Help! Cactus Turning Brown!!!

[CarelessWhisper]

I have a cactus that has been doing fine until about a week ago. The much of the bottom of the cactus has turned brown. It is not mushy and the roots are intact. What can I do or how can I solve this? Should I stop watering.

[Newt]

Hi Careless Whisper,

You don't say which cactus you have. Some plants change color as they age and even form a bark like covering. You should probably be watering once a week if it's in sun. Don't let the cactus sit in water for more than an hour and water again when the top inch of the soil is dry.

If you know the name of the cactus you can do a search at www.google.com and even click on 'Images' and often get pictures as well.

Newt

[CarelessWhisper]

It is a barrel cactus. I do water about once a week and keep it in sunlight (through a window) for about 4 hours a day. I never let it sit in too much water and the roots are not dead. In fact, I have sprouts growing. (hope that's normal) The rest of the cactus seems fine, but the bottom of the side that faces the window is 50% brown. (about every other bump is brown) Is it dead or dying?

[Newt]

Hi Careless Whisper,
Sounds like it could be some type of sun burn if it's the part facing the sun. I'm not that familiar with those but you might want to do a search using barrel cactus at Garden Web's cactus forum to see if you can find more info. I'd do a search for you but I'm traveling in Peru and just don't have the time right now.

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/cacti/

If you find out that it's something other than sun burn, I'd love to know. Good luck,
Newt