duude -___-

that hole is cavernous!!

got nothin' to lose :)

If this were my plant, I'd re-pot in an appropriate mix & hope for the best.

It looked pretty good until you turned it over! Egods! Good luck

That plant's done. There's nothing to save except further tears of anguish.

there are some white little things that look almost like worms or maggots in the 'hole' picture ... could they be new roots, at all? Wow...

yes, I was wondering what the problem was too, as the first 2 pics look just fine. Soooo....larvae or roots?

That is crazy!!! Was there anything in the hole when you first found it? That is so strange!

If the inside is hardened and calloused, it's totally possible it can survive, believe it or not. If the inside is slimy and squidgy, then I wouldn't hold out much hope. But if it is crusted and the cactus feels firm on the inside, then those things may be roots - and that thing might just make it!

Saguaro cactuses in the desert, are oftern hollowed out by the Gila woodpecker, because they like to nest in them. The hollowed-out section, which bores right into the fleshy core of the cactus, hardens and callouses over to prevent water loss. See here.

Who's to say other cacti can't follow suit?

That's rot. The brown tissue is all dead. The white pieces are probably the remains of fibrous vascular bundles which are rotting a little slower than the soft tissue. The only way to cure rot is to cut it out, back to healthy green tissue. Since it has hollowed out the center of the plant, there just isn't enough left to save. Sorry!

Tara,

That dog don't hunt, to quote a colloquial Americanism.

Above comment made me giggle.

Sorry about your cactus though, =/

it looks so pleasing from the outside/top view, I'd still set that sucker in something gritty and see what happens.

I've had more than 3 or 4 succulents that I thought was long dead but was too lazy to un-pot and discard. Only to find a change in conditions brought about signs of life.

Not saying this is the case here, but.....

Put it in a decent pot, put a ribbon on it and gift it to someone you secretly hate with a tag that says "Your awesomeness keeps me alive". Something like that.

^^*LMAO!!*^^

=D

actually, kenizona, if you re-read the OP's initial post, she clearly states that (a) it's not soft, but firm, and (b) it has a root. So while I completely respect your response as being informed, I don't think the OP's description matches your dia- or pro-gnosis... There might be life in the old dog yet, cactusmcharris...