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 Growing tip problem

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PostSubject: Growing tip problem   Growing tip problem Icon_minitimeSun Jul 03, 2016 1:42 pm

I have a number of Mamms growing in 5.5 inch BEF's. They were potted last year and a number have now produced unusual growing problems around the tops of the plants. I fed them with watered down phostrogen in the spring but haven't really seen any improvement. I have just potted the plants with the growing tip issues into new Plastecnic bowls with a new growing medium 50% JI no. 2, 50% pea gravel and a scoop of perlite. Anyone had similar problems? There used to be discussion of boron deficiency in past years but I'm not sure if that's the cause or something else. I have attached photos of the newly potted plants.

M. bocasana, guelzowiana, nana and duwei, all grown from seed. Any thought would be most welcome.

Many thanks in advance, Ewen

Growing tip problem M_boca10
Growing tip problem M_guel10
Growing tip problem M_nana10
Growing tip problem M_duwe10
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jfabiao

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PostSubject: Re: Growing tip problem   Growing tip problem Icon_minitimeMon Jul 04, 2016 9:14 am

Could it be past RSM damage?
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PostSubject: Re: Growing tip problem   Growing tip problem Icon_minitimeMon Jul 04, 2016 9:39 am

Not sure, haven't seen any other signs. I do think it's an NPK issue or something to do with potting in larger pots. Difficult one I think but I'm not ruling anything out. I'm going to see if the new potting mix and bowls help :-)
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PostSubject: Re: Growing tip problem   Growing tip problem Icon_minitimeFri Jul 22, 2016 9:02 pm

Subject growing tip problem.
    I have this problem with two Echinocactus Grusonii i cannot cure it, so i think i will just dispose
    of them. Sorry this is no help but i would not want it to spread?

















s
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PostSubject: Re: Growing tip problem   Growing tip problem Icon_minitimeFri Jul 21, 2017 6:37 pm

Hi,

I wondered if this issue has been resolved. I have had 4 plants develop the same problem this summer, after flowering prolifically. I also have had a few cases of red spider mite, but the affected plants do not have the rust coloured RSM covering them. I wondered if there was a nutrient issue, as the plants flowered very prolifically just before this spineless growth. I have around 70 Mammillarias, only these 4 developed the problem: M giselae; M glassii ssp acsensionis; M longiflora ssp stampferi and M densispina.

Does anyone know the cause of the problem, or solution. If it was RSM, the plants have now been sprayed with Bug Clear Ultra which is supposed to remedy RSM.

Thank you in advance,

David

Growing tip problem 17-06-13

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Chris43
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PostSubject: Re: Growing tip problem   Growing tip problem Icon_minitimeSat Jul 22, 2017 9:56 am

Though I've been growing Mamms for a good number of years and have experienced this type of occurrence, I've never been able to pin down exactly what is the cause. I can't immediately associate it with repotting, though this could inadvertently damage the root(s) and so cause a slackening in the flow of nutrients to the growing point. I don't think its a fertiliser problem. On a few occasions I have blamed RSM, though the plants affected have been surrounded by other plants which are growing normally. I have also put it down on some occasions to damage to the growing point from the combined effects of watering and excess sun, so giving the growing point a sort of sunburn. Mamms are pretty resistant to scorch, compared to some other I have scorched, Thelocactus, Eriosyce... so I have wondered if overheating which in other species might create very visible scorch just impair the growing point somehow.
So that's a long winded way of saying I don't know, but I wish I did. Of course it might be that all these things are causes of what is shown, and we shouldn't be looking for a single cause.

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jfabiao

jfabiao


Number of posts : 533
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PostSubject: Re: Growing tip problem   Growing tip problem Icon_minitimeSat Jul 22, 2017 2:48 pm

I have had a case or two over the years too. Notably, this year I've had a Glandulicactus megarhizus do it. But what worries me is the number of comments on this in forums around the internet this season. Can it be that we're facing a new pest emerging?
FWIW, I've blamed this before on the relocation of the plant in question to a situation where it didn't get enough light (at least that's what I perceived).
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PostSubject: Re: Growing tip problem   Growing tip problem Icon_minitimeSat Jul 22, 2017 7:04 pm

I have also had / still have this problem with several of my plants, and not only mammillarias. And, just like others, I still don't have a clue of the cause. In my opinion, it doesn't have anything to do with soil or repotting.

My explanations are: red spider mite, too much direct sun, and / or moss mites (from the Orobatidae family). These moss mites are very small, beetle-like insects, about 1 mm in size. I have had them for years and it looks as if the plants which have them, do not grow well / not at all. The moss mites are not visible during the day, they only show up towards the evening and early in the morning. They don't seem to cause physical damage, but they may actually be active in the growing point. I had a few Coryphantha poselgeriana which developed malformed spines in the growing point, perhaps because of these creatures. Something similar with a few young Echinocactus horizonthalonius: hardly any growth, and no spines were formed. A few of my M. wolfiis also developed malformed spines and sometimes the young spines had even been eaten off, part of the spines lying in the top area of the plant.

What has helped me a lot, is to spray the plants in the evening with water about twice a week, depending on the weather (I use a garden hose for that, with a fine spray), and keep the greenhouses closed during the night after the spray, thus creating a very humid atmosphere.
A Pediocactus simpsonii nigrispinus which hadn't grown at all for many years, this year finally started growing again. Several young lophophoras which also hadn't grown for several years, this year finally showed some growth. The Coryphanthas poselgeriana also showed growth and more normal spines in the new growth. The same for several mammillarias, which, with the water spray treatment, are doing quite well now.

Wolter ten Hoeve.
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maurillio




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PostSubject: Re: Growing tip problem   Growing tip problem Icon_minitimeSun Jul 23, 2017 6:13 pm

I have/had this problem too ...
The only constant is that it appears when the temperatures rise and the summer is near ...

Mammillaria paulii

Growing tip problem 3303-210



Mammillaria herrerae

Growing tip problem _2016110
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PostSubject: Re: Growing tip problem   Growing tip problem Icon_minitimeFri Jul 28, 2017 1:37 pm

It is almost relief to know that others have experience of the problem, but chagrin that it seems to be a mystery. I don't think repotting could be the cause, one new plant this summer was repotted, but the others not repotted since 2016.
v followed recommended fertiliser practice, only every other watering, I do not think I used to excess (Chempak cactus fertiliser), or "Focus", and a couple of the plants have resumed spine growth during continuation of the use of fertiliser. I had wondered if the plants became short of nutrients following very prolific flowering, or if flowering had brought insects carry mites to the plants spreading them.
Just a few plants are affected, they were surrounded by others which remain fine.
I think Ewen, who started this thread, is no longer registered, as I tried to contact him, but looking at his pics I would say the plants shown do show evidence of RSM discolouring the plant's epidermis. So maybe I sprayed in time to stop the situation getting worse. Unfortunately it took me a few weeks to realise I had a RSM problem on a few other plants.
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delandmo




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PostSubject: Re: Growing tip problem   Growing tip problem Icon_minitimeFri Jul 28, 2017 4:40 pm

What hasn't been mention so far in the replies is the problem we were hearing about at the time of the thread, of composts being infected with weed killer. Many of the major suppliers of composts in the UK, put their hands up and confessed they had been adding council garden waste to their mix. This type of composting would not have been heat treated to the highest level of temperature needed to burn out the weed killer. I too have had plants that started to show distorted apexes and ultimately put it down to this as possible poisoning. Now, I don't suspect that all the bags of compost mixes produced at the time this was being added, would have been destroyed by the manufacturers or retailers. So there could still be a lot of bags out there, still floating around in places causing an on going problem, until the supply is exhausted. I have changed my composts now to a mix from Clover, likened to a JI mix. They are based in Ireland. It appears that it is not that easy to find bags in the UK as yet and I am fortunate to have had a few bags from Terry Smale's, local allotment society. A much more superior mix IMO. I wonder if those out there, that use cat litter or similar (burnt clay or akadama etc.) have experienced this abnormality in their plants?
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PostSubject: Re: Growing tip problem   Growing tip problem Icon_minitimeFri Jul 28, 2017 9:35 pm

Thanks. I added Johnn Innes 2 or 3, put the problem started a year after repotting, I doubt that infected compost could be to blame in my case.
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woltertenhoeve




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PostSubject: Re: Growing tip problem   Growing tip problem Icon_minitimeFri Jul 28, 2017 9:40 pm

Because I grow all my plants in pumice, there will not be any weed killer or something like that in it. In my case, the growth problem in some plants could have been caused by sunburn, whereas others might have gotten the growth problem from RSM or the moss mites.
I had 2 M. paulii next to each other, one of them has no problems at all, it grows and flowers well, the other has had the growth problem for a few years already (and I have seen moss mites on that plant). Other example, four escobarias next to each other (from the same location), one is growing very well, the other three (these are in the same pot) have the growth problem. Also, a few Obregonias with much wool in the top and in the least sunny greenhouse, haven't grown or flowered in the last years.
 
As I wrote before, very regular spraying with water has helped for me in many cases. What has also helped in a few cases, is to put the affected plant high up in the greenhouse, where it receives much sunshine and where it becomes hot. This might indicate that in such cases a pest is the cause because a pest like mealy bug will not survive top shelf treatment, and I also have the impression that RSM doesn't like a top shelf treatment. For instance, my Cochemieas are all high up in the greenhouse, where it probably becomes 50 degrees C or more on sunny days, but they grow well and there are no pests on them at all.
In the past, I had a box with seed-grown M. herrerae and Turbinicarpus valdezianus high up in the least sunny greenhouse. They were doing very well up there. Nowadays, I have my Turb. valdezianus and M. herrerae at normal height, and quite a few of them have not been growing well.

My not so helpful conclusion: the growth problem can have multiple causes and affected plants may require different solutions. Experiment, and see what happens.

Wolter ten Hoeve, The Netherlands.
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PostSubject: Re: Growing tip problem   Growing tip problem Icon_minitimeFri Jul 28, 2017 9:59 pm

I grow my plants in a flat on windowsills, but to compensate for potential lower light levels, if the weather is favourable, I give them as much time as possible outside in direct light (not straight into intense sun, gradually). They are probably more exposed to garden insects than the average.
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