I need help identifying two cacti I bought recently.

7 years ago

last modified: 7 years ago

I purchased a couple of cacti from my local supermarket a couple of weeks ago and have been trying to find out all I can about them but with very little luck. I'm new to cacti and succulents and am finding it increasingly confusing trying to differentiate between species.

Also there is a possibility that both of them may be infested(?) with bugs of some description and I'd love any help and tips on what the bugs may be and how I can get rid of them without harming the cactus.

Any help identifying this one? It has patches of what I assume are eggs in the soil. Yellowish and slightly fluffy/fuzzy coating protecting the eggs. This picture was taken the day that I bought the cactus and the soil seemed fine but...

This was taken today. Excuse the quality of the picture but it was difficult to get close enough with only a phone camera. Circled in red are the egg deposits, circled in yellow are what I would guess is mould? It's white and web-like and has only come up in the last couple of days.

This is the other one I purchased. Again, any help identifying it would be greatly appreciated. The little spiny bits right at the tip of each of the 'fingers' have started to grow quite pale and there seems to be new ones trying to push through? I honestly haven't a clue.

This one I'm not sure whether it's infested or not. There was a little spider that had made a home on the soil but whether that was just a random bug or one that could cause harm, I have no idea. It's a tiny little thing with a red/orange butt and black legs.

The soil on this one is as it was when I purchased it, no signs of eggs or mould though I can't really tell due to the shape of the cactus.

Bare in mind that I live in the UK. Please, please, please help me out! I do so very much love my cacti and would love to learn more about them and how to better care for them.

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Comments (4)

hablu
7 years ago
The second one is a Mammillaria that wants more light

harry
elucas101
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
Really the soil the cactus came in is too water retentive and compact anyway so I would carefully remove the old soil from the roots and repot in a fast draining mix of Cactus & Succulent soil mixed with LOTS of perlite. Start fresh, get rid of that nasty soil that will make your plants unhappy anyway, They'll be much healthier in the long run.
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greenclaws UK, Zone 8a
7 years ago
Hello, sorry can't ID as I don't grow these cacti. EL gives sound info above.

As the first cactus is a tall one as opposed to a barrel shaped one, could I suggest that the best mix for both it and the other, would be a mix of thirds using c/smix, perlite and horticultural/alpine gravel. You can get small bags of each of these from B & Q for around £3 each. Make sure you either wash the perlite thoroughly in a sieve or just seive it downwind, don't breath the dust in. B&Q perlite is rather dusty, mine is, so there is a lot of waste, just use the largest particles you gain from using your very best kitchen seive! I've also used Wilko perlite, that wasn't quite as bad. Wilko may not sell it now it's Nov, B&Q or garden centres may be a better bet for all the ingredients at this time of the year. The gravel will give the plants much more stability, especially the tall one. Don't get vermiculite if no perlite, it's too water retentive. Aquarium gravel or chicken grit with no shell can also substitute for the hort/alpine gravel.

Repotting into a better mix will get rid of any bugs that you think you may have there and it will also solve the problem that you almost certainly would be asking us about in the not to distant future "why are my cacti dying?"... which would be due to the wrong soil they were sold in!

So, to prevent that from happening you need to make sure all the old mix is removed, use a chopstick, pencil or similar to get rid of it all. If it won't come if with poking and shaking, swish in water, keep bases of plants dry though, let the roots air dry on kitchen paper, plant when dry. Hold the cactus in a wrap of newspaper or bubble wrap to protect your hands. Moisten the mix and replant, not soaking wet, just moist and crumbly. Won't need much water anyway now weather is colder. Shout if you need any more help.

Gill
ashe_p
Original Author
7 years ago
Thank you all so much for your advice! (: I'll take it all into consideration and try repotting them in better soil. Both of them get a fantastic amount of light as they both sit on a window sill that gets the sun for most of the day, so hopefully repotting them will help with any other problems.