Propagating Opuntia ficus indica
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5 years ago
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Polypompholyx
5 years agoRelated Discussions
Source for Ountia ficus-indica cultivars?
Comments (12)I will be interested to know what they suggest for the tastiest in your zone. I've found several of the hedgehog cacti (Echinocereus) to have exquisite fruit when ripe, which are spineless and have small edible poppy-like seeds, but they set very few fruits and these are quickly eaten by every sort of creature. The flowers of this genus are also incredibly beautiful. Thus I've focused more on finding really good Opuntia. The plants are much more vigorous, easy to propagate (just rip off a pad from a plant you want and stick it in the ground), and way more prolific than the above, but the fruits have spines and/or glochids, and can range from sweet watermelon-like in flavor to sour, gooey, and even 'gamey'. Best I've found are O. engelmannii and O. macrocentra, both should be hardy in your area in a good microclimate. O. phaeacantha, even hardier, has smaller but quite tasty tunas. Several others, such as O. rodantha, O. polyacantha, and O. basilaris, have dry fruits at maturity, but are still worth growing for visual appeal....See MoreWANTED: Opuntia ficus-indica pads - cultivars
Comments (0)Anyone willing to sell opuntia pads? I'm intereted in cultivars Chapeada, Cristalina, Roja Pelona and Amarilla Redonda or similar....See Moreopuntia ficus-indica and engelmannii
Comments (3)That's a tough task you're working on- good luck! Opuntias are extremely variable, they tend to hybridize a lot, and it's a huge genus, all of which makes your project that much more challenging. Desert-tropicals.com lists 6 different varieties for O. engelmanii. As for O. ficus-indica, I'm not sure of how many varieties there are. Rivenrock.com lists 3 varieties for Indian Fig, but I'm not sure how valid those varieties are. I often see Opuntia ellisiana being sold as O. ficus-indica. I guess I would recommend posting pics of your plants for identification. There are many amazing cactophiles on this forum who can probably id your plants from photos. cd...See MoreOpuntia ficus indica
Comments (0)Hello Last year I lost my large prickly pear in my greenhouse. I had read somewhere that they can sustain -7C (18F) but I don't believe they can sustain that for very long. Does anyone know how low a sustained temperature they can sustain? Thanks....See MoreUser
5 years agoPolypompholyx
5 years agosultry_jasmine_nights (Florida-9a-ish)
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoDave in NoVA • N. Virginia • zone 7A
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agosultry_jasmine_nights (Florida-9a-ish)
5 years agodbarron
5 years agolast modified: 5 years ago
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