It has been a cold winter with these cacti living outside, they seemed to have handled it quite well and are now putting on new growth now the weather is warming up and spring is here. I redid their baskets a year ago and seems they are really bouncing back now. With weather in the 70s and 80s this is the time they come back into an active state and start producing new growth. Hard to say if they will flower yet, but I should know pretty soon.
The three kinds of Opuntia are doing well, and I wonder if I will see some flowers this year. If they do, fruits are on the way shortly after. The taste of these fruits are unique, and they can differ in color.. some are red, others are yellow. But their flavor is like a watermelon and strawberry was crossed.
I have the following in the baskets:
Opuntia Erinacea (Mojave prickly pear)
Opuntia Humifusa (Eastern Prickly Pear)
Opuntia Fragilis (Brittle pricklypear)
Each of these cacti has a strong cold resistance. Out of thousands of cacti species only a few dozen can handle living outdoors where I live. Most the freezing weather will kill them outright, though a few have evolved to grow in much more harsh winter environments.
And being able to be grown in baskets they are truly hardy, as it gets quite cold in the root zone when out of the ground like this.
I wonder if those new growths are going to be paddles or flowers.. hard to tell just yet.
Seeing so much new growth tells me they are happy. Hah that lone grass in there needs to be pulled out, its hard to do without getting stuck by a cactus needle though.
All of these cacti should produce fruits eventually. But unless I put them in the ground they will not get very big I would think.
Excited to see in a few months how they come along.
I really like the new growth on the Opuntia Fragilis cacti.
One of the paddles fell off but could not grow due to it not being in the ground. Normally when they drop paddles they can start new plants from them with roots coming out the bottom and starting a whole new cactus.
The soil I gave them was a mix of native soil, along with volcanic rocks, wood chips and other good soil building materials.
I was worried about the Opuntia Erinacea cacti as they were getting quite droopy looking during the winter. Covered in snow and ice I really thought they would die back but they did not.. And even put on new growth.
Wondering how long they can live in the baskets, it is going to get quite full in the next few years. I need to consider somewhere to plant them I think. Though this will require lots to consider, as they are a pain to move due to the thorns. And if they spread in an area I do not want them to its a pain to remove them. So for now I will let them grow in their baskets and see how big they get.
