I am very upset now! One of my Euphorbia obesa plants died. It was getting very soft and eventually it collapsed.
I bought two Euphorbia obesa cactus more than ten years ago. One day we went for a drive to the Mornington Peninsula and there was a Sunday market in Hastings. In this country market I bought a pair of Euphorbia obesa which is also known as Baseball plant. It was supposed to be a male and a female pair. The seller told me that I should buy a pair to produce seeds.
To cut the story short, one of these rare South African cactus plants, I think the female one, was never grown as good as the other one (male). It was always stunted and kind of yellow. Both had flowers but they never produced seeds. After more than ten years sulking and miserable, lately I started to notice that it was very soft and more yellow. I was already very careful during this winter to keep it dry and warm. But it did not help at all. Yesterday it completely collapsed. I took both plants out of the pot and replanted the healthy one into a different pot and I cut the dead one into 2 sections to see what was happening inside the poor plant. The inside was mushy and it had holes (similar to lotus root).
For a long time I had tried to buy more Euphorbia obesa in the shop but it was not available. I can buy different species of Euphorbia, but not the obesa. I have two other euphorbias – E. anoplia and E. melbraformis.
Well, I have to be careful with my cactus plants now. No more over watering. I am really sad to think that one of those Baseball plants was slowly and silently rotting away…. or should I say that it was rotten in peace???
To view my previous post about Euphorbia obesa:
https://kiyanti2008.wordpress.com/2009/01/05/my-baseball-plants/
Euphorbia melbraformis:
Euphorbia obesa – Our New Babies « Kiyanti2008′s Weblog
Jun 02, 2011 @ 10:58:00
Chris F
Nov 18, 2013 @ 02:44:13
Hi … I just lost my Euphobia obesa yesterday… well, it must have been happening for awhile, but suddenly I noticed it was tipping toward one side, so I went to straighten it and was shocked to find it soft and with ugly yellow guts coming out from the root area… Oh dear, that plant must have been with me for 20 years! It was still only 8 inches tall, but how I loved it! I think I repotted it into a ceramic pot about 6 months ago and I bet that is when the trouble started… It had always benefitted from my benign neglect until then. I was online looking for a place to buy another one when I found your blog… so… thanks for giving me a place to put my memoriam for an old “friend”!
Lois
Nov 18, 2013 @ 09:57:43
Rest in Peace…..