If you put any of the opuntias outside in the ground make sure they are in a raised bed that drains well. Most of the prickly pears sold in these packs are somewhat cold hardy but like only the dry conditions of the west. Being in the southeast you'll get alot more rain in the winter than most of these plants care for. I have some successes with these and alot that will not tolerate the wet winters here in NC. Just be prepared for some casualties. Experiment and have fun trying to see what will work and what won't.

Robin It's irritating to us, but ppl are buying them...just like paint-sprayed plants (even worse to me). I copied parts of the post by Justin from Costa farms - he reacted to some of us ranting about these (crazy) marketing methods: ..."We do glue flowers on to cacti when it's requested by a retail customer. It's not something we do on our own"... ..."However, the indoor plant market is not growing. Fewer and fewer people are buying indoor plants. We are producing Desert Gems to try and catch the attention of new folks --- the ones who are "plant blind" and don't even notice indoor plants when they walk by them. It's our hope that we can attract their attention, get them to try a plant, and then be more open to growing traditional Houseplants in the future to grow the industry. Will it work? Who knows, but it's something we're trying. I know Desert Gems don't appeal to real plant lovers like me and yourself, but if there were more of us out there, we wouldn't need to try marketing gimmicks with plants in the first place"... -Just one of the threads on the subject-

Krista - I've added some of my thoughts below. It's kind of long and repeats much of what is said above, but hopefully it helps you at least a little. Even indoors, the concept of seasonality still applies. We typically change our thermostats to the seasons and there are daily fluctuations that correspond to the weather outside. Here are my average indoor growing temperatures from last July to this February: Right now I am purposely keeping my home cooler in order to get better growth from my plants. The graph above is compressed so unfortunately you don't see the day/night temperature differential (17C night, 20-30C day under lights currently). Throughout the seasons, I try to keep similar photoperiod as the actual seasons here but keep a minimum of about 10 hours. That's because I want to give my succulents as much light/energy for growing as possible. Probably could spend all night long posting different graphs of my growing data, haha. I do not find a need to restrict or provide water to my plants to regulate their dormancy/activity. They take care of this themselves and all I do is respond to their needs. If they are growing then I just keep watering. Of course I am mindful of my Lithops/Gibbaeum/Lapidaria to ensure they don't grow too many pairs of leaves. If they are going dormant/semi-dormant then I water minimally to sustain them. In my conditions, if I stop watering completely most will die or suffer so much they will be damaged/setting back many months worth of growth. Most people would disagree with this, but if I miss the 'right' day to water by just two days then I can see the difference. It's like losing a week or two of progress. If neglected, my plants will surely survive but losing just a couple leaves on valuable plants can be very disappointing. Somewhere along the way I decided that 'growing something hard' is not necessarily meaning you barely water it because that's only one part of the equation. The rest is light/temperature/soil mix which can be similarly applied 'harshly'. Every fall, nearly all of my Mesembs flower indoors: Aloinopsis, Faucaria, Fenestraria, Gibbaeum, Lapidaria, Lithops, Neohenricia, Pleiospilos, Stomatium, Titanopsis. There are some stragglers, which are budding and I hope will flower late winter: Rabiea, Ihlenfeldtia, maybe Cheiridopsis. Also flowering in the fall/winter are many other succulent genus that I grow: Haworthia, Crassula, Gasteria, Aloe, Schlumbergera, Echeveria, Euphorbia, Dorstenia, Adromischus, Anacampseros. The only main difference in watering for me is the frequency. When it's cooler or shorter days, then the plants use less water and don't dry out as quickly. You could say in summer I water every 4 days and in the winter I water every 6 or 7 days. Absolutely everything is fertilized the same throughout the year. Contrary to popular advice, my succulents and Mesembs in particular are not gangly, unhealthy, or have hordes of extra leaves. What I found is the vast majority of succulent genus and species are opportunistic growers. For many, summer is a bad time for growing and not much happens. Fall and spring are the best season where virtually everything is growing. A great deal of my collection are traditionally classified as 'winter growers' and I enjoy that they are because it's fun growing indoors. Of course my 'summer growers' are growing too, but just not as fast as they were in the shoulder seasons around summer. As mentioned above, summer isn't the best time for growing under my conditions. It's very hot and stressful on my rooftop, even in zone 6a. Things get very colourful, but also slow down greatly. In the loft it gets hot too, but not as bad as outside. Indoor growing does have the benefit of being a little less extreme than outside and I can better control the conditions, leading to better growth. For sure I would have better results growing everything indoors year long but my 6xT5HO bank of lights are expensive to run and generate a LOT of unwanted heat in the summer. Plus it's just so comfortable for me to relax on the roof with my plants and enjoy the outdoors. Watering is a breeze and it's fun out there. However, the vast majority of my expensive Haworthia do stay indoors for the summer so they grow better and there is no chance of damage from squirrels, storms, scorch, or whatever nature throws at me. It's less stressful and more productive. The 4xT5HO are spread out much more so the heat isn't as bad and electricity cost is a little less. As for pests, I think indoors the conditions are just better/worse for different types from outside. We don't get aphids and ants inside, but you can still get mealies. Hot dry conditions are perfect things like mites and thrips. Or if more humid you may get fungus gnats, springtails, or molds. Outside pests are spread by wind, rain, and even other pests. Inside pests are spread similarly by air fans, watering splashing, and direct contact due to close proximity. If you have a very 'closed' system then you can stay pest free if you are clean and attentive. But if you buy new plants from anywhere then there is a risk you will bring something in. The important part is knowing how to identify them quickly, accurately, and know which action to take. Some pests are harder than others and I am relieved to say I have figured out how to eradicate them all (so far). After all the long-winded text above, I suppose my approach is trying to grow the way I know works best. There are so many resources online, but I have a great deal of skepticism on the advice given. Maybe I'm picky or stubborn or maybe I'm just trying to do better? Still, there are many expert growers and I'm picking up little tips here and there from them that are so incredibly helpful. At the least I try and adapt those parts into my own growing method. My goal is to get every species I grow to flower as well as have them grow as compact and colourful as possible. So far it's working fairly well - we'll see how this year fares for me. =)

JMO, but it looks over potted to me. It may not be a problem if your mix is really well draining, more of aesthetics - plant is sort of lost in big pot. But that is just my preference, and if you like it (and it drains well), it's OK...