Prickly Pear Cactus

I have mine in a pot too. I used Gary’s Top Pot soil (a local one here) and it’s been good.

the soil is:

1 Like

You need to take iNaturalist targeted hikes like me :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

5 Likes

I got clay pots and some of the fast draining cactus soil from miracle grow yesterday at home depot. Gonna wait till it’s a little warmer to repot them.

Definitely gonna be using some kitchen tongs to pull them out of their tiny pots and throw everything in a paper trash bag. Also gonna do the repotting in the field in front of my house lol. Glochid paranoia now.

3 Likes

I used the same Miracle Grow. I transplanted using Epsoma Cactus soil for this year though, the Miracle Grow would always produce fungus gnats when I used it for inside plants.
Miracle grow would also seem to hold water like normal potting soil after a while.

2 Likes

I know that the prickly pear group have those tiny glochids, that other cactus do not. Is there any variety, or mutant, that has NO glochids? I’m not talking about spineless varieties, but is there a GLOCHIDLESS variety ?

Prickly Pear /Nopale is so good for blood sugar / fighting diabetes type 2, improving insulin function, that they powder them and sell them in pills. I am making a point to try to include them in recipes especially for that reason (paddle leaves bought from store, when they are there). If anyone knows a good edible variety with few spines that will grow in zone 6 let me know. I have some of the eastern opuntia growing but it’s small and super spiny. Thanks

2 Likes

Theyll still have the tiny hair like spines but they burn off very fast. Whenever you harvest just run it under fire with some tongs

Some varieties of O. ficus-indica have few glaucids. I don’t think there are any opuntias guaranteed to not have any though.

is that a flower forming? I swear it wasn’t there yesterday, or is it another pad forming? I was gonna repot them this weekend, should I wait ?

1 Like

When ours started growing I thought they were flowers too. They all have grown as pads.

4 Likes

thats a paddle!

4 Likes

This prickly pear had been covered by brambles until last year, receiving almost no sunlight at all. Still it managed to grow to this size. I love how it is hanging over the wall.


I still haven’t tried eating the pads though, only the fruits. I know what a concoction of San Pedro cactus tastes like all too well, so I am very hesitant to try eating other cacti just as a food source. The thought of it alone makes me shiver. :nauseated_face:

5 Likes

Moist slime texture I’m guessing?


5 Likes

Oh wow. All 1 variety?

@Peyote that is really cool, it looks like cascade bonsai… cascading cacti lol. awesome.

No idea… Bought 15 pads from someone on eBay years ago. I have a few seedlings in there as well.

1 Like

I also have a large potted plant I found in a dumpster (yes I was dumpster diving). It has huge pads, some are like 9 inches long. I’ve seen a plant that grew pads from the fruit. I took some cuttings from that one and was growing them in pots. Then my dad ran them over with a lawnmower last year…

4 Likes

Lots of ramps along that trail too!

1 Like

I think it’s growing another pad on top? It started to do one on the top right of the original cutting, but that seems to have fizzled out.

It’s a Desert Glow from Fruitwood.

5 Likes