Nice find! Yes, they are Opuntia, or Prickly Pear, though I don't know which species. The pads tend to shrivel up somewhat in winter, but come spring they will fill out. They need a well draining mix amended with something like perlite or pumice. They do best in full sun.

Christopher

Yes, it was a nice find. In the past, he's thrown some nice cuttings into the woods. I have 2 types of Wandering Jew all over the place, thanks to him.

I will move the Prickley Pear into a sunny spot. Because a few of them were so big and falling over, I cut some of the pads off and stuck them into the soil. That's why I ended up with 3 pots. One 8" section looked like it had been under ground. I started to toss it but noticed that it had roots. I planted that too.

Anyway, this will be a new challenge for me. I'm looking forward to seeing them bloom.

Thank you, Kaktuskris. I really appreciate your input.

Bon

I am sure they will do well for you. As long as the roots don't stay wet, Opuntias on the whole are not easy to kill.

Christopher

Ahh Opuntia glochids are EVIL. Are you sure you got them all out? When I did the cactus inventory at NYBG a few years ago I was wearing a sweatshirt (because the greenhouses were pretty cold) and the entire sleeve got covered in Opuntia glochids. I had to throw it away.

Clematis...folia, indeed, they are evil! I picked several of those glochids out of my skin days later. Luckily, it was cold and I had on several layers the day I found it. The hoodie that I was wearing may be a goner (I love that hoodie!).

It's my garden gloves that I'm afraid to touch. I'd really hate to trash them. I was so excited when somebody finally designed a garden glove that didn't hinder me while working with my plants. However, the glochids are lodged into the fabric and I don't think the washing machine would get them all out.

That Prickley Pear, Opuntia had better grow like crazy after this. LOL

Bon

I would not start them in pure sand, it doesn't let the air in, doesn't drain fast. Use a different planting medium, and of course more sun grandually. I can't tell you what soil to use, I don't know what you have available. Norma

You're more ambitious than me, getting a whole plant all at once! I've been looking for large opuntia stands on my bicycle rides around town. Then if I spot one and a pad has dropped onto public property, I take the pad home and root it. My only criteria is it has to be a pad of a variety with almost no spines or very friendly spines. I just bury about a third of the pad in a 6 inch plastic pot filled with cactus soil. After several months, you usually get a new segment to form on the top of the pad. This method of collection assures that the variety you get is one that will grow well in this area, although the actual name of the variety remains a mystery. I actually name them by the street they were found on. To loosely quote Shakespeare, "an opuntia by any other name would still be an opuntia".
Congrats on your find. Big old opuntia stands look so cool.

Hi...I have a bunch that I rescued from someone moving and they were thrown on the street with the garbage. A couple notes for great success are:

- a potting mixture of 1/3 perlite, 1/3 potting soil and 1/3 pea gravel (never use sand, over time it compacts and will cause rot)
- full sun
- never touch them even with gloves! I use shovels and tongs to move them around - lol!

Another thing...the ones that look bad, just separate it from the others with a shovel, lay them flat on the ground, and cover them with some dirt. You will have new ones coming up before you know it.

Norma, it was late when I found them so I just mixed some sand in with garden soil for the time being. Now that I've learned more about the Opuntia, I will repot with a better mix. Since they will be outside in pots, I really want to have the correct soil mix.

Sunnydaygirl, thanks for the tongs tip. That's a wonderful idea. I do have a bags of perlite and potting soil. I'll have to get some pea gravel this weekend. Do I mix all of that up together. I noticed that most of the experts around here have pea gravel on the top, around the plant.

Deep_roots, this one didn't have long spines and those little ones looked soft to me, like cotton. Boy, was I wrong about that observation. I cut off a few of the pads that were bending over completely. I now know that I need to bury them a little deeper for them to root. Oh, and what a neat way to name your plants. Too cute!

Thanks for the information, everyone. It's supposed to be warm this weekend and a great time to repot.

Bon