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.

 

[doubledog]

Yes, sun exposure should be increased gradually.

 

[DetritusTheEgo]

Agreed, any plant grown indoors should be wheened into the sun gradually. Indoors they are not bombarded by UV and the light intensity is a massive difference.

You can propogate new cacti from the etoiliated section. Depending on its size you could do it in vertical sections, usually called a mid cut vs tip cut, or on its side horizontally. If you do mid cuts make sure you label which side of the column goes up and plant it that orientation.

If doing horizontally you can keep the tip and it will orient itself vertical and start climbing to the light. You can then cut the tip off and root that. The probability you get pups without cutting the tip off is lower though. Once the tip is cut it is forced to pup to continue growing.

Here is a PC that I rooted on its side many years ago PC side cut. I left the tip on then cut it a year or two later. It pupped several times and those were cut when it was having issues staying upright. Now it pupped a ton from me cutting it last spring.

When growing from small cacti I find it takes a while for it to pick up energy and start to get large growth. I get small pups from small cacti cuts and large pups from large cacti cuts. Nothing bad about it just giving an idea of what you can expect.

 

[Transform]

from what I've read it should be exposed to more light progressively. Is that correct?

Here's a sunburned, etiolated cactus I prepared earlier, in anticipation of your question:

 

[HortyCulture]

I would love to see a picture of this plant.

The first thing is to get it some water. I don't think you should repot it just yet, i think you should use the roots you have to get water into the plant. The soil will likely be hydrophobic, so you should let it sit in a tray of water for a while to soak some up.
Once you get some water back into the plant you can decide if it needs repotting or not. You might be able to just cut the top off and grow new growth from the base, and then root the etiolated section as mentioned above.

 

[blig-blug]

I would love to see a picture of this plant.

I should be able to share one in a week or so It looks sad, though.

The first thing is to get it some water. I don't think you should repot it just yet, i think you should use the roots you have to get water into the plant. The soil will likely be hydrophobic, so you should let it sit in a tray of water for a while to soak some up.

That's a good idea, get it a bit healthier before repotting.

Once you get some water back into the plant you can decide if it needs repotting or not. You might be able to just cut the top off and grow new growth from the base, and then root the etiolated section as mentioned above.

I think it's guaranteed to need it. The pot it's in is the pot it came with, when it was probably one year old or so. It's very small, and I think it's been an important factor in stunting its growth so much. It's such an old plant and it's not big at all.

 

[DetritusTheEgo]

Here's a sunburned, etiolated cactus I prepared earlier, in anticipation of your question:
View attachment 110347

Stressing your cacti can make you feel like a bad guardian.. Help! Help! I'm being repressed! Your fate is CIELO my dears, for now rest.. I should probably research whether folks have tested if cutting new growth or leaving during stressing has a large affect.

 

[Transform]

View attachment 110348

Stressing your cacti can make you feel like a bad guardian.. Help! Help! I'm being repressed! Your fate is CIELO my dears, for now rest.. I should probably research whether folks have tested if cutting new growth or leaving during stressing has a large affect.

Well, some of my other etiolated cuttings I've been de-blanching by slow reintroduction of light, so I hope to get around to testing them before anything worse happens to them.

I'd feel like this would have been a far bigger sin had any of it been intentional