Just to be clear, I do realize the difference between neophyte and neonate--just a bit of self-deprecation on my part. :)

What kind of cacti/succulent is this, clue me in, I have never heard of it. I can look it up, what family/species, the Latin name please. Tell us more how you are growing this plant, the soil, how often do you water, is it in the house, do you have uneven growth rings, black spots grunge, and perhaps you may have other kinds of molds, virus than what we have in the States. Where does it naturlly come from? What Genus, species, subspecies? I know this is a lot, but we will all need clues so we can help you. Norma

You should have provided pictures of the top of your plants, it is usually informative when trying to identify cacti. From what I can see I would say that it is not a Stetsonia coryne, whether it is a T. pachanoi I cannot tell (I'm not particularly familiar with the columnars). I would not worry much about the scarring yet, it is often seen around the base on columnar cacti.

I don't recognize the second one, but I don't think the spines look right for an Acharagma roseanum. Could be one of its relatives from the Mammillaria/Escobaria group. Arrojadoa are columnars, and this looks like a ball cactus. The damages around the areoles look like sunburn.

Explain Neonate to me and where do the grow, Are they Kimdom, Family, Tribe, I want to look this up, and without the information I cannot, so it is a columnar? I am using Dr. Anderson's book as a reference. Thanks for any help. We often start them over, or sink them if they get ugly at the bottom but this is not the right time of the year. Thank you for pitching in on this, I grow the Scick hybrids but very little other cactus. I was going to tell him to wait for offsets. To me it looks like a Echinopsis, but they all look like that to me. Norma

Norma,

She/he points out what species of cacti is believed to be in the collection. Yes, both Arrojadoa and Stetsonia are columnar cacti.

It sounds to me like it's sunburn for the most part - if there is any rotting tissue, you'll have to excise it completely for the plant to heal. It will disfigure it but will also save it.

Hello everyone, thank you so much for the feedback. I would never want to be one of those casual owners who got some cacti on an impulse or as a gift and dumps them at the first sign of trouble. Nevertheless I am light years from being experienced or a hobbyist in the matter, and your help is much needed. My responses are in chronological order.

Norma: those names I pulled were from looking around cactiguide.com/habit searchonly on similar visual comparisons. My certainty as to their genus and species goes no farther than that. I should have put in the first post that, according to the greenhouse owner I received them from, they are a type of barrel and a cereus cactus, respectively. However, he didnÂt know much about cacti and succulents and, given the poor state they were kept in, I believe him. So I havenÂt taken his two identifications on them as gospel. But maybe it can help you guys. As to how they are grown: The soil is mostly rocks with smaller, sparser parts of coarse/volcanic sand and cacti & palm potting soil for some humus. I also put some flakes of charcoal in to decrease excess moisture and water purification. In the summer and early fall, they were watered once a week (in 68 - 73 degree heat), approximately, with me waiting until the top layer of soil had dried out fairly well before a new watering. Since mid November I have watered them only once (last week). I read in a cacti ownerÂs website that in order for the best hibernation and to avoid unhealthy growth during the winter months it is best to not water at all or just sporadically (should that be wrong please correct me!). Considering that with our homeÂs central heating system the room they are in is spectacularly dry, I thought it would be okay to give them a little water last week. Norma could you clarify on growth rings, even or uneven? As to black spots or grunge, only what has been shown in pictures on the columnar blue-grey one.

tjicken: I just uploaded two pictures of the top of the cacti in question. Thanks a lot for the advice on identifying them as well as the diagnosis on the ball cactus. I had guessed sunburn, but just wanted to make sure (looks like IÂm not a total cactus idiot, just a major one). Would you suggest a less sun-intensive area for that cactus? Or could the burn have happened with water/sulfur sprays plus being in the sun, and as long as itÂs dry it should be okay soaking up the direct rays?

Norma: haha, just ignore the "neonate" thing. My attempt at a (bad) joke. It has nothing to do with the classification of the cacti. What do you mean "start them over"? Repot the offsets (if any are coming that is) or lop off the bottom and repot whatÂs left?

cactusmcharris: haha, itÂs a "he", though I guess there are girls named Ryan nowadays. I was hoping for sunburn, as thatÂs easier to manage (I think). When you advise to excise the damaged tissue, do you mean the scab/wounds at the bottom, or also what seems to be hardened gray/brown tissue around some of the areoles? Also, what would you advise as to go about excising the tissue? E.g., what kind of cutting instrument, how do I protect the surrounding tissue from fungi/viruses (sulfur powder?) etcÂ

Thanks again everyone for bearing with a rookie.

{{gwi:464601}}

{{gwi:464603}}

Nice pics, Ryan!
Welcome aboard, too!

Josh

First new pic sure looks like my Toothpick Cactus (Stetsonia coryne), mine is about 12 inches high. Neonate is 'baby', but I guess you have to know a little about medicine to know that.

Christopher

Kaktuskris: lol, thanks. It was a lame reference, but I feel a little less lame now that someone spoke up. As in I am a babe in the succulent woods, compared to all you guys (and girls). Toothpick was my gut feeling, but now that I looked up the other possible species offered on this thread, they look possible too. Since I dont know squat about cactus and succulent taxonomy, the tiny differences to look for, as long as they are similar in shape hundreds of species can all seem pretty plausible. After looking at pages and pages of photos on cactusguide.com, my eyes started to glaze over.

Chris, know nothing about medicine, I should have quessed what it would mean, wasn't using my head. There is little puff of cotton looking stuff on one spine in your first picture, I want you to take if off and pinch it between two fingers, and tells what happens. If you have any more cotton around the areols take them out with a tooth pick, and see what you find, squeeze them, and let me know. We are getting there one step at a time, thank you for being so patient with us, and thank you for responding to my questions. It would be okay and wrap that badly damaged plant into newspaper, and just put it in a dark closet, take it out in the spring. Be sure to spray and clean it up first. Follow the others suggestions to the letter. Now lets save the plant. Where is it that you live, in the U.S. Canada, U.K. There was a Ryan I used to write to when he was a boy, now I think he is a man. He lived in England,Same City Norma

The tall one still doesn't look like a Stetsonia to me (none that I have seen at least - never forget about natural variation). The ribs are more well-defined than on your plant. At the top the spines are black with yellow bases, further down they are ash-grey. Long, thin and very sharp too.

The small one puzzles me. It is offsetting, but Acharagma roseanum is mostly solitary. I have not found any suitable Mammillaria except forms and hybrids of schwarzii and laui, but what it resembles most is some of my Escobaria. I cannot pick a particular species, though. Too bad you watered it recently, otherwise I would have advised you to put it in a cool spot until spring, a refrigerator for example. That would help it flower, which would make it easier to identify.

What it needs is to get used to the sunlight slowly. The sun cannot burn cacti in winter where I live (due to the low solar angle), but does so in spring, which I think is closer to your present conditions. The water drops could have made it worse, but it is difficult to say, drops are definitley not necessary for sunburn.

(BTW: I did understand the neonate thing!)

Norma: Theres no reason to thank me, you are all the ones offering help. As to where I live, my home is in the eastern part of Long Islandin the United Stateson the north fork (parallel to the Hamptons, if you are familiar). Very, very wet and windy. Though my house is on the beach and on top of an incline with only beach brush and shrubs around it (and a few birch saplings here and there), so our yard gets full sun the entire day and each room is much brighter than it would be if there were some old growth trees around. I did as you asked with the cotton-y substance on the areoles of the columnar cactus. It seems the stuff is on all of the areoles to one degree or another, with more on the ones at the very top where the areoles are still forming. Could this be a natural feature to the cactus? Theyre stuck on there pretty good either by a secretion of the cactus or some residue left over from my systemic treatmentsgoing in by a tooth pick could only really move it around rather than get a bunch off. I did get a bit off (at the expense of a loose spinethat freaked me out) and squeezed it between my fingers. Nothing unusual happened, the fibers just bunched up into a ball when squeezed. Does this tell you anything?

Tjicken: Thanks again. Perhaps Ill wait another month or two and put it in the fridge thenif not, theres always the apple trick to make it flower. Speaking of the offsets of the ball cactus, should I leave them or cut them off come spring? Good advice on sun-tolerance. The damage has probably already been done and theyre acclimated by now, but just in case I moved them from my desk to a table by a west window in my room; the desk window was south-facing and had direct rays almost all day; on the table theyll get plenty of indirect sun with a few hours of direct towards the end of the afternoon to sunsetmuch less intensive than the midday hours they were getting before.

I see nothing wrong with the areoles, the felt should be there. It is one of the things that tells you that is a cactus ...

The apple trick? I have never heard of that.

Leave the offsets unless you have a good reason to remove them (space problems or an urgent need to propagate it, for example). The wounds will just be another possible point of entry for bacteria etc.

The acclimatisation takes at least a few days to accomplish (sometimes weeks), and it soon wears off if the plant is not exposed to sun without any glass between. Behind a window the risk for UV damage is far less, but the risk for heat damage increases if the ventilation is insufficient.