A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2005 Help me! I am Dieing.... (Kirk my cactus, not me)

Hello everyone.. first post here, hope someone can help Kirk my cute lil cactus seems to be dieing on me. I am assuming it is because i over watered him. (I STUPIDLY used a little spray bottle on his needles) I only did this obviously cause I didnt know what I was doing or how to take care of cacti. Is there any way I can save him? Attached are some photos of him in his glory days and how he looks now. His flesh seems to be a lot spongier than it was and his once prominent growths have slackened and fallen over and are also shrinking...

What can I do?!?! Kirk needs to be saved!

First off get some cactus potting soil and repot him where the soil is not wet. Find a nice sunny location for him where it isn't humid and then I think you have to cross your fingers and hope. I've had them explode on me when I went to lift them out just because I have very high humidity in my apartment from cooking.

do not mist cacti

He's cute.
wear welding gloves or something strong like cow hide when re potting.course I also added tongs and used plastic sheeting when moveing some prickly pear.


If get thorns in hand....get duct tape....press rip er off.
deep ones brown sugar& dawn dish soap make paste wrap in guaze remove in 12 hours& wash.I use it for rose thorns,but works on cacti thorns too.

I use a schultz cacti mix here in states.You need Longy.he's your area and would know EXACTLY which soil you'd need.my mix feels gritty& has perlite added.

The pale, thin growth is because it's not getting enough sun. Give it lots of sun, not much water, pot it up in a shallow pot with gritty, quick draining soil. You're coming into summer, right? In a month or so it should be in a position to sort out what needs pruning or rerooting or what. Good luck.

thank you so much for all your help... will be heading to the nursery to pickup some nice gritty soil and repot Kirk into a larger bowl. It is summer here now so no shortage of sunlight, I'll be sure to keep him out on the balcony during the day to help his recovery

And please, please be sure to come back
and let
Good or bad , we love updates...

an update on poor lil kirk... kirk has passed away gave him a nice new home with nice gritty soil and a big bowl and plenty fo sunlight but he just kept shrivelling up. Now he is all tiny and brown time to get a new one ! kirk2 shall survive !

With my deepest sympathy, keep the next one in a small bowl. We've all had plants die, glad to hear there will be a Kirk 2!

cacti prefer small pots. i have a cactus that is in a tiny pot compared to how big it is. i water it maybe once every 2-3 months, and its doing great.

wow you guys just answered all my questions!