Hey I hope you guys have been having a wonderful day! I have a question for anyone who knows cacti. This looks a little tacky and my dad was wanting to cut the rotten looking one off and plant the whole thing. How would you guys do that? He wants to bury the whole part of the one that looks bad and have the other two sticking out so that they become the cactus. I just do not know if that one will rot and ruin the whole thing or not. So, what do you guys think?
It does not look rotten, just old and corky. If it was rotting it would die quickly, btw. Burying it will probably work, I have treated Opuntia pads in a similar way. I would only bury it partially first, leaving the wound above ground while the buried part roots. When the wound has calloused over the whole pad could be buried.
I think I see a sunken (rotted) area in the discolored pad. The cause might be sun damage or frost. Personally I'd replant the solid green pads in a new pot with fresh cactus mix and discard the old root system.
hi there insectivore, long time no hear....( i have been ill for some time ,in and out of hospital, and they wont let me use my computer in ICU. BASTARDS!) anyway, i have had much success with the prickly-pear, as my granddad called them, by first cutting off the bad parts, then allowing the new plant to dry first, before planting, especially if you cut any in half, they must be put up out of the sun to dry the wound, then once dry, plant out of the direct sun for a few weeks before adding back to the garden. this works well with all other cacti. we have then outside all year long here...( my lemon trees finally produced lemons! just made lemon cream pie with them on fathers day) miss you girlfriend. good luck with cacti.
