Disease in Christmas cactus - Ask Extension
I have many holiday cactus of many types, including several generations of plants I have grown from seed so I really am looking to solve this problem ...
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Disease in Christmas cactus #279607
Asked September 21, 2015, 8:52 AM EDT
I have many holiday cactus of many types, including several generations of plants I have grown from seed so I really am looking to solve this problem in my plants!
To begin with: I have a jade plant that began to occasionally develop discolored leaves that would drop off. I did not think too much of it. Then one of my two true Christmas cacti (grown from cuttings of plants that have been in the family for generations) began to develop similar symptoms. Some of the smaller branches would develop a pale pink or white color to the base of the segments and then would eventually drop off. This plant is now almost dead as more and more branches have discolored and then dropped off. These sections do not look wilted, moldy, rotten, ect. They simply drop off.
It seems to be spreading which has me very worried. The other Christmas cactus has many discolored branches and a few have dropped off, and some of my other plants have discolored branches but are not losing any branches yet.
I cannot figure out what is going on to make these apparently healthy plants suddenly die back like this. These is no obvious fungus, no stem or root rot, no insects as far as I can tell (I even looked them over with a magnifying glass). The plants are in the same spot and cared for the same as usual, they have been healthy and good bloomers there for a long time.
The pictures are
1) jade plant leaves - the top one is a diseased leaf that fell off, the bottom one is a healthy leaf I picked
2) A Christmas cactus branch that fell off showing the discoloration on the base of each segment
3) An old picture of this Christmas cactus in bloom - thats what it looks like healthy\
Thank you for any help!
Oh and I almost forgot - the jade plant did have a problem with mealybugs a few years back which I treated with insecticidal soap and which I am pretty sure was cured. I don't see any actual signs of mealybugs on any of the plants now.
To begin with: I have a jade plant that began to occasionally develop discolored leaves that would drop off. I did not think too much of it. Then one of my two true Christmas cacti (grown from cuttings of plants that have been in the family for generations) began to develop similar symptoms. Some of the smaller branches would develop a pale pink or white color to the base of the segments and then would eventually drop off. This plant is now almost dead as more and more branches have discolored and then dropped off. These sections do not look wilted, moldy, rotten, ect. They simply drop off.
It seems to be spreading which has me very worried. The other Christmas cactus has many discolored branches and a few have dropped off, and some of my other plants have discolored branches but are not losing any branches yet.
I cannot figure out what is going on to make these apparently healthy plants suddenly die back like this. These is no obvious fungus, no stem or root rot, no insects as far as I can tell (I even looked them over with a magnifying glass). The plants are in the same spot and cared for the same as usual, they have been healthy and good bloomers there for a long time.
The pictures are
1) jade plant leaves - the top one is a diseased leaf that fell off, the bottom one is a healthy leaf I picked
2) A Christmas cactus branch that fell off showing the discoloration on the base of each segment
3) An old picture of this Christmas cactus in bloom - thats what it looks like healthy\
Thank you for any help!
Oh and I almost forgot - the jade plant did have a problem with mealybugs a few years back which I treated with insecticidal soap and which I am pretty sure was cured. I don't see any actual signs of mealybugs on any of the plants now.
County Wisconsin
Expert Response
It's hard to tell what might be wrong from an image of a leaf. Problems like this often involve many parts of a plant and its environment. The kind of generalized decline you mention suggests repotting the plant with fresh potting mix might help, or perhaps taking some leaf cuttings and starting them fresh. It could be the soil is depleted or compacted. When the roots become overcrowded or starved of oxygen, the whole plant will decline.
