Omelet wrote:

In article ,
Wooly nobody@nunya wrote:


Subject says it all. My cactus garden (planted in a very large forest
bonsai pot) is looking decidedly peaked this year and I suspect an
excess of rain. Anybody else having potted cactus issues? I've ruled
out root rot by cautiously exploring the sandy loam with a chopstick -
all the roots I'm finding are strong. I gave the pot it's usual annual
fertilizer treatment with fish emulsion back in May, then the monsoon
started - maybe the cacti want more feed? The jade plant is the worst
off - the leaves are actually cyanotic with plenty of brown pitting,
even though the roots seem to be in good shape.

Comments? Suggestions?


Yes, they can be over-watered.
You may want to raise the pot off of the ground for better drainage, or
move it under some kind of cover for a bit so it can dry out.

I heard an interesting suggestion at a nursery a couple of
years ago. A woman had come in that was not from here (from
the north). She had purchased a couple of cactii and had
question after question for the nurseryman about care of the
cactii. After politely answering far too many questions, he
told her:

Subscribe to the Phoenix newspaper. When it says it rained,
water the cactus.

Not too helpful in this instance, but I thought it was funny.

--
Robert Allison
Rimshot, Inc.
Georgetown, TX