My cactus developed quite a few ears this spring.


Can I just pluck these and put them in soil for propagation? If yes, should I wait until they get a bit larger?

JohnnyGui said: My cactus developed quite a few ears this spring.


Can I just pluck these and put them in soil for propagation? If yes, should I wait until they get a bit larger?

In theory you could just cut off the -Mature- pads, but at this size its going to be with diminishing returns.
Idk what the story is , but with opuntias its usually several generations of weak pads before a propagate lets out proper ones. Im talking 3-4 years with smaller opuntias...

They need to be larger for propagation, unless you want to start one pad down from the most recent ones. And the plant needs to be in a much larger pot (double the width or more) in the near future if you want it to continue to be happy like this.

skopjecollection said: In theory you could just cut off the -Mature- pads, but at this size its going to be with diminishing returns.
Idk what the story is , but with opuntias its usually several generations of weak pads before a propagate lets out proper ones. Im talking 3-4 years with smaller opuntias...

Baja_Costero said: They need to be larger for propagation, unless you want to start one pad down from the most recent ones. And the plant needs to be in a much larger pot (double the width or more) in the near future if you want it to continue to be happy like this.

Thanks for the advices. Yeah, I figured it needs a larger container the moment I saw all these pads coming up.

Will the plant completely die out if I keep it in this small pot? Or will only the young pads fall off?

If you don't move the plant up a size, it will be okay (ie. will not die or anything) it will just become frustrated and none of the new branches will reach anywhere near full size. I kept one of these for several years and by the end (after 5-10 years) it was in a pot that was 35-40cm wide. These are low shrubs in nature.

You do of course have the option of pruning it (removing all or almost all the baby pads) now and that will buy you some time. But this is a good time of year to make the move. Make sure the new pot has holes at the bottom and be sure to use soil that drains quickly.

For my 2 cents.
It is an absolutely gorgeous cactus! I would be proud to own it! Except for a larger pot like Baja suggested, why do anything at all?!

Baja_Costero said: If you don't move the plant up a size, it will be okay (ie. will not die or anything) it will just become frustrated and none of the new branches will reach anywhere near full size. I kept one of these for several years and by the end (after 5-10 years) it was in a pot that was 35-40cm wide. These are low shrubs in nature.

You do of course have the option of pruning it (removing all or almost all the baby pads) now and that will buy you some time. But this is a good time of year to make the move. Make sure the new pot has holes at the bottom and be sure to use soil that drains quickly.

Thanks for the info. I was planning to keep it small and decorative with this ceramic pot (it does have a hole) but now I feel too selfish to keep it like that. I will repot it in a larger one.

BigBill said: For my 2 cents.
It is an absolutely gorgeous cactus! I would be proud to own it! Except for a larger pot like Baja suggested, why do anything at all?!

Thanks! It's indeed a nice one to look at. On 2nd thought I will keep my hands off the pads and repot the plant.

A bit of an off-topic question; How long does it take for Opuntias to flower? Do they need to grow a lot first?

That plant probably needs to be 3 or 4 full size pads tall before it will flower, and flowering probably requires strong light (and is not something these plants do in abundance anyway, at least in my experience).