On Sat, 24 Apr 2004 12:22:04 +0100, "richard"
wrote:

My biggest columnar cactus is rotting from the top due I think to bringing
it indoors last winter to the wrong conditions. It was about 18 inches
tall. I've cut of the top, applied white spirit to clean and rooting
hormone for the anti-fungicide it contains but to my dismay it has continued
to rot. Till now it has been a very fast grower. Any lifesaving suggestions
gratefully appreciated.

Once rot sets into a cactus it spreads rapidly through the soft
tissue. It usually takes drastic surgery to save it, if you can save
it at all. IME you have to cut it back to a point where absolutely no
brown discolouration of the flesh is visible, and then a bit. That
probably means cutting it back severely, like in half. Use a clean,
sharp knife sterilised in meths after each cut until you get well
below the rot. And I mean meths, not white spirit, petrol, creosote or
anything else :-). Cheap and easily come by in any hardware shop.
Allow the cut surface to dry unaided in the air.

If you're lucky, and you do save it, it will send up two or three
shoots from around the edge of the cut surface. Thin then out as
required, or even pot up the unwanted ones to grow on as new plants.


--
Chris

E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net