Q&A for How to Grow Prickly Pears

Plants may grow slower at a high elevation. If the temperature gets below 14 degrees F (-10 degrees C) regularly, it is best to plant the cactus in a pot and move it indoors for the winter.

You may want to try growing your cactus in a pot so you can move it indoors during severe cold snaps. Otherwise it will do great in Tennessee!

It is possibly its focusing on growth more than reproduction, meaning it's growing more instead of flowering. The recommended solution is to add a 0-10-10 fertilizer. Often, these fertilizers are labeled "super bloom" or "ultra bloom".

It should. They wrinkle a bit from the cold, but they bounce right back in the spring. Prickly pear cactus is hardy and can be successfully grown as far north as Canada.

While cacti are extremely drought tolerant, they still require water. If it is not growing, it likely needs additional water. Cacti also are intolerant of shade.

You can take the seeds from the fruit and use them to grow more cacti. Only take fruit that has ripened and is solid red in color.

Yes. Place the leaves flat on a moist part of the ground in the full sun, it should grow its own roots and begin producing fruit.

Early spring is the best because it is the best growing season for the plant. That will allow it to grow once you plant it.

Outdoors, it needs full sun. Indoors, a south-facing window is the bare minimum, and will likely result in poor growth.

It wont root. The wound on the pad is the part that grows roots. If you place a pad on the wrong side, it wouldn't root and would die.

No, they will not grow from root. You can use mulch in winter to prevent it from dying.

Just like any other cacti, they should be dormant for the winter months. Place it in a cool area and don't water it until the spring months when it gets warmer. Then it should be ready to bloom in summer.

Yes. Make sure that the soil drainage is sufficient, though, as tropical climates usually receive more rainfall than opuntia species usually receive. It is best to know the species of opuntia (prickly pear) you are planting.

You'll need to pull the weeds manually, then use mulch to cover the area so they don't regrow. Any chemical weed killer could infect your plant.

If the seeds were kept in a cool, dry place, then certainly.

Prune it. It’s top heavy. Prune it only during the growing season, namely summer.

If your prickly pear cactus is shrinking, that means you’re not watering your cactus enough.

Yes, they can be but you want to let them grow a bit before cutting them off. Just cut them straight off the cactus. No need to take it out of its pot for some paddles. After you cut a pad off you need to let the fresh cut callus over for a day or two. Then you can put rooting powder on The bottom side where you cut it. Rooting powder helps it grow roots and establish to the pot faster.

Fruits will simply die off naturally, usually by falling off the paddle. Often they get eaten by birds.

Prickly pear are very easy to manage. When they begin to grow into large size plants you can simply cut off excess padless to maintain the size/shape you want. The root systems are small and do not spawn other plants.

Once prickly pear is established, it can send out roots several yards and you will see babies poking up nowhere near the mother plant. About the only way to kill it is several days of snow or loving it to death by overwatering. This plant is tough and will do much better if you ignore it.

Cut the top healthy part off from the base, let it scar, and then replant the top. You could see if the base wants to continue to grow, or just throw it out and focus on the new healthy plant. Prickly pears are very tough, opportunistic plants.

As long as the new bed is well-drained and has enough sunlight for the cactus you are growing, it shouldn’t be a problem. Unless you have really well-established specimens, then you may not want to disturb them. With cactus, the less you fuss, the better they do.

It takes several years to get prickly pear mature enough to flower and fruit. This time will also depend on how much of the year the plant produces new growth. In south Texas, prickly pear can usually put out new growth 9-10 months a year. That’s a lot of growing time.