rearlpettway
Active Member
- Joined
- Feb 14, 2014
- Messages
- 254
Prickly Pear Cactus Propagation
From a very old cactus, cut a pad that is at least six months old, the older the pad the faster you will get new pads, flowers and fruit. Allow the cut part of the the pad to form a callous. This will take a week or two in warm weather but longer when the air is moist. Be sure to allow more time rather than less, to avoid rot. Sit the pad upright while it forms callous so that it will not curl.
When planting the pad, settle it upright only about an inch deep in a mixture of equal parts of soil and sand. We have found that any soil that drains well works fine. Planting the pad too deeply will encourage rot. Water the pad. Let the soil dry between future waterings. Wait several months before beginning to harvest either pads or fruit, or future harvests will lessened. Generally, the second or third pad to form will bear flowers and fruit, but a pad from an older plant may flower and set fruit sooner than a section from a younger, immature pad.
Remember to plant the oldest pad that you can find. The pads from the grocery store are harvested for human consumption and are young and tender and aren't old enough.
If you prefer more flowers and fruits, give the plants a no-nitrogen fertilizer once a month, even through the winter. During this dormant period, the plants require a bright situation and enough water only to keep the pads from shriveling. The cactus will bloom and set fruit from early spring through the summer, depending on the variety. Each pad can support numerous flowers, each yielding one fruit. Up to 30 blooms have been counted on mature pads, but 8 to 16 is a good number to allow for development of good-sized fruits. The fruits are ripe enough to harvest when the glochids fall off. Twist, rather than pull, the fruit from the pad to avoid tearing it.
These pads were harvested from a plant that is over 30 years old.
These were planted in May 2014.
Sent from Rodney Earl Pettway's iPad using TortForum
From a very old cactus, cut a pad that is at least six months old, the older the pad the faster you will get new pads, flowers and fruit. Allow the cut part of the the pad to form a callous. This will take a week or two in warm weather but longer when the air is moist. Be sure to allow more time rather than less, to avoid rot. Sit the pad upright while it forms callous so that it will not curl.
When planting the pad, settle it upright only about an inch deep in a mixture of equal parts of soil and sand. We have found that any soil that drains well works fine. Planting the pad too deeply will encourage rot. Water the pad. Let the soil dry between future waterings. Wait several months before beginning to harvest either pads or fruit, or future harvests will lessened. Generally, the second or third pad to form will bear flowers and fruit, but a pad from an older plant may flower and set fruit sooner than a section from a younger, immature pad.
Remember to plant the oldest pad that you can find. The pads from the grocery store are harvested for human consumption and are young and tender and aren't old enough.
If you prefer more flowers and fruits, give the plants a no-nitrogen fertilizer once a month, even through the winter. During this dormant period, the plants require a bright situation and enough water only to keep the pads from shriveling. The cactus will bloom and set fruit from early spring through the summer, depending on the variety. Each pad can support numerous flowers, each yielding one fruit. Up to 30 blooms have been counted on mature pads, but 8 to 16 is a good number to allow for development of good-sized fruits. The fruits are ripe enough to harvest when the glochids fall off. Twist, rather than pull, the fruit from the pad to avoid tearing it.
These pads were harvested from a plant that is over 30 years old.
These were planted in May 2014.
Sent from Rodney Earl Pettway's iPad using TortForum