Question
Hi, Greg. today this afternoon, I noticed that one of the saguaro's we have in our back yard had fallen. It is now being held by the branches of a mesquite tree we have next to it. Upon further investigation of this saguaro we noticed that in the place where it fell and cracked it is black on the inside,also it has a grayish color on the stem from the ground up, for about a foot. We really love our saguaros' and are sadden by this. SOS what do we do???  

Answer
Reyna,

Unfortunately, your saguaro has rotted. A couple of things may be to blame. If you are in the Phoenix area, you know we had a very cold snap a month or so ago. Saguaro's can take a fair amount of cold, but if it got much below 20 degrees, it may have froze. It takes a while for that kind of damage to show itself. Also, it may be because of too much water. Is it near a drip system, a grassy area, or in an area where water collects after a rain?

Saguaro's that have been replanted (not naturally growing) in an area are planted deeper in the ground to keep them from falling over. However, this practice keeps their roots in a moist zone all of the time(saguaro's in the desert have root that travel only inches under the soil surface).

If you other saguaro's are planted in the same manner, just make sure they are not getting any water other than rainfall. Hope this helps.

Sincerely,

Greg