Jungle Cactus Questions
Hi,
We bought this plant from you about 1.5 years ago. It has, up to now, been doing great. Last August we moved to a warmer climate (90-100 degree days in summer). I increase watering to once a week when the temperature goes up. In Spring and Fall I water apx. every 10 days, and in winter every 3 weeks.
Our plant thrived last fall, winter and early spring and there was a lot of new growth. About a month ago I noticed that some of the leaves were turning yellow, withering, and dropping off. Initially I thought I needed to water more and made sure I was on the 1x a week schedule. This hasn’t helped and the problems continuing. Please help with any advice! I’m worried about the plant, it’s dropping more and more leaves.
I’ve attached some photos- I hope they help.
Thanks,
Larkin
Larkin,
The plant has scale and possibly mealy bugs, but it’s hard to tell from the photos. It sounds like you’re watering the right amount, but you may want to check to make sure the soil is dry between waterings, and then water.
I would recommend fertilizing and spraying for the pests. We use neem oil for scale and mealy bugs, and we mix our own nutrients for cactus that we call “Cactus Meal”. I would also suggest using Liquid Kelp right now to help it. If you are still in Northern Cal. you could bring the plant by and we can take a closer look, as well as set you up with neem and the nutrients.
Peter
