opuntia humifusa seed grown

[sarahsucculents]

i have a opuntia humifusa seedling and its getting pretty tall, I cannot find any in depth care for it online. any suggestions?
Also what happens with the leave once the cactus comes out the middle?

[CactusFanDan]

How big is it? A picture would be really useful here.

You could bury the hypocotyl (the bit between the roots and the seed-leaves) completely if you want to, stake the stem up or allow it to flop over. You should put it in full sun by now if you can, although if it's been growing indoors then you'll need to acclimatise it to higher light conditions over a few weeks to avoid sunburn. The leaves will probably be reabsorbed and die off when the stem starts to grow.

[bluetexasbonnie]

Can't tell you anything about growing them from seed, but I can tell you some about how/where they grow natively.

The ones I know (i.e., those that grow wild in my area), grow in poor, fast draining, sandy soil. The weather from June to September is hot and sunny, except when it is hot, sunny and humid.

Others can tell you about how much water seedlings need. I can tell you that they want all the sun they can get.

I would be interested in pictures.

[sarahsucculents]

how do i add pictures?

[sarahsucculents]

i tried to give it full sun, it got damaged that way.

[sarahsucculents]

How big is it? A picture would be really useful here.

You could bury the hypocotyl (the bit between the roots and the seed-leaves) completely if you want to, stake the stem up or allow it to flop over. You should put it in full sun by now if you can, although if it's been growing indoors then you'll need to acclimatise it to higher light conditions over a few weeks to avoid sunburn. The leaves will probably be reabsorbed and die off when the stem starts to grow.

im not sure if it hurt it trying to give it full sun..?

[greenknight]

They don't look bad. Like Dan said, gradually acclimatize them to stronger light (except he used the British spelling ). They're very tough plants, they'll pull through.

[sarahsucculents]

ok, even the young one should receive full sun gradually? because i still have seedlings popping up, i heard they were hard to germinate so i put 10 in there and i did not have a hard time getting them to germinate. Guess they like my make shift green house lol. any suggestions on care?

[CactusFanDan]

ok, even the young one should receive full sun gradually? because i still have seedlings popping up, i heard they were hard to germinate so i put 10 in there and i did not have a hard time getting them to germinate. Guess they like my make shift green house lol. any suggestions on care?

Perhaps keep them in partial shade until they all/mostly germinate, but Opuntia seedlings should be fine in full sun from day 1. I'm germinating a bunch of Opuntiads (Tephrocactus, Maihueniopsis etc.) in full sun at the moment and they're doing great. Water them when dry and that's about it. Super easy.