Cactus help

[Hopeful homesteader]

We moved a while back and uprooted these cacti from the back yard to bring with us. There were a total of 6 but 2 died and then I completely forgot about them last year and just found them yesterday in a patch of foot tall grass while clearing the yard. They were in tiny clay pots with roots out the bottom into the ground and my husband put them in heavy clay soil so I repotted them in a long container and mixed in some garden soil with the clay so it'll drain better. The 2 larger ones look great and the biggest grew a new pup to my surprise but the 2 smaller ones are yellow and dehydrated since I haven't watered them in a year and they've survived on just the rain. Since repotting the smaller ones have plumped up and I put them on my gardening rack to shield them from the sun while they adjust to the new pot but im not sure if the 2 yellow ones will pull through and turn green again. The roots are all healthy looking and no signs of root rot. The cacti are my husband's plants, I've never really known how to properly care for them, of the other cacti I only water 1-2 times a month if no rain comes but idk if these 2 need some extra care to bring them back to health if anyone can help me with what to do now or just leave them be and watch?

 

[Hopeful homesteader]

Picture of this morning, they look a little greener to me.

 

[NatJ]

Since repotting the smaller ones have plumped up and I put them on my gardening rack to shield them from the sun while they adjust to the new pot but im not sure if the 2 yellow ones will pull through and turn green again. The roots are all healthy looking and no signs of root rot. The cacti are my husband's plants, I've never really known how to properly care for them.

Picture of this morning, they look a little greener to me.

I don't know anything cactus-specific, but it sounds like they are not dead yet, so hopefully they will survive and thrive.

Since they are your husband's plants, did you already ask him? He might know the answer.

I would love to see an update when you know for sure (dead or healthy.)

 

[kcan2]

Following! It looks like your cactus are outdoors? I have a semi-sad indoor cactus that I have been trying to keep alive for a year now. I would be interested in cactus tips! Mine confuses me:

 

[birds4c]

My sister keeps a lot of plants so I showed her your post and asked what she thought.
She said it sounds like you’re doing everything right! They were probably overwatered before and the clay they were in wasn’t helping. But with the new soil you mixed up and with the not too frequent waterings they should perk back up soon. If they’re not turning green then you might check and make sure they’re getting enough sunlight too. Sometimes if they’re yellow it’s just that they need more light.
Definitely keep us posted!

 

[Hopeful homesteader]

More green on tye left cactus today, the top of them looks a little sunburned. My prickly pear has gotten sunburned and as it grew the damaged part cracked and fell off showing healthy green underneath but idk if all cati are capable of healing like that. They are native here in AZ, my husband doesn't know any specifics either aside from planting them and they do just fine. He had dug them all up at work originally to lay gas lines and the home owners would say to throw them away so he brought them home and put them in the yard and never had to do any maintenance on them, they thrived all on their own. I also don't think they were over watered, we don't get much rain here and the dirt hard bakes almost like brick so when it does rain the water runs off and the dirt is completely dry again within 3 day's. How anything grows here is a mystery to me.

 

[NatJ]

I've seen some plants get yellow when they needed fertilizer.
But I've also seen plants get yellow and die when they had too much fertilizer (like when a dog "fertilizes" part of the lawn too much.)
Unfortunately, I don't know how to tell the different between the two conditions, especially for a plant I don't know about (cactus.)

If there was any problem with the amount of nutrients in the soil, they may do better now that you moved them, just because it is different.

 

[Hopeful homesteader]

Update for today, I think this is as green as they're gonna get but I'll turn them around with the yellow spots face aren't visible, the back side is completely green. The pink needles on top is new growth already so they weren't as bad off as I originally thought.

 

[Hopeful homesteader]

Following! It looks like your cactus are outdoors? I have a semi-sad indoor cactus that I have been trying to keep alive for a year now. I would be interested in cactus tips! Mine confuses me:

I don't know much but I think you need to move it into a pot that has drain holes in the bottom. Indoors you wont need to water as often, once a month or longer depending on the temperature in your house and generally no watering at all through winter. From what I've read you want the soil to completely dry between watering and check by poking your finger into the soil to see if its dry or damp to get an idea of when to water. In a glass container like you have, it could potentially be sitting in water which could suffocate the roots as they need oxygen for proper growth and also cause root rot. Idk what specific type this one is to search for the care this one needs but that is what I've found as general care for indoor cactus.
Yes my cactus are outdoors, they are native here in AZ and I try to avoid plants that can't handle the weather here cause I have no place indoors for plants and the few houseplants I tried to have my kids plucked every leaf and they died.

 

[kcan2]

Indoors you wont need to water as often, once a month or longer depending on the temperature in your house and generally no watering at all through winter.

Yes, thank you! I actually repotted it on Monday, and put some aquarium gravel in the bottom and some on top, above the soil. I will follow all of your watering instructions and hope it stays happy: