Rotten Cactus!!!! AHHHHH!!!!

I recently have had a few crests go rotten.

NOT VERY HAPPY!!!  especially with this Echinocereus Rigidissimus Rubispinus Crest, i managed to try and save as much as i could but the rot had gone a bit to far.

I have grafted a few others and some have taken and some just kept rotting,even the pieces i grafted did not show any sign of rot.

Ohhhh well sh!t happens!! have to take the good with the bad i guess!

Oh and yes i do want to see other peoples rotten cactus!!!  

Few things more frustrating than an otherwise healthy looking cactus up and rotting for no apparent reason. Hate that.

Such a shame. That was quite a nice crest too.

I just recently lost a lovely aztekium to this. Tried to cut off some very tiny little pups to save it but none of them took.

This is the plant a couple of weeks before the rot took hold.

ohhhh Yuk

Nice photo there Sneaky!

Very up close and personsal that photo  what camera do you use?

Shame about it rotting, what went first? The stock or the Aztekium?

Its a lumix can't tell you what brand or anything as it belongs to my folks. The aztekium went first. The rot seemed to originate from the graft union and spread upwards into the center of the scion. Also lost a crested Mam. duweii, a monstrose of the same species and a Mam. luethyi. Been a bad year for rot.

Too much rain here. I had saved a Cristata which had started to rot the other month and had it out of shelter when the rain hit again last week and hasn't stopped. It was at a sensitive stage in recovery so I'll have to cross fingers that it's not a lethal dose and that we get a bit more sun to dry things up a bit or there'll be more than the one victim, I fear.

I have lost cacti in the past and present and like all of us have felt bad, but I now tell my self that it is not all bad I have room now for more in my collection. When I first started collecting some one sold me a rare collection and I had no experience and no shelter from our monsoon rain and lost a lot of rare cacti, I think back and wish that I had them now with more experience. (and shelter) 

i find 1 fert per year before summer on grafted plants seems to stop rot 100%!
i use a slow release. i atribute all the rot i experiance to over nourished plant.
stocks i use are the way more far better than bs stocks though.
tricho. pachy, peruvy, spachy and the monster scopy! hylos and all that are way way overated.
there is another species i use witch no one i know does and most i know trip out on my successes. feel free to guess what it is if you like. if u guess correctly i will confirm for alls benifit. till then...

i might add since today sneakys photo has loaded for me unlike yesterday...

the graft union site on your teky was a little on the risky side to begin with.

its important to ensure you have a possitive camber leading to the union site. ie the angles cut into ribs.


tip. the angles/ possitive camber dont have to be applied to the site at time of graft!!!
i allways wait for the union to take and exposed tissues to callus... then i take to the stock with a hobby knife and cut the angles and whatevers neccisary to ensure there is ample possitve camber= air flow to site= no chance of condensation= no rot at union.

if you wait for the union to heal properly the graft is impervios to peeling apart. that is the crucial element in this teknique. i will post photo examples when i get a moment.

ps. rot sucks!
aztekiums rule!
rotting aztekiums breaks my heart!... been broken countless times.

I agree with wert. The grafts was sh!t and the stock is probably the worst choice for the tropical climate. I didn't do this graft. I purchased it as is from a local collector.

I have found almost all grafts to hylo's have rotted as soon as a little bit of rain gets on them, regardless of how the stock has been shaped. In my opinion, up here, this stock is just not a good option.

Having said that I have had enormous success with tricho and opuntia.

Just thought i would let you all know that i did save a piece of the Echinocereus Rigidissimus Rubispinus Crest.

ONLY A PIECE!!!!!!

That i grafted and has started to grow nicely!

1st photo around late March this year a couple days after graft


2nd photo taken today

Fantastic! Looks like huge hairy caterpillar.