i saw these at Lowes for 5 bucks on clearance today. i think i should have got one?

Hi,
I wanted to mention, your succulent that is in the pot with the gravel has very little soil. When I transplanted, I found the gravel is glued together to keep the plant upright. I bought mine at a national hardware store. I transplanted and the plant is going on its 3rd year. Made my own soil mix. Hope this helps. Easy on the watering. I let the pot dry out. Gorgeous plant.

I didn't water my green one at all over the winter. I just got the White Ghost a few months ago but probably won't water that one either. They get watered when it rains during the summer. I keep them in full sun and the edges turn red as well as the tiny little leaves. The White Ghost gets much redder then the green variety. Mine are inside now so they are losing the red color, especially the green one.

Crested E. lactea
{{gwi:509826}}

White Ghost
{{gwi:509827}}

HELP::::My coral cactus just fell over and it had not been watered in a month and i thought it was water nope i checked that off then i remember i saw a dime size green looking fungus on the white one now these i have die if I water them I KNOW I BEEN THROUGH ENOUGH OF EM...Now they were side by side and one about 2 years old the other about a year one taller that got the fungus looking thing before I could get to it to cut it off dang it fell over ready for the morgue. now my third and newest one did not get it they were all close I took it covered the base with a hand towel washed the crest like i was told to do and added some fresh dirt. i do not understand what the heck has happened. ole ghost is fine the green one caught it from the old one and now i am at a lost of understanding what has happened. have any of y'all ever experienced this i have orchids and they get enough moister from being around them thats why they dont get watered but to fall over before i could do the operation was just amazing. I would like to hear back from all you to make it a bit clear i had a green one a white/pink one and the only one living and seem to be doing fine is the youngest white ghost. I could just cry.

photos? Punctuation?

Ah, crested, runs away....

Hi Lzrddr,

I thought that too (very hard to read), but looks closely, there's punctuation, just no capital letters; hard to make sense of it.

Juliebee,

The way you've written makes it quite hard to see what you want. It might help us to help you, if you could pls. ask specific questions individually.

Also, did you mean to share a picture?

I am french and I tried to speak the slang English with the help of spell checker for those who say I did not spell correctly. Sorry you misunderstood. I shall bow out gracefully and know that we are not all the same. If I do not understand people I do not say anything negative to them at all. AS I do not to you with the negative post. I came here to ask a question not to be judged as I will not judge your ignorance that we are all different. Oui.
Is it necessary to show pictures of rotted plants does your mind not comprehend?

Decoded.
Plan A AND Part one:
A crested E White Ghost plant that use to get watered 1 time a month fell over and now has a fungus on it. The ones prior to this are dead, long story short for the Crested E White Ghost has the same fungus as the older ones did at they're early demise but those crested E. plants where adorned by green crest.

Part two: The second plant type is orchid family that grows near the crested E. White ghost. the orchids didn't need watering because they watered the E. White ghost enough for the orchids to also be sustained and didn't need to be watered.

Part three: The OP also states there own solution and stated they where going to perform a task with goals and hopeful to resolve the same murderous fungus that destroyed the E. with Green crowns is also or was building up on the current and still living E. White Ghost.

Yes I might loose you here guys but ....

Solution: being as they said; They are leaving the orchids of unknown type with Tarzan in the S. Western Tanzania jungles and will place the crested E. White Ghost on the back of a bull elephant heading toward the open airs and rocky inland of the second most southern country known as Nairobi. Which as most of us know is also on the opposite side of the same UN-named continent.

Part four: As we all know killing by fungus any Crested E.s white or green crown Euphorbia is one thing but as P.I.T.A gets involved in massive numbers to protest the OP for attempting to abuse a bull elephant a new plan had emerged.

Plan B: After the fact of protest from P.I.T.A. more than one person on GW forum agrees that a pic or more than one pic would provide better evidence to indicate that more than a bull elephant received to much water and something might get a new soil.

Julie don't get too upset about what people say. It is hard to read what you have written, and it is hard to know how to be helpful in such cases. It doesn't mean you are bad and not worthy of help. A picture is good if possible and needs no translation. What I would do in your case is look to the soil that your euphorbias are in and make sure it isn't water retentive. If the crest came off the graft and that is what made it fall over, that is one thing. If the roots rotted and the whole thing fell over, that is another. I'm sorry you lost two of the three that you had.

Is somebody on drugs here? I feel like I just walked into the wrong room!

oh BTW one looked just liked the green one at the top of his post the other was white. all fina la woops.

I was born in America but my parents would only speak french around me its very hard going to a country and you can speak different languages but at home not taught it and they knew English but its not in any language to be rude to a person and that is in all languages. it shows me that the above persons are in need of a book to learn to commune with people not just there few friends in there group. bad things have been said about people in here to me so as i said bye to rudeness and hi to people who have a god personality also I am not old well if you call 28 old. Bad only receives bad, but a person with good temperance will be a gratitude in there life. I would never date a bad mannered person or rude person. I was told someone is to report I am not sure what exactly they meant they said no need to act like a monkey ? Adios I also speak 9 languages not that I can spell them theres a big difference and do not bash me for what I say I only have repeated what was told to me.

greenlarry did you receive the message I sent you? Also thank you for your kind words to a professor that teaches and do have respect in the collage I am at. My you be blessed. I do not like pictures because i get hit on by men/boys/students I do not like.

Message? I got no message.

Yes, a photo of just the plant (and not any people) that has fungus or is rotting is helpful, especially if the photo is in focus and not fuzzy. A close up of an area that has evidence of disease, or if the roots are exposed, would help diagnose what the problem is.

greenlarry,
I don't know why I sent it through your name account...well anyway I was just thanking you for being so nice about these rude persons that tried to have fun at someone else expense
thanks for what you said. Its nice to know there still some nice people on here.
Bless

I dont remember saying anything complimentary to be honest, and I certainly wasnt taking sides. Thats not me!

hi, so i dont really know if im posting this in the right area as i just made this account to get some information on my little friend here. anyway, i have a few other plant friends outside.. including some cactuses and a pot of basil and want to move my coral cactus from indoors to outdoors. i put the plant outside every mid afternoon for an hour.. increasing one hour every day to get him acclimated to direct, hot sun. i live in texas so it is reaching over 100 degrees by noon here and am wondering if i should be putting him outside during the hottest hours, increasing the time as i am already doing, or if i should just keep him in the light for about three hours at low 90 degrees daily. not much rain here anymore and just got him about a week ago and is still somewhat wet an inch into the soil so no need to water him just yet. i just need to know what sunburned coral cactus signs look like (i know they are brown spots- but is that all?) and some advise for moving him from indoors to outdoors. thanks.

rachel.

Rachel- The thread you posted on is from 2012. It may be helpful for you to get feedback if you started your own separate thread. It will ensure more members see it and would be able to help you..possibly faster. I came across this by accident.

It is a good thing you are slowly acclimating your plant to the Texas sun. I was formerly in Austin/SA so I know full well how HOT it can get, especially central TX.

Your "coral cactus" is actually a grafted cactus or euphorbia of usually two different species. If it were mine I would keep it in bright shade instead of full direct sun. I've seen cactus that have been severely damaged in full sun. Let's make sure yours is not one of them.

There are many members with more experience with grafts. Hopefully they will see your post and respond soon.

All the best

My cactus had some rot on one side pic does not show it. I immediately pulled it out of the dirt and scraped off the rotted place and let it dry out the soil was very wet. I let the roots dry hoping it is root rot and I am doing the right thing? Let it dry out and put in dry soil. My other one is ddoing great I just mist the top of the plant with a weak fertilizer I havent watered it since I got it in November and it putting on growth and has almost doubled in size.

I can't believe your comments to Juliebees. She is asking for advice an your being so rude to her. What kind of person does that, I'll tell you what kind but then I would be rude. Am not reading your page ever again. You need to be ashamed of yourselves. Please feel free to contact me via Email if this irritates you . Frankly, I don't really care. LindaP

Linda - do you realize that was 4 years ago? All is well, now.

No, I don't want to contact you via email, but that's some delayed ill-targeted indignation there if I ever saw any. Periodically we do get comments like this, but we generally pay them no mind.

MM last posted March 2016

Seeing and experiencing grafted failure of E crested I'd suggest ( while still considering the toxic qualities of this plant )get what you can off the graft and root the sizable to smaller sections as best you can prior to or during the growing season.

This is a front and back picture. I bought it already with a little of the brown on it thinking that it just wasn't takes care of but it's been a month now and it keeps growing. I have never had one of these before so I have no clue about it. Does anyone have any suggestions on what I can do to save my little guy. I really love this cactus and will do anything to save it. Please help!

The first thing I thought was rot, but no, that isn't quite right.. I think it may be a sort of fungal infection, but I sadly have no expertise in that area.

If it is a fungus is there anything I can do to get rid of it?

I think you are going to need to perform some surgery, but that's really a guess on my part. On the right in the second picture, that looks pretty moist and possibly soft, like rot. That could be caused by the fungus, if that is what it is. It does appear that the damage will need to be remove since it won't 'heal.'

Before I try to make any suggestions, I'm linking a thread of my plant that rotted. http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/3767333/e-lactea-crest-problems-and-questions

Hopefully you'll get some more answers, but we are starting the weekend. That is often a slow time on here, so please be patient.

Yea you are right, on that side the whole bottom peice below the brown is floppy and wet. So should I cut that piece or that and all the brown?

Where did you buy this? I think some of the big box stores like Home Depot have 90 day plant warranties, so you might be able to exchange it rather than go through all this trouble with cutting the plant away to nothing.

Well I bought it at K Mart but it was like this when I bought it. They gave me a discount due to the damage so I figured I would be able to nurse it back to health thinking that the store didn't take very good care of it.

IMO, buying succulents with this kind of rot/fungus/any disease ..."but it was like this when I bought it"... is not worth even discounted price. Beside having very slim chance of recovery, it could infect other plants. As I said, just my opinion.

While I don't grow this kind of plant, I agree w/ Rina.

Sometimes it's worth recognizing when a plant is just too far gone to be rescued.

Also just opinion, but if one considers time, money & care involved, it's just not worth it, nor is risking contagion to one's other plants.

For starters ( like many others are trying to say) It's best to pick a plant that has been examined by the potential buyer who has done some researching seeing and understanding what a healthy plant looks like.

Basic suggestion: Examine all the plants you choose while looking for healthy ( and be willing to pay a slightly higher price ) for plants.

A couple pics to demonstrate what a healthy E Lactea creasted looks like

Grown pretty hard over summer red circle area shows some wooding although much the same as corking it had wooded harder to the point of calling it corking I guess it could be considered as desired for the avg buyer but is normal

Got to give em credit though them vendors know it too the healthier do present them selves very well during late spring into and up to early fall.

Crested tops are still fading and loosing there summer coloring scene being inside for winter storage when it's watering and sun exposure at this point is minimal.

Got to give em credit though them vendors know it too What they know is the healthier looking Euphorbia lactea do present them selves very well during late spring into and up to early fall. It's the BBS that don't display or apply the basic needs of them as they bury em inside of some shelf where it gets very poor lighting, a bit heavier watering than needed and a price tag

They love loads of sun and don't mind the heat of summer but at times they could use/ & seem to like to drink as it is in a pot.

A late summer view, this specimen had never been on a graft but was removed and rooted off of it's mother plant E. Lactea that had developed some crested ( over the years) they aren't easy to remove but should be removed sometime during late winter to very early spring for best rooting chances so more growth can continue.

Note: Not that they cant grow on a graft there is someone on this forum who does a real amazing job with the same one that's on a graft IMO I find em more eye appealing and easier to manage off of a graft or left on it's origin E. Lactea mother.

Megan Any BBS is clueless as are SOME of the vendors who supply the plants to them. No offence but to revive yours to vigor IMO your wanting to fight a very long and near losing battle it would be easier to find and start a new one that possess more/better healthy qualities/ features to it.

Note #2 Yes healthier plants will also have a higher price tag and may require one to travel longer distances to find and purchase them. You could seek an area C&S show or the more extensive servicing (reputable) garden center.

Hello, can anyone tell me what this is growing from my coral cactus and what should I do with it?

The new long upright growth is known to be called 'reverting' and is reverting back to what it use to be. A Euphorbia lactea which is also what the crest are grafted on to.

Chances are more possible that the upright portion is growing out directly from the grafting stock and which could be easier to remove.

OR with a toxic sap flow warning You could also cut the upright that's reverting back as close to the ' crest' as possible for rooting and have a standard E. Lactea.

In a natural situation it's very normal for E. lactea to crest in some areas , crested parts are removed for rooting.

Hi there, I bought this Eurphorbia Lactea "White Ghost Crest" a month ago in Urban Outfitters in Bristol, UK. I enquired about this oddity but none of the staff knew what it was called.

I was captivated by it, so I picked it up and have been watering roughly weekly. When I poke my finger an inch or two down and feel it's dry I water it.

I've been leaving it by the window and it's getting a lot sunnier now and the shop it came from just had artificial light. I came home to it a week ago and it had fallen off my narrow shelf (as shown^).

It's still in the pot it came with which does not have a hole in the bottom.

My 'Frankenplant' is now rapidly deteriorating, drooping to one side, plus brown drying on the edges and a patch of rot on the middle of it's frilled crest.

Anyone who would like to help me with some info on how to be a better father, would be much appreciated

Is the Euphorbia soft? Watering it weekly was probably too much.

Yeah, it's soft. I'm going to put it in a pot with holes

So I guess where I've been going wrong is it's been receiving sun light just on one side and is now flopped over. It has gotten rot from over-watering and no irrigation. Anyone know what causes the brown dried-up patching? Also is cutting the rot off my only remedy? Just asking as I don't want to spoil it's crescent shape but happy to do what's best for my Euphorbia

The lighting is right ( IMO) it's the actual glass of the windows that may be the problem.

Try this: Put your hand a few inches away from the glass for a few hours every day and see how you react

Hi everyone I was gifted a coral cactus today and upon reading up on it, it appears the container and soil it came it aren't right. This is my first plant. I do not have transportation to the store where I can buy another pot and better soil for another month . Does anyone have any suggestions of what i can do to keep my new little buddy safe and healthy in the meantime?

My suggestion would be not to water it until you get to the store:). It will be fine with no water for a month.

Once you get to the store get a bag of perlite and cactus soil. A mix of 60% perlite with 40% cactus soil is fine. Also get a plain terra cotta pot with drainage holes. The same size as the pot it's in now:).

Are you keeping it inside or outside?

Kara , thank you for your suggestions!! That is so helpful! When I do water it, is there like a measurement for the correct amount to add?A tablespoon?a small watering can? I don't want it to die from overwatering!

I am keeping it indoors. My search about this cactus tells me it can be kept in partial sunlight?? I have it on a high shelf across from the window. I am in an apartment with cats and I also get a lot of squirrels and birds on my balcony, so it seemed safest where I put it, I hope it gets enough sun!

Do you have any suggestions for repotting? I had seen elsewhere that I'll have to break up all the sort of glued together rocks at the top around the plant, and also that this plant is poisonous! I am very nervous about repotting and hurting the plant. This is my very first plant and I really want it to thrive, it's beautiful !

Once you have the new pot with drainage holes, cactus mix, and perlite you can repot. Just take cactus out of the old pot. This will sound strange, but rinse the roots off to get all that old cruddy soil off. Once all the old soil is off. Put the cactus on a paper towel and let dry out for a day. Keep in a cool shady spot during this 24 hours.

The next day you can do a mixture of 60% perlite and 40% cactus soil. The mix will be really light. That's what you need for good drainage. Most of the plants above rotted because of poor drainage. It's really important you don't water till you change the pot and mix. The cactus will be totally fine:).

Once you have repotted wait a week and then you can water:). If you keep this plant inside you will probably only need to water once maybe twice a month. Inside water doesn't evaporate as quickly. Only water when the mix is bone dry. A good way to test if the mix is moist still. Stick a wooden skewer in the mix all the way to the bottom. Let it sit in there for a couple mins. If it comes up just slightly damp anywhere on the skewer don't water. What you have is a Euphorbia and Euphorbias are prone to rot. Actually it's two plants grafted together. The pretty one on top is a Euphorbia.

You may need to give this plant more light. Your balcony may be a good place during the hot months. Always acclimate to the sun slowly or the plant will burn . A good starting point is morning sun afternoon shade. Do that for a week or two and then you can up the light little by little.

Euphorbias are toxic. They have a white goo that comes out when cut. That is what's toxic. Don't let this stuff get in your eyes and keep away from skin.

Lots of info:). If you have anymore questions just ask. Goodluck:).

Kara- thank you so much for all your help! I appreciate it so much!!

Regina Young posted this...

Hello, can anyone tell me what this is growing from my coral cactus and what should I do with it?

====

Mine has leaves sprouting from the stalk also so I assume its 'reverting' like nomen_nudum posted and I can't wait to see what these leaves turn into. This happened once before but the leaves fell off when they were small but these new ones are already 6 inches tall. This should be interesting.

BE AWARE - POISONOUS TO PETS TOO!!!

Yes I can vouch, they take very very little water. Mine has done fine with minimum of 3 hours of sun. It continues to "flower" for the last 4 or 5 months. That's how I guess you know it's happy.