My mother passed away unexpectedly recently. She has had this cactus my entire life (I’m 50), and I would like to keep it alive. Can anyone tell me how much and how often I should water it? Maybe what species it could be? I have never kept plants so I really don’t have any idea about their care. My oldest son has expressed an interest in taking it. My mother would have liked that. Thank you in advance for your help.
by grenwill
7 Comments
African milk tree “succulent”, mine gets watered about once every 2 months depending on soil type and air conditions
Try asking in r/euphorbia this isn’t a cactus.
It is not a cactus but euphorbia trigona. These plants do not tolerate full sun, but rather partial shade. Watering should be frequent enough, but without drowning the plant. You will have to prune it severely, otherwise it will break under the weight of the new branches. You can keep the pruned parts as cuttings.
I’m sorry for your loss. It’s really hard.
The plant looks healthy. First don’t do anyting drastic until you get more information. It will be ok.
One option I might suggest it to cut off a limb and root it. It won’t hurt the main plant an rooting succulents is relatively easy. That way you would have her plant no matter what. There are a metric shit ton of YouTube vids about the process. Watch a few and you can lead learn a lot.
All Euphorbia have a toxic milky latex sap, which should be avoided, for owner, kids and pets. Some are worse than others. This is one to take seriously, avoid skin contact, and eyes, or ingestion.
In contrast, cactus can be painful, but nontoxic.
Try to replicate the conditions your mother had it in. Did she really have it indoors? These need a ton of light, like ideally outside but they’re sensitive to frost. That’s the very first thing you need to make sure of. Water, pruning, and anything else is secondary to light.
I’m sorry for your loss