Q.Puncture Wound To My Cactus!
My golden barrel is about 10yo, 15″ across, 11″tall, and potted. He recently fell off my balcony and was impaled by a branch of the shrub in front of my patio. The hole is about 1/2 to 3/4″. Can he survive this? He’s probably been there a couple days. I repotted, added rooting powder and fresh soil and gave a healthy watering. Will/can he survive such a tramatic injury? Please help!
Certified GKH Gardening Expert
It will be important to hold off watering until absolutely necessary. Cacti prefer dry soils, and when injury is present watering will often cause infection.
The best thing that you can do is hold off on any care outside of letting it recover, and only water once the soil is completely, bone dry down to the bottom of the container.
Outside of this, adding a mixture of 1 part peroxide to 3 parts water, when watering, will help stave of infection.
Cacti are resilient as long as they are not overwatered. If it does not recover, it will send out a replacement shoot that you can propagate.
Here is an article that will give you information on the general care of the cactus:
