Prickly pear

Cactus family. Prickly pears represent an entire subfamily of prickly pears. Some representatives of it are not at all the same as it is customary to represent prickly pears, but, nevertheless, there are general signs by which prickly pear, no matter how it looks, can always be distinguished. First of all, this is the presence of the smallest thorns (glochidia), which not everyone can notice yet, but will feel well when the palms after contact frantically begin to prick and itch.

Unfortunately, most members of the prickly pear genus are of little use for home cultivation. Firstly, due to the fact that they grow to a huge size, and secondly, due to the small decorative attractiveness. Many prickly pears in apartments never bloom, as they can bloom when they grow to certain limits, which is not real in apartments. Therefore, choosing prickly pear, it is better to give preference to small species. Be careful if you have children - they can touch the sticky cactus, and you will take out splinters for a long time under loud crying. Glochidia easily dig into the skin, and it can be very difficult to extract them, besides it hurts.

Types of prickly pears

• The prickly pear is cylindrical Opuntia cilindrica - it is not always recognized for prickly pear, wondering what kind of plant it is. It has cylindrical stems, first solitary, then branching with age. It grows rapidly and reaches 1.5-1.8 m in height. It blooms with wide pink flowers.
• Prickly red Opuntia rufida - its stems are covered with bunches of rusty red glochidia.
• Opuntia dressed Opuntia vestita - with a cylindrical stem covered with fluffy hairs. It blooms in small red flowers.
• Prickly opuntia Opuntia microdasys - its segmented stems are covered with bunches of hooked light glochidia. It flowers in large yellow flowers. A variety of Opuntia white-headed Opuntia microdasys albinospina - white glochidia that do not crumble from touch. This prickly pear blooms easily in the house with yellow flowers. In addition, the small size of this cactus makes it easy to keep in the apartment.
• Prickly opuntia Opuntia phaeacantha - its oval flat, segmented stems are covered with brownish-yellow glochidia, and long thin spines.

Caring for Opuntia

Temperature: Normal in summer. In winter, ideally, a dormant period is needed. In nature, it passes in dryness at a temperature of 7-10 ° C, at least 5 ° C, if possible, adhere to the same regime. If you have a glazed balcony, then prickly pears can be left there to the maximum temperature (+ 2 ° C), wrapping your roots well and in complete dryness, if the balcony is insulated, cacti may well overwinter until the end of January, and then start a new growth on the windowsill in the house.

By the way: round-the-clock stay in the fresh air throughout the summer period, especially hardens and strengthens cacti, increases resistance to diseases and pests.

Lighting: Prickly pears love a lot of light, but you need to get used to the spring sun gradually. Without sufficient lighting, plants stretch out and lose their decorative appeal. The stems lean towards the light, even pile the pot on its side.

Watering: Moderately in spring and summer, only after complete drying of the soil, in a few days. Since autumn or even summer, with a cold snap, watering is reduced, very rare, up to a little wrinkling. In winter, depending on the temperature.

Fertilizer: Only during the growing season with a special fertilizer for cacti, according to the scheme: in full dosage once every two weeks or in half weekly.

Humidity: Prickly pears are resistant to dry air. But regular spraying with warm water from a very small spray bottle will not hurt on hot days in the summer. In natural conditions, there are often morning dews, but contact with water when spraying or watering leads to the formation of a salt deposit and cork of the cactus stem.

Transplantation: Soil - the 1 part of the turf land, the 1 part of the leaf, the 1 part of the small gravel, you can acadama or brick crumbs. For adult cacti and old sod soil is 2 parts. Young plants are transplanted annually or after a year, old plants after a year - two.

When transplanting prickly pears, you need to be careful, since their vestigial leaves, as well as individual segments of the stem, can break off.

Reproduction: Seeds and cuttings (individual segments). Read more about the features of various maintenance modes, transplantation and reproduction in the section Cacti.

The inconvenience of growing large prickly pears is not only that they need a lot of space, but rather that it is difficult to provide a large cactus with sufficient sunlight, especially in winter.