My cactus is not doing well

[DBB]

I have a small green cactus that has a red flower on the very top of it. It almost looks like a cactus version of a rose. It is doing very poorly, turning brown, sagging, and getting soft. Heres the conditions:

Its in a 6 inch plastic pot. I am using a combination of potting soil and compost manure for the soil. I water that plant 3 to 5 days a week. Light is provided by an aquarium light.

When the plant first started doing bad, I put a bunch of fertilizer tabs in the soil to give it a boost. When that didnt work, I sealed the hole in the bottom of the pot so it would retain water better. I know plants need lots of water to remain turgid.

My dad is never going to let me run his garden nursery if I cant even take care of a cactus, help!!!!!

[enigma]

"DBB" wrote in news:GRwte.70540$x96.14310@attbi_s72:

troll alert

lee

[Stephen Henning]

They do best in a mixture of soil and sand. They need very good drainage.

They do need light, but they don't need much water. In the wild they may only get watered a couple times a year.

Cactus have very slow metabolism and don't need much fertilizer. In fact fertilizer may stimulate new growth which a stressed plant can't sustain.

That is a sure way to kill a cactus. They don't need much of any water. Water will kill them. I have a dozen cactus in a room where they sit in direct sun light and I only water them once a month. And if I am on a trip, they don't get watered at all. Some cactus don't like water to touch the above ground portion of the plant. It can cause rotting if the humidity is too high. In the wild they grow in low humidity places.

The major killer of plants is too much water. The second major killer is too much fertilizer. Cactus basically do best under the worst conditions: sandy soil, seldom watered, seldom fertilized, full sun.

[Rev "Fragile Warrior"]

Dad sounds pretty sharp. Good for him.

In case this is not an obvious troll:

You might want to start here: "I water that plant 3 to 5 days a week" and think about what the natural habitat of a cactus is compared to what you are providing.

[Felice Friese]

A friend grew cactus quite successfully in the NYC suburbs by keeping an eye on Arizona weather and watering the cactus whenever it rained there.

Felice

[Rick]

Yes, I water my barrel cactus about 3 times a year. Others get a bit more. Just wait until the are shriveling up, but still green of course.

-Rick

[Cereus-validus.....]

Is this some sick joke for a troll wannabe?

YOU KILLED IT.

You did everything the opposite of what you should have done.

You aren't even competent enough to accurately describe the plant.

If I were your dad, I would get a restraining order so you would stay away from any plant nursery.

[Cereus-validus.....]

I've heard that silly little chestnut many times and its absolute bull crap.

Most of the succulent plants in cultivation aren't from Arizona and abiding by their weather would not provide accurate info about how to care for them.

[Cereus-validus.....]

Just three times a year is not enough for a barrel cactus.

The plant is barely surviving.

Don't be surprised if one day you find you have been watering a dead husk.

[Stephen Henning]

It would depend a lot on which part of Arizona, the high mountains or the low desert or in between. However some of the world's greatest succulent gardens are in Arizona:

Arizona Cactus Botanical Garden, Brisbee Tucson Botanical Gardens, Tucson Arboretum and Desert Arboretum Park at Arizona State University, Tempe Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, Tucson Desert Botanical Garden, Phoenix

also, they raise a lot of roses and don't have any black spot.

[imbsysop]

you bet ! ... they are in France !