Some Help with a Prickly Pear

Discussion in 'Cacti and Succulents' started by The New Guy, Mar 30, 2009.

  1. The New Guy

    The New Guy Active Member

    Messages:
    39
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Midwest, U.S.
    I have a prickly pear cactus that was started several years ago from a single nopal bought at my local fruit/vegetable market. The cactus has always been in a pot – brought outside during the summer and inside my home during the winter. It has become a massive plant (for me, anyhow) at about 5 feet in height and what feels like a ton in weight. It has produced a single small fruit about three or four times, as long as I have had it. The fruit then has a light pink flower (that I have never seen open). The flower is there for about three days or so, and then falls out. The fruit is there for a few more days and then withers away and falls off, too. The plant, in my opinion, appears to be healthy, but I was hoping to get more fruit and see them ripen –and perhaps eat them as well.

    I had a few questions I was hoping to get some help with:

    1. What species of prickly pear might this be? Is it one that produces good-sized edible cactus pears?

    2. Is there something I could do to get more and mature fruit from this plant (besides moving it to a warmer climate and planting it in the ground)?

    3. I recently bought some of those reddish-purple cactus pears from the store to eat, and I saved some of the seeds. Would planting those ever get me anywhere?

    Thanks for any advice in advance.

    The New Guy
     
  2. Laticauda

    Laticauda Active Member

    Messages:
    236
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Oklahoma, US
    Do you have pictures of the plant? the blooms? the fruit?
     
  3. The New Guy

    The New Guy Active Member

    Messages:
    39
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Midwest, U.S.
    I know I have a picture of one of the fruits with a very young flower (a bud) on it, somewhere. But I'd have to search to find it, and besides, I don't think it would be of much help since you can't see the flower.

    The plant doesn't have any flowers or fruits on it right now for me to take pictures of. I can tell you that it has very, very few of the larger spines commonly seen on prickly pears.

    I was doing some searching online, and I think it is a Nopalea (Opuntia) cochenillifera. Besides the lack of large spines, this species also has a flower that doesn't open like many of the other prickly pear blossoms (which would explain why I never saw an "open" flower).

    Somewhat of a disappointment, actually.
     
  4. lorax

    lorax Rising Contributor 10 Years

    Messages:
    4,776
    Likes Received:
    6
    Location:
    Toronto, Ontario
    It will be helpful, actually. Even if the flower's not visible, the shape of the leaf, distribution of spines, and attachment angle of the ovary are all clues to the identity of the cactus. However, given your latest bit of info, I'd say you're probably right about it being a Nopal.

    Nopales aren't a disappointment - they're a tasty vegetable. The point isn't to eat the fruit of this cactus, it's to eat the leaves. Peeled and grilled with a little hot sauce they're yummy.


    Oh, and yes. Plant those seeds! In my experience most prickly pears come true from seed, and they're quite easy to sprout. That way it's not a total loss, and you will eventually get a cactus you can pick fruit from.
     
  5. The New Guy

    The New Guy Active Member

    Messages:
    39
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Midwest, U.S.
    Thank you very much, lorax.

    I will try to find that picture of the fruit and post it along with a picture or two of the leaves and spines. I hope you can confirm my identification of this plant.

    Would you have any idea as to why the fruit wither and fall off shortly after the flower? Or is that what it’s supposed to do? Also, is it not producing many fruits/flowers because it is not in its preferred climate and in the ground?

    It took me so long to get this plant to be this size, it will be a long, long time before I ever see any fruit from the seeds. I will plant them, nonetheless. Is there anything special that I need to do to ensure germination, and care for the seedling?

    Thanks again.
     
  6. lorax

    lorax Rising Contributor 10 Years

    Messages:
    4,776
    Likes Received:
    6
    Location:
    Toronto, Ontario
    I use little one-serving yogurt containers and saran wrap to ensure that the seeds stay hot and moist enough to germinate. After that, it's just being careful that they don't damp off.

    I'd venture to guess that the Midwest is likely not ideal for a Nopal. Try giving it more light and less water.
     
  7. The New Guy

    The New Guy Active Member

    Messages:
    39
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Midwest, U.S.
    Here are those pictures.
     

    Attached Files:

  8. lorax

    lorax Rising Contributor 10 Years

    Messages:
    4,776
    Likes Received:
    6
    Location:
    Toronto, Ontario
    Yup, that's a Nopal alright. The fruitbud looks good - you may be waiting unrealistically for that ovary to ripen. Nopal are parthenocarpic and that fruit is mature when the flower falls off. Here in Ecuador they're called Tuna Verde, and they're a bit more bitter than other cactus pears at the markets. Next time you have a fruit that looks like that, pick it. It's as ripe as it's ever going to get.

    Amazing what a visual will do for one; I don't grow Nopales anymore (I've moved to an unsuitable region and now grow yellow Pitahaya instead) but when I did they were tasty as a leaf veggie. Seeing the fruit reminded me of Tuna Verda, which I don't like so I never worried about them on my plants.
     
  9. The New Guy

    The New Guy Active Member

    Messages:
    39
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Midwest, U.S.
    Lorax, I’m glad you liked the pictures. The fruit’s flower in the picture hasn’t bloomed yet. It goes on to produce a pink flower that isn’t very ornate or attractive. Basically, it gets a little pink and the stamens and pistil just stick out. It then falls off and leaves a pretty big gap in the fruit. Considering the size of the fruit isn’t more than 2 inches in length, it has a skin, and the flower leaves a hollow space, what is there left of it to eat??

    When and if I can get a decent fruiting cactus to grow, I will, unfortunately, be getting rid of the Nopal. I don’t eat nopales and I don’t even want to try to do anything with those tiny little fruits. I would hate to part with it since I’ve been raising it for so long, but it is just too much trouble to maintain, and drag in and out of the house (while getting covered in glochids), and not even get a decent flower from it. If I lived in a climate where I could plant it in the ground, I would.

    I actually have two of them: the original one that is over 5 feet tall, and a smaller one that I started when my big one got a little sick. When I started them, I thought they would have produced a fruit like the reddish-purple cactus pears that I regularly purchase at the market or the yellowish-orange pears that I have growing on a cactus at a farm in Europe. I guess I should have checked the species.

    I know of “Pitahaya†as “dragon fruit.†Those are some amazing plants. I would love to have something like that. What do the fruits taste like?
     
  10. lorax

    lorax Rising Contributor 10 Years

    Messages:
    4,776
    Likes Received:
    6
    Location:
    Toronto, Ontario
    About a teaspoonfull of cactus fruit is what's inside. The skins are very thin. If you've got seed from good-tasting pears, then you've most likely got seed for the European fave O. ficus-indica. Best of luck with your sprouts!

    Yellow Pitahaya taste like fresh rain with a hint of sweet kiwi. Red ones and stronger and sweeter. As you're in the Midwest, I'd reccomend trying the red ones if you're going to grow one. The flavour of the yellows is dependant upon the good volcanic soils that are found in the Andes. Growers in the states always tell me that yellow Pitahaya are bitter and a waste of time.
     
  11. The New Guy

    The New Guy Active Member

    Messages:
    39
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Midwest, U.S.
    Lorax, it’s been a pleasure “chatting” with you. Thank you for all of the information.

    I like your description of the Yellow Pitahaya as “fresh rain” – sounds refreshing on a hot day. I’d like to grow one of those plants (perhaps the one that produces the fruit with the red skin and red flesh), but it’s just going to be another thing to drag in and out of my home (while getting stabbed, I might add). Besides I wouldn’t even know where to find one in the States.

    Location/climate is everything when it comes to these plants, and the Midwest isn’t it (unless you’ve got a greenhouse). I struggle every year with all of “my exotics.” For example, on a trip to Florida, I “smuggled” back a piece of a Frangipani and a young Loquat. I tried so hard to do the best I can for them, but the Loquat gave up and the Frangipani doesn’t want to learn that we have a harsh season called winter in the Midwest. However, it is doing pretty well, but flowers at the worst possible time. It too is getting too big to handle like the Nopal.

    If I thought to bring back a leaf from my cactus in Europe, I might have been eating home-grown cactus pears by now. (That’s if I didn’t have an incident with Customs.)

    One last question: The cactus pear seeds I have are from the red-purple pears that are commonly sold in my area of the States. Are those also Opuntia ficus-indica? I thought that O. ficus-indica produced orange pears (like the one I have in Europe).

    Thanks again.
     
    Last edited: Apr 3, 2009
  12. lorax

    lorax Rising Contributor 10 Years

    Messages:
    4,776
    Likes Received:
    6
    Location:
    Toronto, Ontario
    If you keep the Frangipani, and the Pitahaya (there are supplyers in Fla and Cali for these) as exclusively indoor plants, you'll probably have better luck with them.

    O. ficus-indica has a number of different variations, so it's entirely possible that the North American one is just a different cultivar.
     

Share This Page