Hello fellow flesh bodies,

I have two healthy pachanois that were recently put into winter dormancy. They both began producing pups this summer that grew for about 2 months before I put them in the garage once frost hit. They've been fine up until a few days ago, when I noticed that both of them have become severely deflated around the top 6 inches seemingly overnight. We've had some cold temps this past week, especially at night, sometimes reaching down to 8 degrees F. They have not become discolored, just shriveled. The pups though, look like they were beginning to take some frost damage, and my thinking is that the cactus was using energy to preserve the pups thus drinking all the water from the top. I have since brought them inside, to the dark basement, and given them a tiny bit of water after they warmed up.

Will they re-hydrate themselves and return to their robust beauty while in dormancy or will this happen once things warm up and they get full sunlight again? If they end up not inflating I'm taking this as a sign I am to consume them so I'm not too worried, but I would like to know if anyone else has experienced this rapid deflation?

Thank you for any and all input or advice!
-monkey

8 °F is rather too cold for a Trichocereus. If you have room for them on a windowsill somewhere, they'll appreciate that more than a dark basement. If they're kept close to 15 °C they'll keep growing through the winter with reduced watering to keep the compost from completely drying out. That said, it sounds as if your locality gets consistently colder than mine so only use this approach if you can be sure of avoiding freezing their roots.

See also here.

Yes, it would appear I have made a fatal mistake in keeping them in the cold garage... They both are sadly rotting to the point I am not sure they are savable

Soft, mushy, and discolored.. I guess it's time to extract.

Extractions from mushy/rotten specimens are often highly productive - the cells have already released their contents during the process of decomposition. This also saves on boiling time. Turn your 'misfortune' around

I definitely will be!

And it gives me an opportunity to invite more cacti into my home. I ended up cutting the top 14inches or so from both and stuck them in the freezer until I have a few days off to perform an extraction. The stumps may survive and they may not, they're mostly pretty soft. Either way, the bittersweet transition is proving to be more exciting than morose.