What comes to your mind when you think of the cactus plants? Of course, you would say that spiky plants are almost difficult to touch without the spikes hurting your hands or giving you injuries.
Despite that, the cactus plant is still a beautiful flowering plant that can be grown. I feel that the cactus plants give an edge or extra beauty and look in a garden.
Like all other succulent plants, a cactus plant is prone to problems or issues that all plants sometimes face. Some of these problems could be dying of the cactus, yellowing of the plants, brown spots or brown colouration on the plants.
In this article today we’re going to discuss one of those issues which are brown spots on cacti and how we can get rid of brown spots on cacti.
What Causes Brown Spots On Cactus Plant?
As most people would say before solving an issue or getting rid of something bad, you must first know the root cause of the thing you want to get rid of. So we are going to determine some of the reasons or things that are responsible for cactus plants turning brown.
- Overwatering
- Pest Infestation
- Overexposure to sunlight
- Animal damage
Some of the above terms are already familiar to us, if we are gardeners, so we are now going to discuss how we can get rid of brown spots caused by each of these issues above.
How To Get Rid Of Brown Spots On Cactus Caused By Overwatering
Over-watering can lead to brown spots on cacti when the soil is extra wet. It can lead to root rot too, signs of root rot are usually identified by brown spots or discolouration on the body or leaves of the cactus plants.
To get rid of the brown spots, we have to
- Limit the amount of watering to only when you notice that your soil is dry.
- Remember that cactus are drought resistant so they require little watering.
- Watering should be carried out once in two weeks during warm temperatures and in cold temperatures, it should be limited to once in 3 or 4 weeks.
How To Get Rid Of Brown Spots Caused By Pest Infestation
Cacti are easily attacked by pests. Pests like cactus bugs, scale, and mealybugs attack the cactus plant and cause an infestation on it. When this happens, the cactus plants will have brown spots on the leaves. To get rid of this :
- Use insecticide sprays that are bio-friendly to rid of pests on the surface of the plants.
- Some pests are immune to the pesticide, so in place of that, they can be with a little bit of high-pressure water without hurting the plant.
- Some bugs can also be handpicked and removed from the plant itself.
How To Get Rid Of Brown Spots On Cactus Caused By Too Much Sunlight.
Keeping cactus plants right under the sun for too long. For example, a 12 to 15 hour period of direct sunlight can affect the cactus plants badly. Because of the excessive heat, the plants can get scorched leaving them with brown spots as an aftereffect.
To get rid of these brown spots we need to:
- Remove the song from direct sunlight if he has a state four a longer. To prevent the cactus plants from getting sunburned.
- If you notice that your capital son is showing signs of sunburn you should move it indoors quickly to prevent this from happening as someone can interfere with the structure of the cactus plant.
- It’s best to prepare a shed for cactus plants to protect them from overexposure to sunlight and sunburn.
How To Get Rid Of Brown Spots On Cactus Caused By Animals.
Animals are bigger pests that cause damage to the cactus plant. Some of the animals that feed on cactus flowers and leave them with a brown discolouration may include rabbit camels, woodpeckers, mice, birds, tortoises.
To prevent this from reoccurring, a few measures have to be taken below.
- Using certain repellents like garlic pepper spray or even the using or physics of creditors like wolf or foxes can help repel these pests and rodents from attacking the cactus plants to stop.
- Using wire to make a fence around the cactus plant can also be a preventive measure when trying to get rid of animals or rodents.
- Setting traps to catch animals and get rid of them can also be an alternative, although most times it is not always as effective as the other men or removing animals.
- Using other plants to prevent the rodents can also be effective, for example, the mint plant has an aroma that most animals and rodents are detested by. . So if your cactus is getting attacked by animals, planting a mint close to it will help chase those animals away and allow the cactus plant to grow.
- In a situation where we have to resort to using poison to get rid of animals, it is important to remember that the poison will not choose to kill the pest only but also attack the cactus plant.
it will also destroy birds and other wildlife that do not pose a threat. It is also very risky especially if children and toddlers leave around you so that they do not get infected by the poison and fall sick.
How Do You Prevent Rusty Fungus Cactus?
It is usually difficult to stop fungal infection on cactus plants because most times the results are permanent. But to prevent this from reoccurring, we can cut off the affected parts so that it doesn’t spread to the other parts.
Making use of fungicides on the affected parts can help reduce the risk of infection. Neem oil is also an alternative when trying to prevent rust fungus cactus in a plant. Always remember to clean the debris found in the plants to prevent them from spreading.
What Does An Overwatered Cactus Look Like?
Overwatered cactus plants usually have brown spots on their body. Their leaves might become soft and soggy due to the excess moisture content found in the leaves.
When there is excess water the roots of the cactus plant might become infected and will start to rot if left unchecked. If we notice all the signs it is a possibility that our cactus is overwatered and needs to be checked immediately.
Finally, taking care of these cactus plants can be difficult at times but the results are worth the effort put in. So when looking for plants to grow next, add that cactus plant to it.
