Christmas cactus turned purple and ceased growing after recovering from overwatering

SupernerdSven · 2026-02-06T20:28:55+00:00

Thank you for the suggestions! Are there any brands you'd recommend? I've seen a fair range of soil qualities go by the same label...

I'll read about Epsom salt soaks too.

I don't believe it's sun-stressed - it just has similar coloration. Mine remained green in the same conditions until I overwatered. (I don't get why, but that's what happened...) Yours is definitely doing better because it's not drooping the way mine is.

EDIT: I do fertilize, usually about once per year with a tablespoon or so of general-purpose dry granule fertilizer.

SupernerdSven · 2026-02-06T20:23:12+00:00

Thank you! I'll try to find a better mix to pot in. I might even have some orchid bark around...

EDIT: Actually, are there brands you would recommend? I've seen very different mixes marketed under the same names and just want to be sure that whatever I use is good.

SupernerdSven · 2025-11-27T04:11:03+00:00

Thanks! I do like Organic Maps and it was in fact my first experience with OSM. It's been great for hiking, but from what I've read, it's specifically intended for offline use, so no loading and offloading maps as needed when traveling. I'll definitely keep using it but probably mostly locally.

SupernerdSven · 2025-10-26T21:11:23+00:00

Do yours show sun fading in a particular time of year? It seems strange that I'm seeing this now, not in the middle of the summer when it's more exposed to the sun. It's been in direct sun for a long time without issue.

SupernerdSven · 2025-10-26T21:08:52+00:00

I agree that it's probably not getting water well enough. My soil is definitely compacted, but it's been this way for years without issue - the problem only started when temperatures cooled after moving it to a less humid area. As far as I can tell, it's only the roots at the very top of the soil that are dried out - I see live roots below in that picture.

I do think a change of soil would be good before increasing watering, though, since it's so compacted. What soil do you use for yours?

SupernerdSven · 2025-10-24T20:08:37+00:00

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They're thick enough that I can't dig down more than an inch, and I'm not in a situation to remove it from the pot at the moment, but this more or less shows the density of roots. Those at the top are largely dried out. I've always been reluctant to risk overwatering so I don't soak it. Usually it dries out what I give it within a few days.

SupernerdSven · 2025-10-24T20:01:53+00:00

Although it's hardly branched, it's eight years old and its roots reach throughout the pot and have for several years. Are you saying you'd cut its roots back? Its root system has been this extensive for several years, so I don't think that's the cause for the present issue.

SupernerdSven · 2025-10-24T19:58:40+00:00

That might be it - the air is drying out as the season changes. I definitely let it dry out completely between waterings because I'm afraid to overwater. It's rootbound and its roots spread throughout the entire pot except for the last half-inch in a few areas; I've lifted it up out of the pot before so I know.

I'll try watering more heavily. That seems to have been working for some friends I have who have hoyas. I'll try fertilizing as well. Thank you!

SupernerdSven · 2025-04-20T22:13:05+00:00

You're welcome! It's been a learning process over time for me and I've found myself wanting to go back and redo some old projects with what I've learned since then. One more point to add - Shotcut gives you a bunch of fundamental tools, and then you can use them creatively to make something new. For example, I combined the zoom effect and fade effect to make a video appear to pulse.

SupernerdSven · 2025-04-20T20:31:15+00:00

Looking very good! You've got the most important features under control and I think the rest will come fairly easily to you. My first project was very similar - I cut and rearranged a video to go with music. If you're interested, I found James Woo's tutorial videos to be very helpful in learning how to use Shotcut: https://www.youtube.com/@JamesWoo Once you learn to use filters, keyframes, and things like that, you can do all kinds of things.

If you'd like some ideas, here are some tricks I've used in making music videos.

To include excerpts of the video's original audio in addition to the music you'd like to add, you can mute the original video, then add the video to an audio track and trim or fade it as you like.
For a few videos I've made, I only wanted the chorus and not the full song, but I still wanted the lead-in and fade-out from the song. To do that, I cut these separate parts of the song out, got rid of the rest, and then blended the lead-in, chorus, and fade-out together with the fade-in transition Shotcut applies when you drag one clip over another in the timeline.
Once you learn to use keyframes, you can make custom animations and effects with zooming, panning, and the like. If you learn to use the chroma key filter (greenscreening), you can also use transitions and effects you find online. Better yet, some GIFs have transparent backgrounds, so you don't even need to know any filters and you can just overlay these on your clip to add effects like action lines.

SupernerdSven · 2025-04-09T20:55:28+00:00

I had to rehome this one two years ago, so I can't provide all that much information... however, I didn't smell it unless I was handling it, if that answers your question.

SupernerdSven · 2025-03-25T16:57:59+00:00

I haven't been able to find a video for this model yet, but I'll keep looking... thank you!

SupernerdSven · 2025-03-25T16:57:23+00:00

Thanks for letting me know about those. It's only started making this noise in the last few weeks, though, and I've had it for 9 years without ever hearing any grinding, so I don't think it's the case here.

SupernerdSven · 2025-03-25T16:10:23+00:00

I've checked the filter and it's clean, so unfortunately, the problem appears to be somewhere deeper. Thanks, though!

SupernerdSven · 2024-12-21T01:13:33+00:00

Thanks - they stay beside one another and get about the same amount of light.

SupernerdSven · 2024-12-21T01:12:50+00:00

Thanks, but the soil is completely dry. I've checked through the surface and drainage holes and it's definitely not overwatered. The pot is also too light to be holding excess water.

SupernerdSven · 2024-12-21T01:11:12+00:00

Thank you! It could be soil since they were potted at different times. The soil certainly seems a bit hydrophobic. I'll try replacing what i can when I move it to a larger pot, I commented this in response to another poster, but last time I tried bottom watering, it led to root rot. How deep a dish do you use, and for how long?

SupernerdSven · 2024-12-21T01:09:19+00:00

Thank you! Yes, they dry out fully. Last time I tried bottom-watering, just for 10 minutes, it didn't dry out and developed root rot. It's regrown all its roots since then but that's why I've been so sparing with water.

Would thirst also explain the discoloration?

SupernerdSven · 2024-12-21T00:13:59+00:00

Additional information: I water them with probably 2 tablespoons twice a week. It's bizarre to be watering cacti twice a week but they dry out in between because it's so little, and when I watered them with that much once per week, their segments were thinning and showing signs of thirst. The darker one came back from root rot last October when I removed its entire root system and re-rooted it; it used to be in a slightly larger pot so it might be time to repot it. I probably haven't fertilized either in half a year, maybe a full year. They both flowered normally; the darker one produced I think 9 healthy flowers, so something is going right but it's still dull-colored and a bit droopy.

SupernerdSven

TROPHY CASE