The easy-care prickly pear cactus (bot. Opuntia ficus indica) or the prickly pear belongs to the Opuntia family, which includes more than 190 species. With a size of around one to six meters, it is not exactly a small plant.
How do you properly care for a prickly pear cactus?
To properly care for a prickly pear cactus, place it in a sunny location, use poor soil and water sparingly. Apply potassium-containing fertilizer every 14 days in summer, water cool and reduced in winter. Avoid waterlogging and exposure to rain.
The right location and the best soil
The Opuntia ficus indica is at home in the deserts of Mexico, the Opuntia tuna in the Caribbean. Accordingly, to thrive, the prickly pear cactus needs a rather lean and dry soil, which may contain sand and/or stones. Plant it in special cactus soil (€12.00 on Amazon) or a mixture of sand/gravel, soil and peat or coconut fiber.
Since the prickly pear cactus can grow up to six meters high, you should plant it in an appropriately large and heavy container. Planting it in the garden bed is not recommended because the prickly pear cactus cannot tolerate a long, frosty winter. He likes light, sun and warmth, so he can stay outside all summer long.
Water and fertilize the prickly pear cactus properly
As a desert plant, the prickly pear cactus does not need a lot of water, but should still be watered fairly regularly, preferably whenever the top layer of soil has become a little dry. However, it cannot tolerate waterlogging or rain at all.
If it continues to rain, it's better to put your prickly pear back indoors or in a greenhouse. During the summer months, give it a portion of potassium-containing fertilizer about every 14 days, preferably mixed into the irrigation water as a liquid fertilizer.
The prickly pear cactus in winter
In winter the prickly pear cactus hibernates. Therefore it should overwinter in a cool place, ideally at around 6 °C. During this time it does not need fertilizer and should only be watered when the soil is very dry.
The most important things in brief:
- easy to care for and undemanding
- Location: sunny and bright, likes to be outside in summer
- Soil: rather poor, preferably with sand or stones
- water little
- fertilize about every 14 days in summer (potash-containing fertilizer)
- cannot tolerate rain or waterlogging
- edible fruits
- susceptible to mealybugs
- Propagation by seeds or cuttings
- overwinter coolly
Tip
The decorative fruits of the prickly pear cactus are edible and very aromatic.
