I have a pot of mixed cacti that are getting too big to keep indoors. I plan to put the eastern prickly pear outdoors since they are able to survive Wisconsin winters, however I’m wondering if these ones would be able to also? They are slightly different than the regular prickly pear with one being variegated and spineless and the other one being chunkier with more spines. Any information is much appreciated! TIA!
by pumpkinpie1212
2 Comments
I can’t ID the second one, but the first is Opuntia sunburst, and is NOT cold hardy to much of the US (9b to 11b) your best bet is to take it in for the winter and leave it out in the summer, for winter you can usually just not water them for months keeping them from growing and their branches from becoming etiolated. You can also usually keep them somewhat low light when dormant, but a grow light can be nice, I’d do this for both until you can get a proper ID on the second one.
Yes they both look to optunia species. And like someone else said, I wouldn’t try and play the cold hardy game if you’re not in the southwest or southern FL, personally. If you got a greenhouse go for it