Viewing post #2332789 by anxiouscactusparent

DaisyI said:You are right, those roots look healthy. And the soil looks wet. When you repot, don't water for a week or more to allow damaged roots to heal.

Watering to soil saturation is good, soaking for 1.5 hours is bad. When you simply add water, does the soil get completely wet? You can figure that out with your stick by looking for wet and dry patches on it.

Look at the growth of your cactus. The new growth should be as wide or wider than the old growth. If there are narrow spots, those will be weak spots and the cactus will bend or break from the weight of the new growth above it. It could be the wilted wrinkly top just isn't getting enough moisture from the roots because of the narrow little connector piece.

That makes a lot of sense! I was thinking the too might just not be getting enough water because the piece it is growing off is so small. My friend who gave me the cactus told me to not water from the top but maybe it's ok as long as it drains and dries quickly? Before I'd just fill up it's little basin but that wasn't making the soil even a little damp except for the very bottom so maybe the solution is to give it more frequent small drinks throughout the day when it's watering day. I am thinking that if next week the growth is still looking like it's shriveling I will cut it off and just propegate a new cactus from it.

Second question though....what about my two cacti planted together? One is inflating while the other is shrinking