I just picked this up today. Long spines and some nice winter colour still showing.
It came from the same supplier as my Opuntia macrorhiza. There were two flats and the plants varied from fairly normal looking to this as the most extreme. Is Opuntia macrorhiza that variable or is this one different?
(It's not actually quite that blue but to get the purple showing properly I had to leave the picture like that. It's more the colour of the older pads in the Opuntia in the ID thread I linked to.)
I guess the next question is if I need to grow this in a pot because I don't really have anywhere to winter it how should I do that? Let the soil dry out and keep it in the unheated garage in the dark?
New Opuntia
- John P Weiser
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Andrew
Opuntia macrorhiza has a wide spread distribution with regional variability. It ranges across twenty of the central states with two named varieties. Variety macrorhiza found over all of it's range and variety pottsii found in Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico.
It is an Opuntia and they as a group are known to be a promiscuous lot. So hybrids are sure to abound!!
Opuntia macrorhiza has a wide spread distribution with regional variability. It ranges across twenty of the central states with two named varieties. Variety macrorhiza found over all of it's range and variety pottsii found in Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico.
It is an Opuntia and they as a group are known to be a promiscuous lot. So hybrids are sure to abound!!
From the High Desert Steppe
of the Great Basin and foot hills
of the Sierra Nevada Range
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sierrarainshadow/
sierrarainshadow
of the Great Basin and foot hills
of the Sierra Nevada Range
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sierrarainshadow/
sierrarainshadow
- Peterthecactusguy
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- Peterthecactusguy
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- Joined: Fri Feb 19, 2010 7:49 am
- Location: Black Canyon City, Arizona
I guess getting flowers from it would certainly help. It's a hardy one is about all I know for sure, bought just a little north or Toronto.
ID Aside given that it's supposed to be hardy but I'll be growing it in a pot... how should I aim to winter it? How big a pot should I be using? It was in a 4" plastic pot.
ID Aside given that it's supposed to be hardy but I'll be growing it in a pot... how should I aim to winter it? How big a pot should I be using? It was in a 4" plastic pot.