit in its new pot for at least 3 months) before selling it.

Peter

Hello,

I wanted to transplant this cactus but I am unsure if I should put the brown portion under the soil or if it is even worth replanting.  I meant to bring it in with me on Friday, but I forgot.  Please see attached photo.

Thank you for your help.

Tabetha

Tabetha,

It looks like a case of “barking” (though I can’t blow it up to see detail… so it could be a pest but I don’t think so) but if it is barking the plant has been stressed and showing it’s age, the older green tissue has basically turned to a cork like bark to protect it from infection. To hide most of the bark you can repot it an inch deeper with a fast draining cactus soil and then add another inch of gravel mulch, we use 1/4 inch lava, but any crushed stone will work. Just stay away from smooth pebbles since they stay wet longer. The gravel will mask the bark without causing rot issues as long as you don’t over water. If you would like you can bring it by to confirm the barking and of course we do offer repotting services.

Take care,

Hap

Hi I just called about the brown spotting. Thanks for your comments for possible remedy or better care.

Robert

Robert,
It looks to me like it’s just age. The plant is probably fine, and forming bark in the lower “trunk”. Check to make sure it is firm, and not soft. If it is soft then it might be rot, but it doesn’t look like rot to me. Except one branch where there is more than one color – check there especially to see if it is soft or hard. If hard, then you are good to go!

Peter

Editor’s Note:

Today’s Rule of Thumb for this type of problem:

My advice to any of you if you have brown spots is to poke it. Poke it good. If it’s hard then it’s probably healed over, and if it’s soft then it’s probably a rot spot indicating some underlying problem. Now you know!

Hi Cactus Jungle:
Can you identify this plant? It is a cutting taken directly from a small tree-like woody trunk about 1-foot tall. It was up-right, no droop or dangle.

Leaves (?) very thin and stiff. Also please let me know if I can start plant from this piece.
Thanks much,
Rosa

Do you have your guess ready for Rosa?

Check it out after the break… Read More…

Hi Hap,

I spoke to you this morning about the below sick plant.

I’ve sprayed the Neem Oil mixture ( 2 caps Neem, 1 cap each of rubbing alcohol,dish soap & seaweed) and kept it out of the sun 2-3 times and this is what she looks like this morning. She is getting worse, not better & it hurst my heart to see her in this condition. Any suggestions??

MANY THANKS!!

SHERLI

Here’s a closeup, too:

Sherli,

That is quite the infestation! It does look like most of them are dead, but I see several types of aphids and a few mealie bugs as well that look like they may be alive. Since a good number of them seem to be dead and just still stuck on the plant, I recommend spraying the leaves with a firm (but not too aggressive) jet of water from a hose end spray head and knock them off. The jet of water will get rid of the corpses as well as squish a lot of the soft bodied aphids. Then let the plant dry and respray with Neem, making sure to coat the undersides as well as the tops of the leaves, make sure to coat the caudex and soil as well to get any still crawling around. Reapply the Neem in a week to get any that you missed or hatching eggs that survived. If they come back quickly after that you may need to use something more toxic than Neem. But let’s cross that bridge only if you need to, Neem is usually effective and relativity considered nontoxic to people and pets (it is used in toothpaste and cosmetics…) which is why we use it as our primary pesticide.

Take care,

Hap

This question is all about the nature of cultivars. At least, that’s what I took the real question to be about.

hi
I just bought an agave parrasana at your nursery today. I am just double checking to make sure it is the true agave parrasana, as sometimes confederate rose agaves are labeled as parrasana, and that is not what I was looking for.

Thank you,
Ellen

Ellen,

I am not familiar with Agave “Confederate Rose” but as far as I understand it is a dwarf cultivar of A. parrasana. We do grow some other dwarf cultivars of A. parrasana as well. The nature of cultivars is that they are the species and not hybrids, however someone has found a smaller individual A. parrasana because individuals naturally vary and decided to grow it on and give it a cultivar name. This does not mean it isn’t true A. parrasana. As for what we carry, we’ve never grown any cultivars called “Confederate Rose”, so I assume the A. parrasana you got from us is the variety of A. parrasana you were looking for.

Peter

Hi there,

I bumped into your blog while trying to research to check if my cactus is becoming healthy: in the center of each cactus stalk (not sure what to call it!), it looks like the center is starting to brown and decay. But I’m not sure exactly if it in fact it is doing it, and I’m getting concerned and wondering if I can catch this potential problem right now. Would you by any chance know what’s going on right now with my cactus? Any information would be helpful!

 

Thanks,
Marc

Marc,
It looks like it could be a burn on the newly growing centers of each stem of the cactus. Was it recently brought out into sun, or turned around so a different side was facing the sun? Maybe it was under an overhang and the sun finally came around to its part of the yard? Also, it might have been from spraying it.

It looks like it has healed over enough that you probably don’t have to worry about it getting an infection. But watch for soft spots.
Peter

Dear Cactus Jungle,
I have an established echeveria plant outside my yard in long beach, California. Lately, it appears to be losing some of its color and dropping a lot of leaves. It used to be bright green and completely full, you could not stick your finger in the mass of flowers. Now there are holes. It gets plenty of sun and has good drainage. Is this too much water? Too little water? Normal?

 

Also, we recently had a laundry to landscape gray water irrigation installed near the plant, so maybe stress?

I appreciate any help as it is a favorite and I don’t want to lose it.

Thanks,
Pixie

Pixie,
It looks to me like this is an Aeonium (possibly A. haworthii or one of the A. decorum hybrids) rather than an Echeveria. Aeoniums are winter growers, so they often look exactly like this in a sunny location in the summer. Also, the plant has crowded out this area and probably has fully used up the nutrients in the soil.

Do not overwater going forward since it is dormant for the summer. Let it look like this for now, and then in the fall I recommend thinning it out by taking cuttings. Fertilize in fall and winter (see our Ultra Soil Cactus Meal).
Peter

Sometimes people are so quick to send us a question they forget to tell us who they are, or where they are. In general, it’s always nice to see a question signed by a person so we know it’s not a bot.

Not sure why it looks like this. In raised pots, we do get frost on occasion, maybe too much/little water?

Any advice?

In general succulents do lose bottom leaves, so as long as there are new leaves growing in the center its not really a problem. However it does like like it might have been some freeze damage, so maybe next year if you’re going to get a freeze you could cover it with a frost blanket.

Peter

Hi,
I have had this succulent for about 6-9 mos. After it was planted, I noticed some sand-like granules on some of the blooms. Sadly, it has spread, and the plant looks very sad now. Any suggestions to heal it? The whole plant appears to be turning a dark purple color. It is very beautiful when it’s healthy.

Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Thanks,
Kristie

Kristie,

The sand-like stuff on the blooms is Aphids, an insect that is feeding off the blooms. You can spray the blooms and try to get rid of them, but often the answer is to cut the blooms off. As for the rest of the plant, a Graptopetalum, it doesn’t look good. I think the plant may already be dead, though it’s hard to tell for sure from the photo. If it was the aphids, it would have to have been a major infestation to do that kind of damage. To me it actually looks like the plant may have suffered sun burn. Was it recently brought outside?

If it is still alive, the best thing you can do is get it afternoon shade, cut off all the bloom stalks, hose it off vigorously, and then spray it with an organic insecticide. We recommend Neem oil, diluted from 100%.

Peter

I happened upon your blog while looking up some info on succulents and found it very helpful! I’m still a little unsure about watering succulent starts though. None of the nurseries I have talked to have been able to help me solve the problem. I have a few successful leaf starts growing and recently tried starting a few more. I’m having a hard time telling if I’m over or under watering them though. I’ve attached a picture of two sets I currently have (“Dying” and “Healthy”). One is pretty healthy (they are about a week old) and the others have completely changed colors (they are mostly from a purple graptopetalum). I’m thinking they are over watered. Is that correct? How often would you recommend watering these? I’m in Utah and these are outside in temperatures between 40 and 80 right now in partial sun. I think I may have gotten rather lucky that my first batch had some success, although quite a few of the leaves did die rather than grow.

 

Cassidy

Cassidy,
I can’t tell you how to grow them in your climate as it is so different than ours. In general, you can expect a certain amount of loss, and it should take a year or so to get small plants. It’s probably better to grow them inside. And it’s probably better to use a succulent soil, rather than the bark based soil you are using. Finally, I would bury the cut tip of the leaf into the soil a bit, rather than just set them on top. All that said, I do not know if it is overwater or underwater, too much sun or soil that isn’t drying out, or some other possible problem – that’s the joy of propagating – learning your conditions and how to get the plants to grow locally. You’ll need to do some tests treating different groups differently and see how they grow.

Howdy cactus jungle,
My crested aeonium has developed some brown spots on its leaves, but everything else seems fine. There’s even healthy looking new growth/rosettes. Should I be concerned? Should I give it a neem oil treatment?

Thanks for any advice you can give,
Tony

Tony,
I wouldn’t be too concerned since the new growth looks good. It was probably freeze damage or hail damage. On the other hand, it could be mites. Check for tiny insects, for barely visible webbing. If it’s mites then it does need to be treated with neem oil.
Peter

It can be difficult in the Opuntia family to tell if new growth is going to be flowers or stems. Eventually though they grow big enough that we can make a determination.

Now is that time for Shelley’s cactus.

Dear Peter:

Here are the things growing from my cactus.

Please advise.

Shelley

In this case my answer was visual:

Greetings and thank you.
Is there any chance you know what this plant is? The Plant Guru at Sloat Gardens said you might, although i don’t agree with the idea that this is a succulent because it takes a lot of water. Some leaves bifurcate into these little paddle shaped clusters (which although predicted, have not yet fallen off yet any) thanks again if you have any ideas.

~ : }
suki

Suki,

It is a succulent, and I believe it is Kalanchoe beauverdii. The leaves at the ends are plantlets, designed to fall off and root and grow into new plants. It’s a common strategy for Kalanchoes.

Peter

Attached is a photo of a cactus that you repotted for me a year or two ago. I water it every 2 weeks as you advised. This morning it was leaning a little and this afternoon it went all the way over. Any suggestions as to why, what I need to do, are the others at risk?

Thank you for any help you can give.

Susan

Susan,

It’s hard to tell what happened from the small photo. But in general Cleistocactus have a life cycle where each individual branch only lives 7-10 years and then dies, generally by breaking off at a rot spot. They grow new branches as it goes. If this is what has happened then you can cut this branch off. New branches will eventually grow and replace it. However, as best I can tell the branch is bending not breaking, and if there is no rot down at the bend, then it is possible that this is a case of too much water for the location. Cleistocactus can sometimes start sprawling like that, but usually if its growing too fast. So while we recommend more water in sunnier locations, as much as once every 2 weeks, it needs less water if it’s not getting all day sun – every 3 weeks or so. Also, as it is sitting in a saucer, you want to make sure that it doesn’t actually fill up with water. The soil needs to dry out between waterings, and sitting in water keeps the soil moist.

Peter

I rescued this plant from the trash; but, I don’t know anything about it. Can you help ? I assumed from the base it was an arid climate plant.

Thanks
Joan

Hello,
I was desperately googling after finding my favorite little cactus in a sorry state and I found your blog. I attached a picture of my cactus. Two days ago it was perfectly fine. I have had it for 1 year, I water it every other week and it has a drainage hole. Do u know what has happened to my poor little cactus? Anyway to save it?

Thank u!

Sara Beth

Sara Beth,

I can’t really tell what went wrong from the photo. While usually watering every 2 weeks is fine for most cactus, assuming it’s in a sunny window and you’re drenching the soil and letting it drain away so it never sits in water, for such a small pot you sometimes have to water a little more frequently. On the other hand, the soil looks too rich for cactus, so maybe it wasn’t drying out between waterings in which case it could have been overwater.

Peter