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Reviving an abandoned cactus

caterinetokscaterinetoks Posts: 2
in Problem solving

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Hello my name is Catherine and I'm fairly new to this forum, I trust your loving judment.

I found this cactus on the street and I
feel it could still be saved with a little tlc. Does anyone know what family plant could it relate to? And how to revive it?

Thanks in advance for your candid advice ????????x

Posts

  • fidgetbonesfidgetbones Posts: 17,618

    It has a flower on so it's not too neglected. I would repot it into a larger pot of gritty compost.( 50/50 Multipurpose and sharp grit ) or a cactus compost from the garden centre. This is probably best done in Spring as you don't want to encourage it too much at the moment. It will go dormant over the winter. Keep it frost free on a windowsill and on the dry side. In Spring repot it, put it outside for the summer and feed it once a week with cactus feed.

     To handle it, use leather gauntlets and make a scarf or collar around it from several sheets of newspaper.

  • Alan Clark2 in LiverpoolAlan Clark2 in Liverpool Posts: 2,190

    It is one of the Mammillarias, which is a very large genus,but not many of them have yellow flowers so that will help to narrow it down. 

    Fidgetbones'a advice is good, but it would be ok to repot it now, it will not make much difference. It will not need any water until spring.

  • pbffpbff Posts: 433

    Hi Catherine,

    Wish I could find cacti just lying about on the street!image

    This one looks lovely and it's not in a bad state of repair at all.

    You might find the following article interesting

    http://cactiguide.com/cactus/?genus=Mammillaria

    There are nearly 200 species of Mammillaria known to science and 177 of them are shown in this article, which should help with precise identification, but its a good read anyway and there are lots of other cactus genera listed as well, in case you get bitten by the cacti-growing bug!image

    Happy growing!

    pbff

    🐌🐌🐌🐌🐌🐌🐌🐌🐌🐌🐌🐌
  • caterinetokscaterinetoks Posts: 2

    Thanks Fidgetbones and Alan CLark2 for your precious suggestions.. it's really reassuring.  image 

    Pbff wow the articles were really interesting, you know your way around! I love it. 

    Thanks Catherine 

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