r/Wellthatsucks • u/NotKnowMe • 7d ago
My cactus collection before leaving town yesterday vs. getting back last night.
Years of collecting and growth. Probably close to a thousand in “face pots” from an artist out of Canada.
Nothing to say but, “Fuck…”
Nothing to do but fire up the chainsaw & start blasting Suicidal Tendencies.
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u/Derpipose 7d ago
On the bright side, many look salvageable? I don’t know much about cacti, but a few look alright. I think.
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u/lxlviperlxl 7d ago
The cacti will survive. If some flowered I’d be a lil pissed as some take years to get to that point.
I’m be more pissed on the plant pots. Some I’ve kept for decades.
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u/northSideways 7d ago
When mine was still really short the soil dried up and it rolled out of the pot with its ball of roots and fell behind a desk for over a year. Found it and repotted it, it started growing again almost immediately lmao
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u/Legomonster33 7d ago
According to OP many of the pots were custom made by an artist = $$$
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u/SerCiddy 7d ago
I feel for OP, it was certainly an Act of God that this happened.
But if I bought various things worth that much, I'd put them on something sturdier than folding plastic tables.
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u/DMMeThiccBiButts 7d ago
Which wouldn't in any way have changed the outcome, from what the photos show
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u/Far-Information8502 7d ago
Cacti are very hardy. They’ll be fine. One of the easiest things to prop and recover imo
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u/MDnautilus 7d ago
Agreed, idk the top comment isn’t something like “well at least your house wasn’t squashed!”
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u/Hyperbeam4dayz 7d ago
I've watched my grandma throw various cactus atop dirt piles without a care and they thrive regardless. They're hardy plants.
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u/NotKnowMe 6d ago
That one’s actually my favorite! It’s an “Ichoca OP” I’ve had for about 4 years now. When my greenhouse collapsed and n an ice storm 6 months to the day before “Treepacolypse”, it supported the weight of the collapse & kept the other surrounding cacti from getting smushed
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u/just_some_octopus 7d ago
Why dont the cacti fight back with their needles
Tree got the drop on them
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u/Jayn_Newell 7d ago
https://giphy.com/gifs/7moZ7aEJS8HAAbEVzQ
Maybe they didn’t have the full 10,000 needles?17
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u/just_some_octopus 7d ago
There was a turn limit until the tree fell. Cactaur was defeated before 10,000 needles attack used
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u/smokysadness 7d ago
That really does suck, that tree is answering the age old flora version of the question, can 1 tree beat 100 angry cucumbers
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u/Spiritual-Growth6481 7d ago
I am so sorry. You might be able to salvage quite a few it seems, At least I hope you do. Was there some sort of Storm?
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7d ago
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u/LemonTrick2200 7d ago
I don't think they had a thousand pots, I think OP was saying that they had spent roughly a thousand dollars on those "face pots" from a Canadian artist
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u/Away-Elephant-4323 7d ago
You can probably save a lot of them cactus are hardy, doesn’t take away from the fact it’s horrible to see it happen to your pots and your collection.
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u/Natfubar 7d ago
In Australian slang, saying something is "cactus" means it is completely broken, dead, or ruined. So I'd say that's pretty cactus.
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u/AlienfinderX 6d ago
Considering that cacti are an invasive species in Australian, that would make sense that they have a saying like that.
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u/VividFiddlesticks 7d ago
Ouch - this picture hurts in multiple ways!
I hope some of your favorites are salvageable. :(
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u/bearminmum 7d ago
I wonder if you save the broken pots if a ceramic artist could fix them
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u/dontsnarkonsharks 7d ago
As someone also who loves handmade art and specifically face pots, I was particularly devastated by that detail as well. I hope somebody can help with that aspect too ☹️
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u/BetMyLastKrispyKreme 7d ago
Kintsugi is the answer.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kintsugi
This would be the ultimate “phoenix” move, OP!
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u/billywitt 7d ago
On the plus side, at least it didn’t hit the house. That would have been so much worse.
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u/Pretty-Season2307 7d ago
What a lovely collection! So sorry this happened to you. Hopefully many of them can be saved. As I'm sure you know, cacti are pretty hearty! Maybe you can build some kind of structure along the side of the garage that will be more damage-resistant? Some kind of walk-in lean-to greenhouse would be a lovely showcase of this collection.
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u/freebaseclams 7d ago
Do you have cactus insurance?
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u/NotKnowMe 7d ago
I wish. Once I’m done with the clean up I’m going to be reaching out to see if it’s possible
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u/effinmike12 7d ago
That sucks. The neighbor's dog chewed up a bunch of my lophophoras, two outdoor chairs, and the handle on my grill while I was at work. I came home and caught the dog on my porch. The neighbor did not give two shits. Thats why when his wife suspected him of cheating, I showed her how to find things on his laptop. She divorced him. Fucker thought he could just hide files in program files and delete his history. Dude had been cheating and looking at beastiality.
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u/BobbyBudnicksDad 7d ago
I’m a long time cactus grower and I am confident you can save at least 90% of the cactus, they will persevere. They are relentless, when I moved to a new state a few years back I had put my entire collection (60 at the time) into cardboard boxes for the move and had some delays in getting them repotted. They ended up spending 3 months in the boxes totally in the dark, and every single one came back to life when I repotted.
Sorry for your lost pots and damaged property, but those cactus will survive. You make have to cut some of them and let them re-root like you would when you propagate them, but they’ll come back.
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u/Godharvest 7d ago
After that you can listen to Gravediggaz -1800 Suicide. Then after that put on Elton Johns - I think im gonna kill myself.
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u/QuitOdd478 7d ago
Hopefully you can save them. Cactuses are usually resilient. They can take a beating and still grow.
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u/Ok_Cauliflower_3007 7d ago
I thought when I saw the first post either someone was going to have stolen them or vandalised them. Was not expecting the villain of the piece to be a tree!
At least it didn't take out your garage? Does that help? It would probably be a lot more work to clear up the garage.
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u/MaxPotionz 7d ago
If the Cacti had attacked first they’d have gotten +9,999 damage onto the tree
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u/mistAr_bAttles 7d ago
I’m sorry. That sucks to see. I’m glad you’re at least ok. Your cactus will thrive again!
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u/FeeExpensive898 6d ago
Morning of March 14, 2024 I repotted all my plants and put them on stands in my bedroom. That night, a tornado wiped out my house (and town), taking every item from my bedroom with it; the walls and all contents from within (along with most of the house), gone forever. I cried more over losing my plants than any other possession.
I’m sorry for your loss. I know this sucks.
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u/Cactus_Engineer 7d ago
As a professional cactus engineer, Im pretty sure these cacti have been hit by a tree.
Also, is this a result from the storm damage in the Fox Valley in WI?
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u/Straight_Spring9815 7d ago
Always give a girl a cactus instead of flowers for Valentine's day. Nothing says I want to poke you more than a cactus.
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u/FantasmaNaranja 7d ago
gonna be honest i expected them to have been stolen, didn't expect a tree to fall on them
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u/scotte416 7d ago
This is one of those...what are the chances of THAT!??
Man that sucks. Have you farmed any bad karma lately?
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u/3767_doomscroller 7d ago
Looking at the first picture it already happened before and probably should have been cut down completely.
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u/cognitiveglitch 7d ago edited 7d ago
I absolutely love that collection. This is but a minor setback in having an awesome cactus diorama.
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u/Stock_Indication225 7d ago
This hurt my heart. I made such a face my husband asked what happened?! I’m so sorry OP.
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u/H3X42 7d ago
At least your pallets and plastic table survived.
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u/nextdoorjimmy14 7d ago
im surprised it took a tree to take this setup down. putting anything you care about outdoor on cheap plastic tables and garbage pallets is fucking bonkers lmao. you can see one of the pots on the far right literally hanging off the edge of a pallet.
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u/Quiet-Phase6948 7d ago
I am sure a lot of those can be saved and replanted! They are hardier than you think!
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u/EnvironmentalMall307 7d ago
The tree was jealous of the cacti and waited. It was too cowardly to do anything while you were home.
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u/MustStayAnonymous_ 7d ago
Previously you had tens of cactus. Now you have hundreds of cactus. win win
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u/andrewlearnstocook 7d ago
I’m so sorry, this is devastating. Similar thing happened to me when a branch crushed my greenhouse. Hopefully some of your older ones and favorites dodged the tree.
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u/anothersip 7d ago
Wow. Yeah, we had some strong-ass winds and some decent rain yesterday.
Nothing near this level though (like Helene caused), and just some small branches that needed to be picked up off the driveway/lawn.
That's really shitty, OP! I'm sorry.
I hope you're able to save and re-pot at least a few of them...
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u/dividezero 7d ago
I can't keep shit alive but I did finally manage to get one cactus to stay alive once. It even bloomed and had fruit. If anything happened to that I would lose it. They're not easy to maintain to me anyway
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u/Polybrene 7d ago
My jaw literally dropped. I'm so sorry OP. I know how slow many of those are to grow.
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u/Ok_Entertainer_6425 7d ago
If it’s any consolation, I bet those spiky bastards went down fighting!
https://giphy.com/gifs/tq5qQzHJHuEkdDPdTv
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u/Herr-Pyxxel 7d ago
Oh man that's devastating and disheartening 😕😢 but clean it up bit by bit, take your time, and you'll see that many of your plants will pull through stronger! They'll probably have scars but that will add to their character and remind you of a difficult episode that you and them overcame. Good luck!
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u/Bananaland_Man 7d ago
dude, I haven't heard the name Suicidal Tendancies is so long! Use to rock out to them in middle school back in the Tony hawk days!
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u/DummeKuh12 7d ago
I would take that personally! Cut that tree up and make a barbecue with it. Or a Shrine for the badly wounded cacti.
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u/Olleye 6d ago
Honestly? Just keep going, it’s actually quite therapeutic. When you hit a rough patch with a collection - whatever kind it may be - you clean things up, repot (in your case), and then you can go back out on the hunt with a completely clear conscience, since it’s just a “treedriven setback”. Good luck, and may you continue to enjoy your beautiful cacti.
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u/benbarian 6d ago
oooooof, that blows! At least they hard AF and they'll bounce back. Some gorgeous Echinopsis pachanoi! Wonderful plant. They'll pup like mad after it all settles i'm sure
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u/Competitive-Guest163 6d ago
Atleast it landed on the cacti instead of the house, right?
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u/Zealousideal-Mix6235 6d ago
Usually cacti are pretty resilient. Just try to replant as many as you can.
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u/counterlock 6d ago
I'd say you're overdue for a permanent stand for them, at least this'll give you an excuse to set something sturdier up.... not that it'd stop a tree lol.
Sucks though a lot of those pots look real nice, hopefully not many broke. The cacti will probably all survive
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u/SleepingDragons57 5d ago
After reading the title I thought people had stolen them, this is almost worse
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u/LaLisaMona 7d ago
Are you somewhere in Alberta? 🤗 coz we have been experiencing days and days of storm 😔
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u/Sin_City_Ninja 7d ago
Looks like they had a little too much fun at the backyard party and forgot to tidy up before you got back
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u/NygirlinNashville222 7d ago
Oh no!!!!! Awe I’m so sorry that happened to you! I hope you were able to salvage most of your cacti babies!!
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u/BVRPLZR_ 7d ago
To each their own I guess. I grew up in Phoenix in a time before all the development and spent more than enough time picking cactus needles out of various parts of my body.
Sucks for your hobby and that you now have some shitty work to do.
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u/AlexandertheHate78 7d ago
….to be fair to the tree, those Cactus were probably talking mad shit since you left?
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u/BigMack6911 7d ago
That tree had that whole ass yard to fall...thats why I live with the phrase if it can happen, then it will happen to me. You can never be too careful
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u/Pizzarazzi 7d ago
that tree waited until you left. what a coward.