Florida Prickly Pear Sprouts!

MichaelL

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983
Location (City and/or State)
Ocala, Fl
I grow the wild prickly pear cactus that's native to Florida. I collect pads wherever I find them in the wild (from areas where I am permitted to) and grow them in pots. The tortoises love the pads and flowers (glochids burned off). I also had planted some in the ground in the front of the yard next to the house. I uprooted them after a short time and put them back into pots due to the glochids getting everywhere if you walked by barefoot.

Now, a year or two later, I go by and see these funky looking sprouts next to a little cactus that looks like it was struggling for light. I thought they were different plants at first (cactus, and weed) but upon closer observation I realized they are all prickly pear sprouts, which grew from seed!

I've never seen cactus sprouts before, and have only grown from the pad. So it was super cool to see what they look like after sprouting from the seed! They really look like a non cactus plant, with actual leaves! I moved them into the pots of older cactus, idk if they'll make it but it was cool to see. Also, there's a pic of the cacti I have from last year. They are much bigger now. And pictures of my baby chowing down on the part of the cactus pad with no glochids. She already shows a tiny bit of smooth growth at around two weeks of age!

Another pic I wanted to show was of my pothos plants I recently transplanted from the back of my woods. They are sooo easy to transplant/ plant cuttings as long as you leave at least a leaf/ leaf node and some roots or root nodes (in my experience, idk on the specifics but this works for me) They're growing fast!
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ZEROPILOT

REDFOOT WRANGLER
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It reminds me of an old cactus story that I shared a few years ago:
I had some cactus in my yard that had become ungainly looking. So I hacked it up with a machete and then ground it all into a pulp with an industrial lawn mower.
Done.
However, a few months later, the ENTIRE yard was nothing but cactus. It seemed as though every tiny speck had become a new plant.
It's so much easier to grow than kill!
 

MichaelL

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Nov 18, 2018
Messages
983
Location (City and/or State)
Ocala, Fl
It reminds me of an old cactus story that I shared a few years ago:
I had some cactus in my yard that had become ungainly looking. So I hacked it up with a machete and then ground it all into a pulp with an industrial lawn mower.
Done.
However, a few months later, the ENTIRE yard was nothing but cactus. It seemed as though every tiny speck had become a new plant.
It's so much easier to grow than kill!
Whoah haha that's crazy. Cactus is so resilient!
 

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