Opuntiais a genus of cacti commonly recognize as Prickly Pear Cactus or Pear Cactus . They are easily identify by their upside - down pear - shaped pads or stem turn segments . Their fleshy pads produce magnanimous , showy efflorescence in the spring that flex into red , spiny fruits later in the season . There are more than 150 metal money of Opuntia . These drought - tolerant plant make low-toned - maintenancehouseplantsthat add Southwestern style to a room ’s decor . Prickly Pear Cactus is easily propagated through stem turn cuttings .
1 . Wear toilsome study glove to protect your hands from injury while working with acactus . Take a cutting from a good for you , disease - free Prickly Pear Cactus . Harvest cuttings only when nighttime temperatures are a unremitting 60 ° F ( 16 ° snow ) or warmer . Choose a launching pad or ellipse section without mar or scratch . Grasp the top of the pad gently in one hand . Using a knife , cut the pad off the parent plant at the lifelike seam at its bottom .
2 . grade the cutting on a flat surface in filtered sunlight . opt a dry room with constant temperatures of 60 ° F ( 16 ° C ) or high . Leave the press cutting for 7 to 10 days to take shape callus tissue over the cut edge .
Photo viagardenersworld.com
3 . immix one part perlite with one part compost to make a well - run out uprise medium to plant the cactus . fulfill a container with the mixture , leaving the top 1 to 2 inch ( 2.5 to 5 atomic number 96 ) empty . Use a container with drainage holes at the bottom .
4 . Set the cactus cut with the callus boundary resting on the filth in the center of the gage . Push one - third to one - one-half of the press clipping into the land mixture . Tamp the grease down around the base of the cactus until the cutting can stand up upright on its own .
5 . piss the planted cutting using a watering can until the soil is equally moist . Place the dope in a warm room , 60 ° F ( 16 ° C ) or warmer , in filtered sunlight . irrigate the cactus when the top in ( 2.5 centimeter ) of dirt begins to dry out out .
7 . Once it begins produce new development , move the cactus to full sunlight indoors to get acclimatise it to brighter light . If you eventually design to plant the cactus outdoors in the flat coat , move it to full sunshine outside after two week .
8 . Grow the cactus in the container for at least one year . transplantation it in the spring once filth temperatures give 60 ° F ( 16 ° C ) . embed the cactus in an area that have full sunshine and containswell - draining land . Dig a hole equal in depth and twice as panoptic as the plant life ’s root ball . range the root ball in the center of the gob . Backfill the hole with dirt and tamp down it down securely . Water the cactus immediately after set .
9 . urine the planted cactus once weekly when nighttime temperature are above 60 ° F ( 16 ° C ) . Water the cactus every 14 twenty-four hour period when nighttime temperatures drop off below 60 ° F ( 16 ° C ) .
author : sfgate.com
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