Other - San Pedro discoloration

[MescaLover]

hi there. i am just wondering if anybody knows much about san pedro. i have just bought a live cactus, about a foot tall, and after having it in my terrarrium for about a week, the top of it has gone a light color. sorta yellow, going almost white. only a small amount, maybe 1cm down from the top. does anybody know why?? is it bad???

[Jatelka]

Why is this posted in "Various"?

Moved

[MescaLover]

sorry. its because im new to this and didnt know how or where else to post!! please bear with me. ill catch on soon enough so where is it moved to??

MescaLover added 785 Minutes and 3 Seconds later...

anyone... please... i am worried about my new friend!!

MescaLover added 0 Minutes and 41 Seconds later...

anyone... please... i am worried about my new friend!!

[divinecacti]

Yellow discolouration? You mention a terrarium, is it under artificial light? It could be due to a lack of light, but that is a wild guess. Can you post some photos? You bought it as a potted plant, what medium is it in? Have you tried to feed it? Sorry for the questions, but we need more information to diagnose this.

[MescaLover]

thanks heaps guys, but i have fixed the problem. i didnt originally giv many details as i didnt know much! didnt know the soil medium or how much light it previously received. i now know it was a lack of light. i bought a 600w hps lamp and two 70w mh downlights (meant for an office or something! and after only a few daze it has gotten most of its color back. give it a few more daze an im sure it will be fine. i have been doing alot of research since purchasing, as i have purchased several more, along with some other ones i will refrain from mentioning all seem to be going quite well, but i am having probs germinating some seeds i bought. there are a few different batches that i have started over a few weeks. none hav sprouted yet (??) i used a seedling mix with 1/3 propagating sand and 1/3 vermiculite, and a small handful of dynamic lifter. the dynamic lifter keeps going mouldy tho, a kinda cobweb type mould. so i have tried a new batch without the DL. also, a little experimenting, used only sand and vermiculite on a few and wetted them with seasol before enclosing them in a baggie. that was only a couple of daze ago tho, so will keep ya's informed! sorry for the long reply, hope i have not bored ya all!! cheers
PS cant do pics (yet!)

[divinecacti]

Make sure to slowly acclimatise the plant to this lamp. Going from too little light to a HPS lamp is likely to kill your cactus. I think that may be a bit excessive.

Your seedlings sound like they are being killed by fungus known as 'damping off'. Sterilise your soil before you start. Place your soil in a bowl with a lid. 15 mins in microwave or 2 hours in oven at 110deg C. Swim germinated a 1000 san pedro seeds this year, he reckons he got 95% germination. If you have fungus in your propagators now throw a bit of sterilised sand over the fungus.

[MescaLover]

cool. hav only had th hps on for a few hours a day. all seems good so far. one thing i did not do is sterilise th mix. i have read it is not nessessarily nessessary. i hav trouts notes on cacti cultivation as well as read various (and many) blogs. i have covered the ones that were getting mould with sand and hav had no further probs. nor hav i had probs with my new tries. nothing has sprouted yet, but it has only been a few daze. thanks heaps for your help. i look forward to learning from you. off the track... wot does PM mean?? im new to this forum thing. never really had th time for it. i spend too much time in my studio!! so if ever i take a while to respond, jus know im workin on a killer track!! thanks again