It looks like you may be asking about a cactus or succulent. In addition to any advice you receive here, please consider visiting r/cactus r/succulents for more specialized care advice.
A common problem with cacti and succulents is etiolation. This is when a succulent stretches or becomes leggy. Reply with “!etiolation” for advice.
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22switch
Looks dead!
FeStarKiller
How often do you water, and when was the last time it was watered? I believe Christmas Cacti prefer a slightly damper soil; I water mine somewhat more frequently than most of the rest of my plants and it seems to like that. “Cactus”, is a bit of a misnomer, iirc
nodesandwhiskers
Have you watered at all during those three months? Wrinkly leaves is a sign of dehydration. If you haven’t, you likely have dry rot. If you have consistently been watering with no change, however, it’s likely regular rot.
Pearl_necklace_333
_tate_
Water! He needs a good soak. It could take a couple rounds of drying the soil and then watering. I have 2 of these and one prefers as little water as possible and the other wants more.
Auroralights3
Yall in another post OP explained they watered once weekly. This plant is suffering from overwatering! So it’s probably dehydrated due to root rot :/
Telperion83
Too much water killed the roots, now it can’t absorb any water and is dehydrated.
Aggravating_Poem_279
If it were me – my gut says to put it in a new pot with fresh soil. That way you can inspect the roots for root rot at the same time. I don’t think your plant likes that pot. Mine don’t do well with taller pots like that.
BurndtBadfish
How often do you water it ?
MountFuji321
It’s as dry as the Sahara Desert! Schlumbergeras, unlike common cacti, come from Brazilian forests where they grow with plenty of moisture and humidity! Mine like to take a good shower from time to time and give me 3 waves of full bloom every year. Don’t be afraid to overwater them. They like slightly damp soil and drink like camels. Just make sure their roots are not in the water.
I’m wondering what sort of drainage holes you have at the bottom of your pot? Ceramics aren’t recommended to plant straight into, but rather as a cover pot. They’ve caused me a lot of wilting in the past until I started working in a plant store.
I would remove it from its pot and soil, give it a good drowning while trimming the parts that are obviously dead and removing the old soil. My guess is you’ll probably find it’s soggy. Then repot with terracotta, cement or just a nursery pot and tucked back into what you already have. Once she’s had her spa day, leave her alone for the soil to dry out and your plant should show signs of life and love as spring rolls around.
_MaZ_
That’s a Thanksgiving Cactus
JeeploveNaCl
Time to repot. I would trim the rotten roots, and replant in a new pot with better drainage with pebbles as someone stated. I’ve been having good luck with coco coir sheet cut to fit bottom of pot, then pebbles, then soil and plant. Slow down on the watering, as with many plants, less water is far better than too much water any day.
honeyintheraw
How does the soil feel when you water it? Lightly damp to dry is ok but you don’t want to allow it to stay dry for too long. Once a week sounds like the perfect amount of time to me but it also depends on your growing medium. In general, very few plants like soggy, perpetually damp soil.
If you can create some sort of chamber where it can get light and lock in humidity (ie: put it in a sealed plastic bag) that might help it perk up to and you won’t have to rely as much on soil moisture/the soil will stay moist longer. If you do put it in a humidity chamber just make sure it can get some circulation (ie: don’t seal the bag completely or open it once or twice a day)
EasyQuarter1690
This looks like root rot to me. I keep my holiday cacti in a well draining cactus mix that I add a little bit of good quality potting soil to and a terracotta pot. They do like to be more wet than most other succulents, but they don’t want to have wet feet and they need to get air to their roots to stay healthy, like most plants that don’t have water roots.
I think OP needs to get this poor baby out of the pot and inspect the roots. Any that are rotted and mushy need to be removed. The roots need to be cleaned off and hopefully there is enough healthy plant left to survive, I would also chop at least a few of the healthiest cuttings to try to propagate. These prop in plain water quite happily. If there’s enough of the parent plant left, then some nice fresh cactus mix in a terracotta pot, with a sprinkle of cinnamon on the roots and a lot of luck.
16 Comments
Thank you for posting to r/plantclinic!
It looks like you may be asking about a cactus or succulent. In addition to any advice you receive here, please consider visiting r/cactus r/succulents for more specialized care advice.
A common problem with cacti and succulents is etiolation. This is when a succulent stretches or becomes leggy. Reply with “!etiolation” for advice.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/plantclinic) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Looks dead!
How often do you water, and when was the last time it was watered? I believe Christmas Cacti prefer a slightly damper soil; I water mine somewhat more frequently than most of the rest of my plants and it seems to like that. “Cactus”, is a bit of a misnomer, iirc
Have you watered at all during those three months? Wrinkly leaves is a sign of dehydration. If you haven’t, you likely have dry rot. If you have consistently been watering with no change, however, it’s likely regular rot.
Water! He needs a good soak. It could take a couple rounds of drying the soil and then watering. I have 2 of these and one prefers as little water as possible and the other wants more.
Yall in another post OP explained they watered once weekly. This plant is suffering from overwatering! So it’s probably dehydrated due to root rot :/
Too much water killed the roots, now it can’t absorb any water and is dehydrated.
If it were me – my gut says to put it in a new pot with fresh soil. That way you can inspect the roots for root rot at the same time. I don’t think your plant likes that pot. Mine don’t do well with taller pots like that.
How often do you water it ?
It’s as dry as the Sahara Desert! Schlumbergeras, unlike common cacti, come from Brazilian forests where they grow with plenty of moisture and humidity! Mine like to take a good shower from time to time and give me 3 waves of full bloom every year. Don’t be afraid to overwater them. They like slightly damp soil and drink like camels. Just make sure their roots are not in the water.
https://preview.redd.it/1d0u1fxuiare1.jpeg?width=3638&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=466262924466164f770026b5341393fdb07f7c9b
I’m wondering what sort of drainage holes you have at the bottom of your pot? Ceramics aren’t recommended to plant straight into, but rather as a cover pot. They’ve caused me a lot of wilting in the past until I started working in a plant store.
I would remove it from its pot and soil, give it a good drowning while trimming the parts that are obviously dead and removing the old soil. My guess is you’ll probably find it’s soggy. Then repot with terracotta, cement or just a nursery pot and tucked back into what you already have. Once she’s had her spa day, leave her alone for the soil to dry out and your plant should show signs of life and love as spring rolls around.
That’s a Thanksgiving Cactus
Time to repot. I would trim the rotten roots, and replant in a new pot with better drainage with pebbles as someone stated. I’ve been having good luck with coco coir sheet cut to fit bottom of pot, then pebbles, then soil and plant. Slow down on the watering, as with many plants, less water is far better than too much water any day.
How does the soil feel when you water it? Lightly damp to dry is ok but you don’t want to allow it to stay dry for too long. Once a week sounds like the perfect amount of time to me but it also depends on your growing medium. In general, very few plants like soggy, perpetually damp soil.
If you can create some sort of chamber where it can get light and lock in humidity (ie: put it in a sealed plastic bag) that might help it perk up to and you won’t have to rely as much on soil moisture/the soil will stay moist longer. If you do put it in a humidity chamber just make sure it can get some circulation (ie: don’t seal the bag completely or open it once or twice a day)
This looks like root rot to me. I keep my holiday cacti in a well draining cactus mix that I add a little bit of good quality potting soil to and a terracotta pot. They do like to be more wet than most other succulents, but they don’t want to have wet feet and they need to get air to their roots to stay healthy, like most plants that don’t have water roots.
I think OP needs to get this poor baby out of the pot and inspect the roots. Any that are rotted and mushy need to be removed. The roots need to be cleaned off and hopefully there is enough healthy plant left to survive, I would also chop at least a few of the healthiest cuttings to try to propagate. These prop in plain water quite happily. If there’s enough of the parent plant left, then some nice fresh cactus mix in a terracotta pot, with a sprinkle of cinnamon on the roots and a lot of luck.