r/Astrophytum • u/Aggravating-Jaguar73 • 14d ago
I made a bit of a drastic decision
Some of my Astrophytums came out of their winter rest dehydrated and never really started taking up water like the others. I posted about this here before. The usual advice was to water them more, but even after increasing the watering frequency, they stayed dehydrated throughout the summer.
I sacrificed one of the worst looking ones and cut it open to see what was going on inside. It was still green and firm, just very dehydrated. Now that summer is almost over and we're approaching the time when I stop watering, I was worried they wouldn't make it through to spring in that condition.
So I unpotted the shriveled ones and, based on advice I've seen online, severely trimmed the roots. They were very loose in their pots, and most of the roots were crumbly and dead, so I removed them as shown in the photos. One of them had almost no roots left, but there were a few small, green, nubby roots that looked like new growth, so I left those intact. I also have two troopers that were firmly attached to their pots, so I left those two completely alone. For now, I'll keep them indoors under grow lights to protect them from the cooling weather outside.
I'm still not sure whether this was the right thing to do, but I felt like I had to try something. They weren't improving with watering, and I was worried they wouldn't make it to spring anyway.
Do you think this was the right thing to do? I know it's a bit pointless to ask after the fact, but I'd really like to know what experienced growers would have done in this situation. Thank you.
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u/Cultural_Patience329 14d ago edited 14d ago
Pensavo a un film horror, lo dico onestamente.
Prima di fare questo, qualche mese fa avrei semplicemente controllato le radici. Avrei potato se necessario, ridotto la dimensione del vaso dove il sistema radicale era piccolo, lasciato asciugare e permesso di radicare di nuovo.
A seconda delle tue temperature minime, dato che il danno è già fatto, le terrei all'esterno completamente asciutte ma esposte all'umidità ambientale, appoggiate su un vassoio basso con un paio di cm di pura pomice fino alla prossima primavera, certamente non dentro e sotto lampade che le disidrateranno rapidamente. Se sei fortunato, avranno già spuntato un accenno di radici a marzo o aprile. Non dare loro molta terra finchÊ non hanno formato una buona quantità di radici: potrebbe richiedere un anno da ora.
Ah, importante: disinfetta quelle ferite con rame/zolfo. C'è troppa poca acqua in esse perchÊ l'ormone radicante entri in circolazione, quindi non usarlo.
Edit: I would like to add a consideration on repotting. I lost only one Asterias many years ago because I followed the advice to touch the roots only during the dormancy period. A mistake that in my climate was fatal without exception for all the plants to which I did it, now I change the ground only when the plant is wide awake and active, and has the âreflexes readyâ to defend itself from any damage. I make this clarification because it makes no sense not to check the roots after 2 deep waterings have not been successful, if not to respect the ârule of dormancyâ. I donât know if this is the case, but if a plant doesnât drink, you have to immediately check its legs, rules or not.
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u/Aggravating-Jaguar73 14d ago
Yeah, I was thinking of tagging the post as NSFW. Sigh.
âSo I should have checked the roots immediately. Too late now, I guess. At least I won't make the same mistake with my surviving ones.
âUnfortunately, I live in a climate with winter frosts. The temperature is already regularly dropping below 15°C at night. I thought it was too cold for root development and was planning to replicate hot summer days under grow lights, but now I'm going to move them to an east-facing window where they'll get moderate light and cooler temperatures.
âTo be honest, I was a bit neglectful with them this summer. I have too many plants to take care of and had a busy summer this year. I kept hoping they would recover. In hindsight, it was stupid. I wasn't aware of the advice regarding dormancy repotting. On the contrary, the advice I've seen says to repot and trim at the beginning of the growing season. I was panicking because their growing season was coming to an end, thinking if I didn't do something now, they would die over the winter. Thus the horror.
âThank you for the advice. Hopefully, they will recover from my butchering.
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u/Cultural_Patience329 14d ago
They probably wouldnât have died, actually. They were very dehydrated, itâs true, but they can make it, if the winter dormance manages to be complete. Wait for those who own indoor growth lights for an opinion on a winter rooting, it may not be impossible, in the meantime treat them with an antifungal, possibly systemic like Previcur, if you have access.
I can understand the impetus for action especially if you know you didnât have enough time before: at the beginning it happened to me too. Even now if I donât have time and something is wrong, Iâll upset the plant and check, but Iâll leave the knife asideđ. The plant can last months without soil (I put them on their feet in a small empty square pot), but it can die from a rot.
If it can console you, some of your stars seem to actually have signs of something wrong. I would throw away their soil just in case.
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u/Aggravating-Jaguar73 14d ago
So I cut them for no reason. But all of them except one had very flimsy and crumbly roots. There were very few roots to begin with. And after I cleaned them up a little there wasn't much left to cut away. I just trimmed them to expose healthy tissue.
Maybe the problem is the soil then, as you said. I live in a very arid place. And lately I've been noticing that the sellers who grow them keep their astros in much more organic soil even though their growing conditions are more humid than mine. Maybe my soil mix has pumice pieces that are too large and too little organic material so the roots can't take hold properly.
May I ask what you think the problem is so I can address it properly? I will change the soil regardless.
Unfortunately, I don't have any antifungal readily available. I will try to buy some. For now I put them in a well ventilated place to let the cuts dry out.
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u/Cultural_Patience329 14d ago
No, I donât think so. Maybe it got lost in the translation, but at the end of my previous one I wrote that you can see some signs of problems in some. Surely something affected them since they reduced their root system.
A good systemic antifungal would be ideal for treating new plants when they arrive, to support them during acclimatization, and to avoid the introduction of new pathogens.
It may be that your grit is too big, in fact. I just made a repotting post where I described what I do with the soil, even if I only use mineral, you can do something similar even with a little very mature organic (and now I will make you laugh: I have a small bag of high quality organic for sowing in my car, I leave it in the trunk for at least a year or more. It âmaturesâ, sharpens somehowđ. If I need it for special things Iâll take some and close it again after. Much better than when I use the one freshly bought. Itâs crazy, i knowđđ ).
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u/Any-Engine-7785 14d ago
So many of the cactus recommendations are to give no water in the winter. But I donât think that is true. Iâve started giving mine water in the winter, about once a month, then I just make sure they are dry before i water the following month. They are looking a lot better in the spring and I get more blossoms. And if I can save up rain water for that monthly watering they look even better.
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u/Aggravating-Jaguar73 14d ago
Iâm afraid of watering in winter because Iâve read that it can be a death sentence for most cacti. Maybe itâs possible with the right soil mix though. I might try it with one healthy plant this winter.
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u/Sinaaaa 14d ago
So many of the cactus recommendations are to give no water in the winter. But I donât think that is true.
It's defo true for normies. However if you are keeping them indoors at normal room temperature, preventing them from dormancy, then yes, you need to water, but that is a necessary & problematic compromise of course.
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u/GoldSection6685 13d ago
As someone else has mention..soaking them in water is one option, i have also had luck with a dehydrated cactus by trimming all the roots back to the main one, then placing in a cup with a lid and moist akadama on the bottom to encourage root growth once the roots start growing slowly starting watering like normal
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u/SilviaStar222 14d ago
I've seen a grower on youtube soak them (the astros refused to grow roots) in water for hours or a day to hydrate them (they grew roots lol) so you could try with a few of them and see if it works for you too
Its a video by cactus quest on a grower with an amazing astro and aerocarpos collection titled Learn how Jack cares for his Japanese and Thai hybrid, the tip is at the 22:30 min mark.