Is This Cactus Rot, And If So, How Do I Fix It?!

Question

A dear friend gave me a large cactus as a gift as I’m useless with plants and she thought this would be an easy one for me. I left it outside on my balcony for over a year because I’m a terrible person. It was still flowering so I thought it was healthy but then I noticed the bottom is brown and shrivelled. I’ve googled and I think maybe it’s rotting but it’s flowered in the last couple of months and there’s little buds growing at the base so I’m not sure? I’ve been youtubing how to cut off the dead bit but I don’t want to if its fixable. I’ve since brought it inside and repotted it in cactus soil and took some pics of the process. Any advice would be very much appreciated!

Answer 1

Unfortunately, your photos did not come through. I am unable to assess the damage. I would take a cutting of a healthy portion to plant in another container, while taking some of the "pups" and transplanting them, as well.

You can try treating all of the containers that you create with a fungicide, as well as treating the original. Sometimes it will recover from severe infection.

Here are some articles that will help:

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/cacti-succulents/barrel-cactus/propagating-barrel-cactus-pups.htm

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/cacti-succulents/scgen/removing-cactus-pups.htm

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/cacti-succulents/scgen/propagating-cacti-and-succulents.htm

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/info/using-fungicides-in-garden.htm