Hey, I know this dont have to do with pot, but my cactis looks kinda f'd up rite now and I figured anyone who knows weed problems has gotta know what this is. Ive had the plant for 6 years now and it has grown 10 feet tall. This problem has been goin on for a couple of years but the plant seems be be growing regardless. Someone please diagnose!
Im curious as to what it is, has it been increasingly hot???? The weather has changed and been a little different this past year.
Thats an easy one, if it is only happening on the side facing south or south west its sun scald, very common. It won't cause any problems really, it is just dead cell, like scar tissue.
That's kind of what I wanted to get at, with the heat and stuff.... Cacti are just as sensitive and alot of people don't realize. Watering more won't help this problem either, right??
Yes, cacti are just as sensitive and some even more sensitive to direct sun. Back when there was a lot of cacti wild in the desert, there was also perennial grasses and small sparse shrubs, which provide a light mulch, and shade to the oldest tissue. Sun scald generally only happens on older tissue that was/should be covered by something. It can happen on new growth but that is usually a nursery to high direct light issue. Watering it more would only hurt the plant as a whole seeing how root rot is very common in cacti. Its a scar, nothing more, damaged tissue that healed, it can some times fester if there are open cracks or wounds.
Thanks guys for all the help. Yea now that I look at it it is only on one side. I thought it was fungus at first so i sprayed it with a liquid copper fungicide. Was that stupid?
It it wasn't the smartest idea, but its not a dumb one either. Liquid copper is a mild fungicide so it shouldn't really matter, just a waste of material.
and the fact that it doesn't have anything to do with bud, thats ok! this is the gardening section glad you got a diagnosis, good luck with future gardening/growing
And this is a full pic of the specimen btw. 6 years and strong. If you look at the top it's gettin some funky new growth.
Looks good, Is the side near the chimney the one burning. What time was that pic taken? It looks like it has become sexually active congrats those strange growths may turn out to be flowers.
Those do look like flowers! Depending on the type you can get flowers or fruits like prickly pear fruit. Maybe rotate that pot every once in a while to turn the way the little guy faces the sun? Brick gets hotter in the heat, so it may be the emanting heat coming off of the brick? Maybe he needs a little more shade
Don't Rotate the pot. It will cause the other tissue to sunburn. Thats like getting your arms sunburned then taking your shirt off. The cactus looks fine just leave it alone, cause that hot emanating here heat, maybe the thing keeping it alive in the winter. Just a though...
Touche; good idea about the sunburn theory. Summer's already begun though, and the worst part's here right now? I still am thinking some shade wouldn't hurt, especially with those little things budding on top?
My main question is why? Why move it? If it was struggling to survive it wouldn't have started flowering. Also he said that the plant has been there for at least 6 years, which would imply to me that it as seen summer heat before and survived with no serious damage.
Yea it's seen 6 or 7 summers and it goes inside for the winter. Like I said it's persevered through this for several years now I just never bothered to get help with it cuz the thing keeps growing heads.