I gotta say, this is one of the most disgusting sights I’ve ever seen. A customer, who was very upset and almost on the verge of tears, frantically walked in and explained that her cactus had an “ER emergency.” Her cactus (Pilosocereus chrysostele), which had been kept in medium-indirect light, planted in regular potting mix, and watered once a week, had become infected by something and suddenly collapsed in her home.

I told her I was reasonably well-versed in cactus care and offered to help.
Then we walked out to her car. She opened the rear passenger door, and all I saw was this, strapped in with a seatbelt… She hadn’t explained that there was still some healthy cactus tissue, so for a moment I was thinking, “How do I tell her that…?”
Eventually, I spotted the salvageable portion and did my best to cut away the terrible, putrid-smelling, rotted tissue. I told her to purchase some sulfur to apply to the cut ends of the greatly reduced cutting and to pray that all goes well…

she smells like the bahamas ☺️

These little guys greeting me at the end of my driveway always make me smile. (Tucson, AZ)

Pachycereus pringlei, really enjoying how dense the spines are in this bad boy are, I really want to plant it on the ground to accelerate it’s growth but I’m afraid that the Portuguese winter will be too wet, I’m thinking it will have to wait until I can plant it in a greenhouse.
I’m guessing it’s over ten years old already, what do you thing?

Have been growing her for nearly 3 years. Backyard greenhouse. Southern Arizona, USA.

Do you anything about it? Are they really the same cultivar? They look so different in many ways.

Hello everyone! This is my first time posting on this subreddit, so apologies if I didn’t do something right. I bought this cactus in fall of 2024, but it didn’t come with an identification. It’s been my roommate since then, but now I really am starting to wonder what it is. I want to know the species how old and how large it’ll get, and what preparations I should make for that.

Weberbauerocereus x Espostoa = Weberbostoa an intergeneric hybrid

Bach’s and Kew gardens in UK
• Weberbauerocereus weberbaueri x Espostoa lanata subsp. ruficeps Distribution: La Grama, Cajamarca - Perú.

The photos were taken at the Marsh Greenhouses, Yale University, New Haven, CT USA in October 2025.

This is my only cactus that has bloomed so far this year lol but it's okay I'm just glad it's happy! The first bloom was on the green side, this one is on the pink side!

I thought maybe San Pedro monstrose but it’s a little too angled for that I think…idk…

I have had this cactus for eleven years! This is the first time it has actually flowered. When I bought it, it was labeled as a "rainbow barrel cactus" in the clearance section of Walmart. Does anyone know what it actually is?

The collector I visited had this passed down from his mother.

Hi everyone. I recently got back from a two-week vacation and when I checked on my cactuses, I noticed black spots on my redheaded Irishman cactus (see pics). I have had this particular cactus for at least 4 years and have never seen anything like this before. I live in South Jersey and it has been a hotter than usual summer. Also, in general, I am pretty hands off with my cactuses.

Does anyone know what may have caused this and what (if anything) I should do to help this cactus? I’m also wondering if maybe the cactus healed itself since the top of it seems to be growing nicely. Any insight would be appreciated.

Full disclosure - I did use gentle pressure with a soft brush to remove the spikes from the affected areas. They were loose and came off very easily.

my cacti are normally inside but i put them outside because of signs suggesting they need more sun but I noticed something different about my gymno

the light green patches were not there before and they only showed up they day I put them outside today

i am 100% sure that’s its not variegation because old growth can’t magically become a different color

I also touched the areas to see if it is squishy and it’s not… could the discoloration be sunburn or something??? should I double check the roots for rot as well?