How to get a heavily neglected cactus in better shape?

[blig-blug]

13 years ago, when I was starting college, I bought a small cactus from a street vendor, claimed to be "San Pedro". I didn't really believe it was (and had no clue anyways), but it was 2 euros so I got it for my dorm.

That cactus never got transplanted into a bigger pot, and for over 9 years it has been at what used to be my bedroom at my parents house. Lacking light and water, it's suprising it survived. Due to the little space for roots it hasn't grown that much, and what grew over the years is thin and curved due to lack of light.

Now that I've learned a bit more about cacti and started appreciating them much more, I have remembered that I have that one there (plus it really seems to be a pachanoi if I remember correctly, I'll have to check but it doesn't matter if it's not). I would like to get it in better shape. That will require potting it in a much larger pot and probably add some fertilizer.

Besides that, what could I do for it to not be so thin? From what I've read, new growth that becomes thinner due to lack of light stays that way. Would cutting the thin growth help? If so, I imagine it would be better to do it once the plant has had a chance to grow more roots in its new, more spacious pot. Also, would it make any sense to try to grow the cut, thin part once cut? I'll have to measure it when I go to my parents' house, but it must be about 20-cm, quite curved, no more than 3cm diameter for most of it.

I'm feeling a bit guilty about neglecting that poor plant for so long, and would really like if I were able to return it to a more or less healthy state, even if it will never be too good of a specimen.

 

[DetritusTheEgo]

You can cut the cactus back to where the etoiliation began. The stump would already have roots so it should bounce right back. You can replace the old soil if desired, I'd say do that before you cut or after it has fully callused post cut. The freshly cut top and etoiliated piece will calus over in a week or so.

If you live somewhere it is really rainy or humid you can angle the cut so water doesn't pool in the top once calussed. Where I am this isn't a concern so I don't usually think about it.

It can and likely will start one to many new columns from any of the aeriolas where the spines originate.

With the etoiliated portion you could cut it into sections and root each. Or graft, dispose of it, cut it up, dehydrate, and save for a future extract. More nuanced details can be provided by several folks in here with cact knowledge.

Hopefully you'll have a beautiful healthy cacti with a bit of TLC.

 

[Animistic]

Would be helpful to see a pic when you can to see what you're working with. I don't believe you can reverse the thin growth, otherwise called etiolation. A few things - You can cut it off the etiolated portion and it will grow fine, especially since it's so old is established. Use the thin section for cuttings, perhaps even log cutting (sideways, slower but once it gets going it pumps ime.

You can repot it and it will eventually start pupping and those pups won't be etiolated and then eventually just cut off the etiolated growth and plant it for more cuttings.

Edit: ahh didn't see reply before mine.

 

[brokedownpalace10]

Repot it and give it good light. New growth should be thicker. Then take cuttings of thicker growth. You can plant etiolated sections under the soil, keeping the thicker sections above ground. Then you'll have a new, thicker plant and you can keep the old skinny one to make more pups.

 

[blig-blug]

Thank you all for your replies. I'll repot it as soon as I have access to it, and then wait before cutting so it has a chance to adapt. It has been kept in low light conditions (indoors, away from window), so from what I've read it should be exposed to more light progressively. Is that correct?

Cutting the etiolated section (thanks for the term) and planting it sideways so it pups is a good idea. It's not worth attempting to extract anything from it because, despite its age, it's not too big due to its poor conditions.