The prickly pear is a type of cactus that is native to South America, Central America and the southern parts of North America.prickly pear will grow in a wide variety of soils and climates, even though they prefer desert climates.The prickly pear can be eaten, but it is also grown as an ornamental plant and has pretty flowers that range from orange to yellow to white.If you want to grow a prickly pear, there are a number of ways to do it.
Step 1: The seeds should be obtained.
You can get them from a nursery or garden store or from prickly pear fruit.The prickly pear plant has a red, egg-shaped fruit that grows off it.Gloves are required to remove the seeds from a fruit.Take the ends off the fruit.The fruit should be on one end.Carefully stick a finger under a thin, vertical slice down one side of the skin.Peel away the skin from the fruit.Use your fingers to break apart the fruit to find the seeds.
Step 2: A garden pot should be prepared.
There is a hole in the bottom of the pot.If you want the water to drain better, cover the bottom of the pot with rocks.The pot should be filled with half soil and half sand.These soils are similar to the natural desert soils a cactus likes.You can buy a pre-mixed mix.You can use a plastic cup if you don't have any garden pots.To allow water to drain out, poke several holes in the bottom.Prepare several garden pots in this way to grow prickly pears.
Step 3: You should plant the seeds.
Place the seeds on top of the soil.Press the seeds into the soil and cover them with a dusting of soil.There is a small amount of water.The soil should be moist, but not wet.
Step 4: The pots should be kept in a warm place.
The way established plants grow is by not needing direct sunlight.The pots should be kept in a shaded area to allow for a warm climate.Keep the soil moist as the seeds grow.When the soil starts to become dry, water it.cacti take three to four years to produce flowers and fruit, and prickly pear grown from seeds takes longer to grow.Ensuring genetic diversity can be achieved by growing plants from seeds.
Step 5: Find a prickly pear that will grow.
A cutting from an established plant can be used to grow prickly pear.If you don't have any established prickly pears of your own, ask your friends and neighbors if you can take a cutting from one of their plants.If you want to grow prickly pear from existing plants, you have to use modified stems or branches from the pads of the plants.The majority of the plant is made up of pads.
Step 6: Cut off a piece of furniture.
A healthy pad should be between one and three years old.If you want a pad that is free of damage, specks, or any deformities, look for it.If you want to take a cutting, hold the top of the pad with a gloved hand and slice it above the joint.The plant will rot if the pad is cut below the joint.
Step 7: The pad needs to form a callous.
You have to let the cactus pad cutting form a callous before you can plant it.Once the cut has healed, lay the pad on a bed of soil or sandy soil.While you wait for the callous to form, leave the pad in a shaded area.
Step 8: The garden pot needs to be prepared.
The planting pot should be filled with stones to allow for drainage.The sandy soil in the rest of the pot will allow for good drainage.A half-and-half mixture of soil and sand is the ideal soil.
Step 9: When the cut has healed, plant the pad.
You can make a hole with your finger.The cut end of the pad should be placed in the garden pot.It's time to bury the end.If you bury the end more than one or two inches deep, it will rot.If the pad is not standing up, surround it with rocks.
Step 10: Water the plant.
When the soil is dry, water the plant about once or twice a week.
Step 11: Put the pad in the sun.
The pads need a lot of sunlight.It is important to protect the pads from the sun between the hours of 11 a.m. and 1 pm.If you want to avoid having to move the prickly pear constantly, you can position the plant so the broad sides of the pad are facing east and west.You don't have to move it out of the sun every afternoon because it will be protected from sunburn.It will be ready for full sun exposure once the cutting has established roots.
Step 12: There is a permanent location for the cactus.
You can transplant the prickly pear into the ground or grow it in a pot.An outdoor location that gets a lot of sun exposure is a good place to transplant the cactus.If you keep the prickly pear in a pot, it needs to be positioned somewhere that gets full sun.When the weather gets cold, keep the prickly pear in a pot so you can move it indoors.
Step 13: The cactus should be replanted.
The best time to transplant a prickly pear is in the late spring, when the risk of frost and excessive rain is done.The hole should be the same size as the pot the cactus is in.Get the pot close to the hole.Place the plant in the pot with a gloved hand.Place the roots in the hole.saturate the soil with water by packing it down with your hands.Water the plant every few days during the first week.Water the cactus every three to four weeks.It won't need any extra watering after the first year.
Step 14: Once the plant is established, harvest pads and fruit.
The prickly pear needs several months to establish itself.Wait for the plant to grow a second or third pad, and wait until there are at least eight blooms on a pad before harvesting the fruit it produces.Cut pads with a knife in the morning or afternoon.The acid content is lowest here.The pads need to be removed just above the joint.Pull the fruit away from the pad by twisting it.The fruit is ripe when the thorns fall off the bumps on the fruit.Gloves are required to protect your hands from thorns when harvesting prickly pear.
Step 15: In the winter, cover the soil with mulch.
If you live in a warm climate, cover the prickly pear with mulch in the fall to prevent damage from the cold.Bring the prickly pear inside in the fall to prevent it from freezing if you live in a cold climate.