There are several reasons why a cactus can take on a curious shape, but the most common is poor lighting. This is a plant that needs a lot of light to grow; Not surprisingly, it tends to germinate and develop in sunny areas. For this reason, it is not always a good idea to grow it indoors for example, since in these conditions its stems will seek a more powerful source of light than the one it normally receives, and consequently it will bend.
At first you can see that its growth is accelerating, but it is normal: it may be very much in need of light, so it will spend a lot of energy making its stems get it. The problem is that this will cause you to lose strength and weaken. So that, let's see how to straighten a cactus so that it is healthy again.
Why does a cactus bend?
Lack of light
We have talked about the lack of light as it is the most common cause. Having these plants in the shade or indoors with little light usually ends up the same, with the cactus bent, or at least developing in a way that is not normal for him. That is, we can have a round cactusAs an Echinocactus grusonii, adopting a columnar bearing ahead of time; or even a columnar cactus like a Lanata wife with increasingly thin stems.
Esto happens when there is a more intense light source in the area (like the one that can enter through the window, for example), or when they are in shady conditions and desperately looking for a little light. But, as we said, it is not the only reason.
Is running out of space
When we have a cactus in the same pot for years and years, the soil will be depleted and the space available to grow as well. When this happens, will start to grow vertically, reaching a time when it can bend. This is an extreme case, but it can happen.
Or also that it be planted in a garden, for example in a rockery, with many other plants so close to it that they do not let it grow, or that they give it shade. Then he by pure survival instinct will try to make his way to have light.
Excess of water
If a cactus is watered excessively, it can bend, especially if it is columnar. This It is because inside it accumulates so much water that it falls under its own weight, at the same time that it becomes softer. Therefore, some of the things to avoid when growing a plant of this type are pots without holes and soils that do not drain water quickly.
And of course also it is necessary to water it when strictly necessary; that is, when the land is dry. If it is not done, fungal diseases will appear, sooner or later.
How to straighten the cactus?
If it is in a pot ...
Once we have identified the problem, we can move on to trying to restore the cactus to its natural shape. So that, The first thing we will do is take it to an area where it gives more light. The ideal would be to get him used to the direct sun little by little, but before that what we want is for him to recover from what has happened; so for now we will only take it to a bright area, where it looks good during the day without the need to turn on any lamps. It is important that there is no strong light source in that place, but that the light it receives is already abundant on its own.
Then, what will be done will be to put tutors or rods (on sale here), and secure it with cable ties or ropes. So you can start growing the right way. Now, If the cactus is soft, what we will do is cut to the chase (that is, remove the part that is rotten), and proceed to plant it in a pot with new holes with new soil.
To do this, we will remove it and, if we can, we will remove the loose substrate. Then, we wash the roots with water to which we will have added a few drops of fungicide (or a little copper powder), and then we plant it in the new pot with a mixture of substrates, this one: 50% universal substrate (on sale here) + 50% perlite (for sale here).
The next and last step is ... wait. As the weeks go by, we may see that an outbreak is growing at one of its ends, something that is very good because it means that it has recovered. Meanwhile, what we must do is water it only when the soil is completely dry.
If it is in the garden ...
Image - Wikimedia / Nabin K. Sapkota
In the event that it is in the garden, too make sure you get the light you need. If this were not the case, it would have to be moved and transplanted to a sunnier place, taking care not to break its roots too much. But if what happens to you is that you have many plants nearby, surely it will be good for you not to have so many, not only because of the lack of light, but also because of the lack of space.
The roots of cacti are, for the most part, superficial, so that if we plant other plants with roots of this type very close to them (such as grasses or palm trees), our favorite plants could have problems, since they would be forced to fight for nutrients and water. So, to avoid this, it is advisable to maintain a certain distance between a cactus and another plant, leaving a minimum separation between them of about twenty centimeters (or more, if it is a palm tree or another type of tall plant).
With regard to irrigation, if the land becomes flooded easily we must remove the cactus from there since we could lose it. We can re-plant it in the ground, but only if before we make a hole of at least 50 x 50cm and fill it with pumice or similar. It also won't hurt to perform some anti-fungal treatment, just in case. In this way, any spores that may be present will be eliminated and the plant will be protected.
I hope these tips are useful so that you can recover your cactus.