Cactus Blog 

Hi there, I have gotten many plants from you through out the years. One of the plants I have, got damaged. Just noticed it at an angle this AM.

I am hoping you can kindly help me again like in the past. Can I (and how), propagate the fallen portion? It has fresh growth on top, but lower portion looks/feels soft but intact. I’m including some pics if that helps. Any suggestions would be great. Thank you for your time with this.

Stan F

The branch comes off a Pachypodium saundersi. Generally it won’t root at this time of year, and if you do get it to root it won’t form the fat base like the original plant. It is a branch, so like many plants if they lose a branch usually you can just toss them after making sure the main plant is OK. In this case, the branch looks thin, which may be due to it wanting more direct sun or less water. If you want to try to root it, cut it further up until it is dry and firm and then let it heal for a couple weeks. Use a rooting hormone – we sell “Dip ‘n Grow” – and place in dry cactus soil. Use bottom heat since we’re going into winter – that would be a heating pad, or place on a warm but not hot heater at home.

Peter

Hi,

I recently bought an Echeveria “Culebra” and i’d like to know how I can propagate it.

Thanks very much
Silvia

Silvia,

You can propagate it like other Echeverias through leaf cuttings. The process can take 2 years to get small plants.

More info is here.

Or check out the blog here.

Peter

Hi,
I keep this in a sunny window, lately I’ve been seeing this brown shriveling in some sections of the plant. I water weekly with Schultz cactus food in the water. Any suggestions on how to bring back to health? Possibly I’m watering too often? Thanks very much.

Jim

Jim,

You’ve got a couple different problems. One is that you are watering and fertilizing too much, causing the plant to grow too fast, rather than slow and healthy growth. Less water and a lot less fertilizer. Second, you appear to have mealie bugs on the plant. You’ll need to spray with an organic pesticide, like a Neem Oil.

You can prune off the dead branches and leaves and the rest of it should survive fine.

Peter