Neighbor around the corner

Harriet · Post by **Harriet** » Wed May 04, 2011 1:50 pm

GermanStar wrote: OTOH, Cylindropuntia is not little more than a weed; it is a weed, and if I could banish Cylindropuntia bigelovii from the planet with a thought, I would do so in a heartbeat.

Sounds like a painful memory...

GermanStar · Post by **GermanStar** » Wed May 04, 2011 2:20 pm

Painful memories, injured dogs, destroyed furniture, wrecked shoes. The seeds from these guys get everywhere, and the pups bring 'em into the house, where I step on them barefoot on a daily basis at certain times of year. They are the bane of my existence.

A. Dean Stock · Post by **A. Dean Stock** » Thu May 05, 2011 3:31 am

I love all Cylindropuntia (from a distance).
Dean

Peterthecactusguy · Post by **Peterthecactusguy** » Thu May 05, 2011 3:37 am

Dean,
me too.

They are pretty spiny weeds.

TimN · Post by **TimN** » Thu May 05, 2011 4:07 am

Bring some kitchen tongs and a sharp knife, possibly serrated. Swords, golf clubs, shovels and golf carts have all been used in the past to separate delicate cuttings from the mother plant.

Some Opuntias can be pretty tough to get pads from, others, not so much. Sometimes all you have to do is walk around in the desert to collect cuttings, they come to you!

Also bring something to carry your prizes in. A paper bag is good. Pockets are never considered satisfactory transportation containers. Even someone else's pocket. Choose a container that can be securely closed. Glochids have a funny way of floating around (like in the car, never good!)

If you really want to get fancy, you can bring some alcohol wipes to sanitize the knife before each cutting. Bringing alcohol to fortify the cutter is optional but recommended.

Rules for Opuntia Cuttings:

Beware of glochids, they are not permanently attached! They will come and get you.

Don't touch them! Gloves are useless unless you buy them in bulk and throw them away after touching one cactus.

Single segments tend to root better than long chains. You can cut up long chains to make single segments. If I could choose, I'd take newer growth, though.

Any Opuntia fruit that stays green (C. fulgida) can be rooted, too.

Many Opuntia drop pads by themselves. Some of them can be good if they haven't been laying around too long, plus they're already removed from the plant.

In short, treat them all like evil, deadly snakes and you should survive!

Good luck!

Peterthecactusguy · Post by **Peterthecactusguy** » Thu May 05, 2011 11:27 am

Tim...
LoL

cantharis · Post by **cantharis** » Sat Sep 10, 2011 1:46 pm

I just hate glochids, so Opuntia is totally banned from my small collection. Today I repotted my biggest and spikiest cactus, my Astrophytum ornatum. That was bad enough.