Prickly pear storage

Joma

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Harvested my first wild cactus - Prickly Pear. I will dethorn it but it’s rather large and will take a while to eat. How do others store them? Can they be cubed and frozen? Thanks
 

Grandpa Turtle 144

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Nope ! They get soggy when you warm them !but I would layer them in a bucket with dry sand between the pads and put them in a dry shed .
 

Tom

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Best way to store them is to set them some where with good ventilation and leave them alone. Even outdoors in summer with 100 degree temps they last for months. If you put them in a fridge, bag, or box, or anything that closes off the air flow, they will only last a few days before beginning to rot.
 

ZEROPILOT

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Best way to store them is to set them some where with good ventilation and leave them alone. Even outdoors in summer with 100 degree temps they last for months. If you put them in a fridge, bag, or box, or anything that closes off the air flow, they will only last a few days before beginning to rot.
Sometimes if you leave them outside for a few months, you'll get a whole new cactus plant.
 

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Len B

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I don't know how many pads you harvested but If you don't have room to lay them out side by side and need to stack them for storage you can layer newspaper between the pads. Also for a longer shelf life only cut off and de-spine what you need for each feeding.
 

Joma

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Sometimes if you leave them outside for a few months, you'll get a whole new cactus plant.
Yes. My husband said I should cut one of the spine clusters off and plant it - it will grow, as they re-root. I don’t really need to as their are so many wild ones.
 

Joma

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Thank you. I will just let it sit around in a dry spot then. What I will say is that the dethorning process is NOT pleasant. The big thorns are a breeze, but the tiny ones are lethal! End cutters seemed to work well for the job. Better ideas?
 

Len B

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For smaller tortoises I cut between the spines and throw the spines away,or you can scrape them off using a knife, If you scrape them off under running water the little spines don't flutter around they go down the drain. Some people burn them off. For larger tortoises I leave the small spine on the pad, they don't bother them.
 

Joma

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For smaller tortoises I cut between the spines and throw the spines away,or you can scrape them off using a knife, If you scrape them off under running water the little spines don't flutter around they go down the drain. Some people burn them off. For larger tortoises I leave the small spine on the pad, they don't bother them.

Thank you. Mine is small but not that young. He is a golden Greek (Forgive me, not the Latin name but easier to spell and remember). He is about 4. So I guess I will take most of the spines off but not worry if I don’t get all the very fine ones?
 

RosemaryDW

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Some people scrub them off but I don’t. Your tortoise will not have problems with the little prickly ones.
 
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