I have been growing a Trichocereus Spachianus (Golden Torch) for about 3 years now and was doing extremely well up until this spring. I live in Denver and have been growing from a southern facing window. This winter against my better judgment I moved him under an LED that I am growing basil with, he is just getting too big for my southern window. At first I thought he seemed to love it and about 8 pups started to shoot out from the base which I assume was caused by the LED. But lately the original 5 arms have been very droopy and have been growing thin with
white spines as opposed to the golden. The original 5 arms were standing up great until the pups started coming. Not exactly sure what is going on and not sure what to do. I am just under the impression that if they are drooping like that with no root rot then it has to be lack on sun. But I also feel like they were getting plenty of sun from the LED? which caused the pups? I feel pretty confident about my watering but I could be wrong. Could it be possible that the new pups are just sucking up more water and energy before it can make it to the main ones? I have been considering removing a few of the original arms to see what happens but also a little nervous about it. Any help is greatly appreciated!!!

Erwin Schieveen, I love your cactus. It's very "unique" looking, and looks healthy other wise.

Addison Biederman: Your cactus simply needs more sun. The LED light is not doing anything for it.

My baby seems healthy but I don’t want it to lean!! It doesn’t grow straight up anymore. I transplanted it and this is the result I guess I’ll have to figure out a way to rig something to support it so that it grows upright.

The picture seems a little distorted you have to click on it to get a better view. This is my baby I think it’s absolutely gorgeous!

We've had a few monsoons and I have no idea what to do. Please help!

Many of the troubled plants appear to be Mammilaria backebergiana which has the interesting detail of falling over when adult. The lay on the ground root into it, and have offsets along the length of it. If you don't want to support it doing that, you should dispose of it. There is nothing else to do the plant will fight you all the way.

Chaselogic , this is the way Opuntias are, chaotic. You can clean them up by pruning, but yours otherwise looks good.

Klara- you will want several opinions. I believe that your cactus has suffered years of etiolation and is now breaking down as it is not strong enough to hold itself up. The only thing to do is to dispose of this plant.

Chrissy-b100 Your cacti seem to be different as two look good, and two appear etiolated. The one tipping over is the worst of all. You can cut them as in the instructions before, but I would get these plants in a bright window facing south or on a bright porch or in the yard while the weather is good.

Hi, i was wondering if anyone can help me with my cactus, i believe it is a bunny ears variety, i have had it just over a year and its been growing fine with extra pads, but i come home one day and found it dead flat against the soil, so i inspected it and saw it had scale mites, so i cleaned them off with a cotton bud and some alcohol on the main base pad, this sadly took off a lot of the globules/spikes off the main pad, but hey i was more worried about the plants health than how it looked, 2 weeks later and its not getting better its gotten worse in fact and the main pad seems to be shrinking and getting less supportive, i have jammed the spoon into the soil to support it if i take it away it will fall flat, the scales mites also seem to have come back. anyone got an idea what is wrong with it? have i stressed it out with the cleaning and removing spines? while the base pad is getting worse the pads on the top are still healthy and continue to grow well, it gets a lot of sunlight on a south facing window same place it has always been in, i have felt the base and it doesn't feel squishy like rot, it doesn't feel soft at all, the soil i use is cacti and succulent soil with some extra sand and gravel i mixed in underneath and i water it roughly once every 2 weeks, it gets a few squirts from my plant mister and thats it, it has always been healthy with thats. im a bit stuck any help would be appreciated :) i can take my pictures if needed

What do I do for this poor guy, Horizontal Harry?

What do I do for Horizontal Harry???

Why is my snow prickly getting brown tips?.. this has always been a happy plant but I just noticed those brown tips and cant find any help online.... HELP!... anyone??????

How can I save it?... fix it?... make it happy again?....

Respectfully, I would strongly suggest that you all start new threads where your plants can receive the attention they deserve. This thread is over 10 years old

I know this is a very old thread but I’m wondering if it’s still active. I have just inherited a cactus and the bottom looks very rowdy well not Roddy it’s dry it probably has a good route system but it’s not very attractive and it’s leamong over (ie needs support). It Hass to lean against the chair to stand up.It Hass to lean against the chair to stand up. The rest of the plant is new were growth and very lovely. Can I repot this and bury the bottom part of the cactus in the soil?

Just transplant using cactus soil and give it a drink. It’s okay if it leans. I see life on yours. Like anything else the dead parts won’t grow Give it time and don’t over water!

My cactus perked right up and is doing extremely well. Take it out of that plastic put it in a nice clay pot

Also hoping for some help! My cactus continues to grow but is falling over and isn’t very strong in general.

Hope it’s not soft and mushy? water if the soil is dry must have more southern exposure when the weather is warm I sit mine outside, and check for bugs.

I made this for my son who was loving cactus.

Theyve been in there for about 6 months. They haven’t died but they haven’t thrived. I put sand at the bottom and used cactus soil on top.

im finding that because I keep the soil dry, the coloured ones tend to fall over. The larger one had incedent with the dog tail getting caught and pulling him out. He seems to have recovered.

Do you think I should pot them in a bigger pot or denser soil? and with it being winter here should I do it now or wait?

That’s so pretty! I’m gonna day the planter there inis fine for now. Give them sun and let that soil dry out before you give them a drink. I use straight up cactus potting soil I don’t use anything else. It doesn’t matter when you transplant. I usually do it in the spring or a hot summer day outside. I don’t fool with my cactus or any of my plants during the winter months.

Thank you! I’ll go check out the soil!

Ill just put them in the sunniest spot and wait to repot until spring!

Thank you for your help!! :)

So much etiolation! More sun you guys!

Also see a lot of temporary etiolation, which results in a skinny part of cactus followed by regular growth which causes the cactus to bend.

I concur more sun!

Aly Gomes, Please start a new thread as this is Nancyk4's thread from 2008. You'd be better helped doing that. ---Best and remember to post a pic of your plant.

It not over or under waterd and iI cantcan't give it any more light then where it is? Is it a lost cause?

It could use more light, but some cactus like your Mammillaria are crawlers like this one from the internet.

just let it naturally do what it wants to do. It is slightly etiolated, but not too bad:),

I am worried and think it’s pretty done. This morning it was standing straight up...

Hi! Can anyone tell me what this little guy is and how to help him? thanks!

Hi! Can anyone tell me what this little guy is and how to help him? Thanks!

Nice Amy! So beautifu!! you can try to stake it and tie it. Now would be a good time to transplant. It need another pot. One piece looks really soft and mushy? If soft and mushy is the case stop with the over watering and give it some sun!

My baby is so healthy gonna change the pot. i’m a little miffed why I never get any flowers? But even without the flowers I love this cactus and I love that it’s soft and doesn’t poke me😩

You have Acanthocereus tetragonal cv. Fairytale castle cactus.

I have found these need more water than one would think, but this doesn’t mean watering everyday.

The first thing I would do because your cactus looks thirsty is give your cactus a good soaking. I can tell the mix is probably hard and hydrophobic. Get a bowl and fill it half with water and let the cactus drink from the bottom up. Let the soil absorb the water and once you see the soil is damp take the cactus out. Put the cactus somewhere where the airflow is good for about a week, so it can hydrate.

Next step is this guy needs new soil big time. The soil it’s in now is full of peat and not great for cactus. Peat when watered regularly stays wet, but when it stays dry for a long period of time it becomes hard, which chokes the roots, and also repels water. So your succulent never gets the chance to absorb any water.

When you repot clean as much of the old soil off the roots as you can. The new mix should be half soil and half perlite and or pumice. The pumice or perlite will let the water drain. The pot should have drainage holes.

After repotting you can water in 7-10 days. Don’t let the cactus stay wet, let it dry out, but water as soon as the mix is totally dry.

Chaselogic, your cactus doesn’t have any deadly spines, but is covered in glochids. Glochids are a nightmare they stick in your skin and clothes. They remind me of how fiberglass feels in skin.

When you repot use tongs or newspaper to wrap around the cactus like a belt.

Glochids look like velvet, but don’t feel like velvet.

Yes that’s true just a little itchy if I come into contact.

can anyone help me with this guy?

we just moved into a rental and wanted to move it to a more appropriate spot. As soon as we moved the pot they all started shaking and then just drooped right over. He’s pretty spiney so I’m a little scared to touch him but he was standing up just fine, even in windy conditions till we moved it

I need a photo sun may help.

How do I delete a post since nobody bothered to ever answer it and the plant is no longer even a topic of conversation.

Click on delete...it is on top right, next to edit. It works on relatively new posts, maybe a month (or bit longer?) old. If you don't see edit or delete, it will not be possible.

Audrey without a pic of your cactus nobody would be doing you or your cactus any help because we would all be guessing what’s wrong with it. A picture speaks a 1,000 words. You say it’s falling over, that could be be from a handful of different issues, but without a pic nobody can really assess the issues at hand.

Kara its HU-669 who needs help but we need a photo. Thank you Kara for your expertise.

I said Audrey because she wanted to know how to erase her comment from three months ago that said “ I am worried and think it’s pretty done. This morning it was standing straight up....”, was also complaining that her plant was “no longer the topic of conversation”.

This is all she wrote and I think it’s almost impossible to help with only her above comment from three months ago to work with, and no pic. So I wanted to let her know if she posted a pic that would be much more helpful.

Sorry guys, I have tried to add a photo several times but it wouldn’t upload

can anyone help me with this guy?

we just moved into a rental and wanted to move it to a more appropriate spot. As soon as we moved the pot they all started shaking and then just drooped right over. He’s pretty spiney so I’m a little scared to touch him but he was standing up just fine, even in windy conditions till we moved it

Nice plants! repot stake sun.. my famous last word of advice!

My indoor candelabra cactus is more than 6 feet tall and Some branches are starting to lean over. What can I do?

Start a new thread rather than resurrecting a thread more than 10 years old. Then you may get some answers.

There are some YouTube videos that may help. Repotting adding some stones? make sure it’s dry before watering water at the base more sun. As long as it’s healthy not soft wrinkled or mushy branches I say let it go it’s thing.

6 ft tall you’ve done something right! Leaning could be a number of different things.

I have 15ft Lamarasaurus with many flowering branches

If I cut and repot a branch will it still

Guys what do I do for this guy???