Bridgesii is "Liquifying"

[Psilociraptor]

Anyone had this happen? It started out what looked like rot except it was underneath the skin and neither near the base or tip of the cactus which is very odd from my experiences. So I cut it out. But it kept spreading. So I just cut the cactus short beneath it until there was nothing but "healthy" flesh. Except it didn't heal like normal. It kept receding and softening and shriveling down towards the base. When i cut into the diseased tissue this morning it was like i was sticking my knife into a big booger. This time with no blackness. Just like the green flesh was softening and liquifying. Maybe yellowing a little. I've cut it back again but I think I'm going to lose the whole cactus. Never had anything like that. I saved the tip too and same thing happened. I used cinnamon as well. This time I'm not applying it. I've had this cacti almost three years without issue. Only thing I can think was the rain was a little heavy this summer but the other Trichs are holding up just fine. Great in fact. My other bridgesii just sprouted two pups last week.

Edit: oh and when I cut into it the first time there was a layer of deep red behind the rot.

 

[Ulim]

Sounds like multiple infection at once.
Rot& bacteria.
Do keep the cactus away from other ones now if you wanna try and save it.
For me it happened that healthy flesh just got infected again.

Do you have pictures?

 

[Psilociraptor]

No unfortunately I don't because I cut it again before thinking about that. Wonder why that happened. I separated it from the others when i took it out of the sun so they should be good. I decided to water it with sida acuta in a last ditch effort lol... See if it kills it's infections as well as it kills mine...

 

[Orion]

In a situation like that I think I would take the smallest cutting as closest to the top as I dare, take a middle cutting which I would have little but some hope for, and toss any of the gross dead stuff.

I wonder if it got pierced by something, perhaps another cactus, and had already been rotting inside from infection before it was visible ?

 

[○]

Psilocirator howdy

When you cut above the rot and you said there was fresh/nice green flesh, though you said it didn't heal like normal? How did you callus the bottom of the cacti in prep for the soil, like temps, humidity, any/no light, shade? Because if you cut above the rot and it exposed fresh green flesh if it were callused in the proper conditions it should've callused over without a hitch and been ready to root in a pot.

 

[Psilociraptor]

Sorry for the confusion. I cut the middle section out. So i saved the top and the bottom. The bottom was already rooted. Both sections were cut back to healthy tissue. But you know how the tissue recedes a little as it dries out? Like the green skin kind of pokes up around the sides and then once it's established and watered it fills in again? Well it basically just kept receding. And every thing got really soft. So i poked at the scab and my knife went straight through it down through a layer of yellow/green snot. This happened on the bottom and top piece even though the bottom was already rooted. I've cut cacti before without issues so i don't think this was a technique thing. I put cinnamon like usual and left it in the shade without any unhealed tissues touching the soil. Temp has been 70-90. Maybe a little humid but not as much the past week or so.

I took a cutting as close to the top as i thought possible. I don't think it got pierced by anything as all the rot was under the surface and there were no punctures. I almost just mistook it for skin discoloration until i cut into it. It oozed out black stuff that dripped down and ruined some of the skin where it fell. But maybe it did get pierced and i didn't notice. The only abnormal thing i noticed was the amount of rain. But usually in my experience that rots the tips and roots from the outside in. Maybe it acquired some systemic infection and even though i cut out the bulk the hyphae extended into clean tissue? Not sure. In any case i was able to cut the bottom further. I watered it with sida acuta in a last ditch effort. I've used it for systemic infections in myself and figured "why not". So far it seems to be healing normally, but it's a bit early to say for sure

 

[Chaska]

you can always freeze your scraps and do an extraction on them, id throw that black anything in the freezer for an A/B but nothing else.

eat green, extract the rest

 

[Ulim]

you can always freeze your scraps and do an extraction on them, id throw that black anything in the freezer for an A/B but nothing else.

eat green, extract the rest

This is risky tho. Depending on the mold/bacteria you can have a toxic mess that will carry over in the extraction.
You would need to do a full extraction to mescaline and then wash and purify it.

 

[Psilociraptor]

Yeah I wouldn't do that honestly. Already got enough problems with mold an bacteria in regards to my own health. Not worth saving the 20 bucks that could buy me a new bridgesii for consumption

 

[Psilociraptor]

Oh man... so this one definitely threw my head for a spin. I decided to cut as far down as possible and immediately realized the bottom of the cactus was totally liquified beneath the skin. Like the same as was happening on the top, with healthy green in between. As if the infection on the bottom was seeding the infection on the top the whole time making me think that by cutting the top i would be helping it, but really it was the bottom that needed to be lopped off. I'm not sure what kind of sorcery this is but i will be triple washing this pot in bleach, smudging it with sage and blessing it in the name of all that is holy before any of my other children get planted in it. R.I.P. Jake, you skinny bastard. At least his legacy lives on in a skinny undergrown top cutting which grew approximately zero inches this season.

Finn (left) Jake (Right). My first two cacti. What a sad day. No idea why it's sideways

 

[Chaska]

ive extracted fermented and rotten cactus to mescaline many times

in my opinion once mescaline exists, it can usually be processed for use

i wouldnt drink or eat any plant thats turning to black goo, to be clear

 

[downwardsfromzero]

This affliction seems to be commonplace among bridgesii. There have been other threads more or less recently describing similar problems.

Heavy rains could cause a nutrient deficiency of some sort.

Have you been feeding your cacti?

 

[Psilociraptor]

I've honestly never fed my cacti. I repot them probably once a year or so so they get fresh soil. For some reason i had it in my head the other way. That san pedros rot easily and bridgesii don't. I don't know why. But if that's the case i guess my experience confirms it. Rain wasn't so good for this guy.

 

[Chaska]

maybe it was in a dormant stage when it had too much water/ not enough drainage

 

[Psilociraptor]

maybe it was in a dormant stage when it had too much water/ not enough drainage

Hmm, shouldn't have been. It was out in the summer sun for several months. But it's possible. None of my cacti are growing very well this year. Seems the trees have overgrown my lot and blocked out a lot of light. Maybe they are dormant :?