Opuntia of Orlando, Florida - pic heavy

[A. Dean Stock]

No problme Paulzi ! Apparently Lucas didn't find the site. In his reply to me he mentioned that he was considering an elarged concept of O. austrina and that the material around Orlando would be referable to the O. ammophilia entity of O. austrina. I'll ask him if I can transmit his entire comment to me to this discussion.
Dean

[melodies]

Hey, I live in North Florida and I see cacti that look like that occasionally growing in my backyard. However, they never grow to be longer than a couple of pads, just a couple of inches tall overall, because the wild gopher turtles eat them as soon as they see them. The spines don't seem to bother them. They leave behind remnants a lot, and I think my dad saved one and replanted it. I'm pretty sure he did, actually. I'll check his greenhouse (he actually grows orchids, not usually cacti) and see if it's in there somewhere. If it is, I'll post a picture and you experts can tell me if it is the same thing.

[paulzie32]

Where in North Florida?

[melodies]

North of Jacksonville.

So, I found the cactus but it is not in good shape. I think my dad let it rot, I picked a lot of brown mushy pads off of it (to the left in the first photo). Right after I took these pictures I moved it back and about 75% of the pads just fell off the plant. So, my questions are: Is it this Opuntia you guys are talking about? and can it be saved at this point?

So here it is:

[paulzie32]

Doesn't look the same! But it is very cool looking! It can be saved. Just repot it and see if the rot goes below the soil line on the green parts or was the rot only on the parts you took out. If the rot is on the other part, then cut it off until you see healthy green growth and let it dry a week or so before putting back into a pot of dry medium. Don't water until you see new growth.
It is a great looking plant! Love the bumps and long spines!
it's a keeper

[paulzie32]

You could also just cut off the green pads, Let them dry the same way, along with all the pads that fell off and pot them all up and have a big pot full. Your Dad lives North of Jacksonville too? IF you live in the same are and these grow wild near you, I'd just find a nice place around the house and plant some there!

[melodies]

I live with my parents, and my mom is very anti-thorny things growing in the backyard. But I will repot and dry out the green pads like you said, because there isn't much left on the plant at this point and I think it would be best to start afresh. Any idea what this cacti is, since it wasn't the Opuntia you guys were talking about?

[paulzie32]

I'll leave that to some of the others on the forum. Because of the Infertile fruit, my first guess is a hybrid. Could be a combo of anything