Growing Opuntia as a house plant

[jazzguy]

I'm looking for advice. I don't see Opuntia offered at shows by dealers when I go to sales, but I would like to try and grow one. I've read that they are mostly propagated by cuttings. Do these make good house plants? I am in Zone 6a, so indoors only for me.

What cultivars are recommended?

Thanks

[esp_imaging]

Opuntia is a very diverse genus.

However, many of the species are large, fast growing (often in sprawling, untidy way) and viciously spiny, so not really ideal as house plants.
There are exceptions, epecially if you include related genera.

Smaller growing species which would be better suited to a windowsill etc include O. microdays, Austrocylindopuntia subulata and Tephrocactus and Maihueniopsis species from S. America. Even the less spiny plants of these species often have tiny little barbs called glochids, so care is still needed in handling them.

[Ron43]

I'm looking for advice. I don't see Opuntia offered at shows by dealers when I go to sales, but I would like to try and grow one. I've read that they are mostly propagated by cuttings. Do these make good house plants? I am in Zone 6a, so indoors only for me.

What cultivars are recommended?

Thanks

There are many opuntias that are winter hardy to below freezing.

[DaveW]

The only plants that make really good house plants are those sold as "house plants" if they are to be grown in low light conditions. By that I mean generally Fearn's and plants from forests used to low lighting conditions. The only cacti that really qualify for this are the epiphytes like Schlumbergera and Epiphyllum etc.

Opuntia's are terrestrial cacti and like most terrestrial cacti used to high light levels during the day. We can struggle to grow terrestrial cacti indoors, but they require a maximum light situation such as a windowsill and not the interior of a room.

Probably why you don't see Opuntia's offered much is that due to their glochids they can be a bit "antisocial" as ESP says if mishandled and also some will grow too large for indoor cultivation quite quickly. We all probably started growing cacti indoors, but unless you can provide sufficient light to stop them etiolating it is not the ideal situation and they need to be placed in the best situation for them, not just placed anywhere convenient within the room as room decoration.

Not sure I would recommend Austrocylindopuntia subulata for indoors as it grows into a 6ft high plant in time.

[esp_imaging]

Dave raises a good point re lighting levels and house plants.
I have successfully, and healthily, grown a range of "terrestrial cacti indoors" for many years, on a large south-east facing window where they get several hours of direct sunlight (weather permitting) each day. Darker windowsills have other plants, better suited to the less sunny locations, including epiphytic cacti.
I don't even try to grow plants in room interiors away from windows.

Not sure I would recommend Austrocylindopuntia subulata for indoors as it grows into a 6ft high plant in time.

Many housplants grow large in time, but make excellent house plants for a long period. They can be enjoyed whilst they are a manageable size and then pruned, cut down and re-started from cuttings or sold/given away when they get too large. Or maybe they still look great as focal points in a room when they are large.
Austrocylindopuntia subulata growns more-or-less vertically, or may sprout from the the base. It doesn't want to make a sprawling thicket the way many opuntias do, so could be grown as a large specimen, a few feet high, in a sensible sized pot on a tall windowsill quite happily for years.

[Zhanna]

There are many opuntias that are winter hardy to below freezing.

Yes! If you can possibly try growing some outdoors, I would recommend it. I'm in zone 5b and have no trouble growing O. humifusa, which is actually a native cactus in your state and mine. They grow quickly, flower (and fruit) beautifully when grown outdoors, and have lived through many harsh winters. When/if spring arrives in the northeast, I would be happy to send you some cuttings if you want to try them.

[graffiti]

I'm in zone 5b and have no trouble growing O. humifusa, which is actually a native cactus in your state and mine. They grow quickly, flower (and fruit) beautifully when grown outdoors, and have lived through many harsh winters.

Can confirm. Mine survived -15°f with no snow cover.