Diego

Cause of death: desiccation from no watering + week-long vacation, followed by complete internal corking.

Acquired July 15 looking cute, green, and genuinely happy. Followed online advice to not water and let the plant settle in its new environment. Left for vacation shortly after (~1 week away). Came back to find Diego small and shrivelled. Attempted to repot into a better mix – the peat had dried into a brick and was very difficult to remove from the roots, causing the main root to snap. Diego had few roots to begin with.

Initially planned to try rooting the head, but the broken end looked suspiciously corky – cutting into the stem found it corky all the way through, no live tissue anywhere. Rerooting was not possible. Diego had already died internally. RIP.

What went wrong: at 3.5cm, a small cactus body holds very little water – the "don’t water, let it settle" advice applies to larger plants with more reserves, not this small. ~100% peat dries into a hydrophobic brick when fully desiccated, nearly impossible to rehydrate or remove from roots cleanly. A week of vacation with zero watering on already-dry peat in a tiny pot was fatal.

Key learning: at this size, water more frequently – the body can't buffer long dry periods. Peat-heavy mixes are high risk for small cacti. Repot into a gritty mix on arrival and water to help establish.

Came back after ~1 week to find Diego shrivelled and small. Attempted repot into gritty mix. Peat had dried into a solid brick – very hard to remove from roots. Main root snapped in the process. Few roots present overall.

Arrived cute, green, and healthy-looking. In ~100% peat, 3.5cm pot. Followed advice to not water and let settle. Went on vacation shortly after.