Hi.
I got my cactus about 5 years ago, and I admit, I haven't taken good care of it. I got the cactus when I was about 10 years old, so I had no idea how to take care of one. Anyways...

I noticed yesterday that my cactus looks bad... I also noticed that there's these weird white spots all over the roots. Can I still save my cactus or is it dead?

That looks pretty dead. You either froze it, or you over watered it.

I see some green, but it looks pretty brown on a good bit of it. Which to me says it is dying. The roots look healthy to me (I'm not sure I see the white spots you're referring to?). I can't tell what's in the empty pot, almost looks like sand?

Hamwild said:I see some green, but it looks pretty brown on a good bit of it. Which to me says it is dying. The roots look healthy to me (I'm not sure I see the white spots you're referring to?). I can't tell what's in the empty pot, almost looks like sand?

It's sand. I don't actually know why it was there...

Cactus soil should include a smaller amount of cocopeat(the stuff your soil mix mostly comprises of), and a larger amount of gritty coarse sands, small pebbles, perlite, and an addition of other components of volcanic origin. I also add a small amount of lake bed silt and replace the volcanics and perlite with cat litter..

koivupuu said:

It's sand. I don't actually know why it was there...

I think alot of pre-mixed cactus potting mix has a little bit of sand in it (at least I believe the one I have does, it's Miracle Gro cactus & palm). I'm not sure if it's good or bad in a mix, it seems to be a debated topic. But, I wouldn't be surprised if it was in the potting mix and over time washed out into the bottom.