Opuntia spp.

[Rum and Monkeys]

I will post some photos of mine when I get a chance but the nickname around here for it is a "bull-blinder" , just one fierce spine coming out of mature areoles

[waterboy 2.0]

it was from the Galapagos Islands stillman, and I think its a natural stand with amazing symmetry . Heres a big beast up close

Edited May 11, 2013 by waterboy

[Dreamwalker.]

wow

[Dreamwalker.]

I'd loved to find a Burbanks spineless......(dour't its in NZ).....I was woundering if theres anyway to bred in spinelessness......other than selecting from 1000's of seedlings.....and waiting years.....trich pach is virtually spineless............yet most other trich's have large spins even though they have some of the same compounds for defence, though not as potent......maybe because trich pach being a useful plant have been selected over the years, or maybe it relies on its potent nature.........don't know much about the highbreeds......but if they also tend to be spineless..........maybe selection for potency favours spinelessness..........i read that cuttings from the tops of old tall cacti are generally spineless, and can yeild spinless clones (I guess no preditors up the top).....but most opuntia's i find have spines...............have thought about tissue culture.....maybe stressing the culture with UV, heat, microwaves etc might knockout the spine gene regulators......blind shotgun approch.......I've picked up a collection of opuntia's over the last several months...............only 3 had fruits present............no idea what their id is.....still working on that............the fact that their fruit is ripe in late winter (temperate zone) is a great asset for substainability....just when I'm running out of apples........and they are all different........1 is teardrop ~75mm long melon taste rose/yellow prolific and glochid-less few seeds.....1 is golf ball size/shape melon/bananna red/green odd glochids few seeds......1 is tennis ball purple like beetroot glochids and all seeds, at first I thought this 1 is a useless fruit (though high in antioxidents) but actually its ground up seeds.. make an easily accessable grain source to add to bread 50/50 wheat flour...."The seed oil of Opuntia ficus-indica is rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids (C16:0, C18:0, C18:1, C18:2), linoleic acid (up to 700g/kg), and unsaturated fatty acids (884.8g/kg).¹¹ Betalains have also been isolated cactus pear.¹⁸ Flavonosides have been isolated from the flowers of Opuntia vulgaris Miller.¹⁹ Daucosterol, p-hydroxybenzoic acid, L-(-)-malic acid, (E)-ferulic acid and opuntiol have all been obtained from the genus Opuntia"

[Sallubrious]

The human perspective of potent must be skewed when compared to the natural predators of cactus. Some of the best cactus have the biggest spines IMO.

I've just spent a few hours grafting Lophs to Opuntia inamoena - as seen in the youtube vid "next generation grafting" and now my hands are loaded with microsopic glochids - happy times

I picked,scraped and then burnt the bastards out but I can still feel them.

Other than gene splicing I can't see any short cuts to producing a spineless Opuntia, Luther Burbanks lamented about his own personal torture that he'd endured in his own quest to breed the perfect spineless Opuntia.

[Dreamwalker.]

So SallyD........I guess lophs on opuntia must look like little fruits around the tops edges of the pad?...nice....... by what % does it increase their growth rate?.......................................the sticky tape method doesn't work for removing those glochids?

[Sallubrious]

I have no idea how much it will increase the growth rate if at all, I've never done it with Lophs before. I've got one with a rebutia crest that has put on some really good growth. It has more than tripled in size in less than a year.

Tape gets a few glochids out, but a lot of them just snap off and the barb stays buried into the skin. Today it's almost like it never happened though so it's only a short term thing.

Here's a few pics of the Loph grafts I did last night.

And a linked picture of the Opuntia species I'm using as stock, it's also known as a Tacinga inamoena, but it has glochids so as far I'm concerned it's an Opuntia. The pads are almost the perfect size for a Loph at that stage.

Edited August 19, 2013 by SallyD

[woof woof woof]

I just finished eating a Opuntia Fruit :D good tasting! I have had a few of them. Have no clue what spp / cultivar they are. I think they are imported from Colombia.. (I live nearby)

Also have been collecting the pads of plants that grow around the island and also managed to eat some of the fruits. I love them. The seeds are much tougher then hylocerues spp. I dont chem them up,... it is possible to chew them up. Now, I just spit them out in places where I think they could maybe sprout on their own. Rainey season is comming up. :D

[woof woof woof]

http://www.lutherburbank.org/about-us/specialty-gardens/spineless-cactus

[Optimystic]

I've been eyeballing a few opuntia pads for grafting... I have a few that got pretty big and i've seen someone

over at the nook who had grafted a couple tricho seedlings which grew really large with a huge pad as a stock...

any day now I'll get to that

I've got 3 spineless varieties... 2 are about the same and they have really large glochids, they are more like small spines

which i'd prefer over the little ones anyday.. they can still hurt, maybe even worse than the small ones but easier to spot, avoid and remove... but the cacanapa spineless one is pretty much pain free. I should have put those in the ground already. maybe today eh ..

Thanks for the link Woof! thats awesome! its a few states away but I may have to get out there someday

I haven't seen those varieties named anywhere til now but i'll be on the lookout for them, expecially that one called "Texas Feeder"

Man I would eat alot of Tunas if it wasn't for the seeds... but they're good to have a around I guess... I just tried some in the last month or two for the first time and I did manage to chew up a few seeds but its alot of work lol

Edited August 19, 2013 by Spine Collector

[Dreamwalker.]

thanks SallyD ......great pics.....i checked out the you tube.....it appears the easiest method I've seen yet......apart from the glochids.....its something I'm keen to try...mainly to speed up my incredibly slow growing seedlings.........but they are only matchstick size......some almost 9 months old........I collected truckloads of various cacti of a couple of sellers on trademe (nz ebay) the weekend before last ....people either love them or hate them....if they hate them ...they want them out....and almost give them away.....plus a few collector friends have given me some big cuttings.....all kinds of stuff...........no idea of the names.....it will probably take a few months to pot them all up................but I guess from the vedio I can graft onto unrooted pads.....and then pot them up.........still I think I should hold off till summer...the nights can still drop to 7c inside..some sunny days can get inside temp to 20c......but cloudy grey days barely hit 15c.......................

I evny you woof......(well maybe ...I kinda peg out above 25c.........and the garden is amassing with spring flowers.....wonderland)......sounds like your on a tropical Island......its the tropical fruits you can access I really envy.........also those idealic white sandy beaches and warm touquoise seas...............and Mango trees..................any chance you can post some pics of the opuntia fruits (whole fruit and sliced) your feasting on......and maybe the pads along side them.......maybe we can figure out what they are..............if I can get it together I'll do the same.....with 2 almost seedless varities I have......incase someone should recognize them..........great link.........

So Spine are Tuna's much different than opuntias?......or are the fruits of opuntias also called tuna?............they look incredibly spiny from the pics I've seen of them and more tube like growth....I came across a web page months ago on wild food..that recommended a whole bunch of them

[Optimystic]

yeah they pretty much call any "prickly pear" (the fruit) a "Tuna" in Central and South America... at the local mexican grocer (owned by chinese folk) they also list them as Tuna whereas they don't sell them at the mainstream grocers lol I saw on a video 'en espanol' that they breed over 100 different types in Mexico and surrounding.. But I know the main varieties are Cochinillifera and Ficus Indica.... the ones I tried are very huge, really sweet like a watermelon almosts, but LOTS of seeds its like chicken grit.... I know alot grow in Peru right alongside the Trichos in Ayacucho.. In spanish they call the leaves "Nopales" .. the proper english term, I think, is phyloclades or cladodes, or at least thats what I mean by leaves, not vestigal leaves eh.. One can easily find Tacos de Nopales all over Tejas

Man I wish I knew a nearly seedless variety... to be honest I haven't really looked cause I just tried the fruit not long ago but if I knew I'd be looking to get some of that variety too just for that... I have alot of other plants tho and none have fruited yet.. hell none are even in the ground yet , i've procrastinated

Edited August 20, 2013 by Spine Collector

[vulcan]

I have been growing o. ficus indica and a couple of recaptured escapees for a few years now. Have been making the fruit into a drink and cooking the pads ( shallow stir fry with onions and garlic and spices to suit your taste and serve as a side dish to other meals or mixed with salads.) This cactus has a number of health benefits and can help with blood sugar balance, stomach general health-fiber, and cholesterol levels. I class it as a high value member of the garden and am happy to net it so birds cannot spread the seeds and have found they are much easier to manage when you are harvesting the fresh younger growth. Any excess pads can be cubed and boiled in water and then added to compost heap and recycle the nutrient content. I have poured the water the pads were boiled in on my pot plants after cooling and adding more water to dilute it a bit and have no issues so far. Cheers Vulcan

[Dreamwalker.]

Hi vulcan..............I like your interest list.......i have been meaning to get a hive.............I've left it to late again and my plum trees are all ready in flower........my neighbours must think I'm mad going about with a rainbow feather duster, haveing to do my own pollination.................i'm sure there are a lot insects out there doing it ............but alot of the new trees flower, but don't carry fruit..............so insurance...........and a lot of the days are a bit cold for bees to be out.............Varroa mite is really decimating our hives here ...slowly migrating south down the isalnd.........keen on genetics too......................

anyways here some pics ...as I said earlier.......i have only tried 3 cacti fruits.............sadly no shops sell them here.......the 2 below...are from the pads in the 2nd pic............I have lots of tear shape fruit .....Spine..the seeds are small and limited...half is just the pure melon tasteing golden fruit in this type....(a prolific fruiter)..see cut open friut on its pad.........i'm keen to exchange seeds from this one if you want.............though i have poor success sprouting opuntia seeds...tried scarring...........trying strafication with more cold hardy types............be a few months to see how that goes...I get poor strikes if any....

...the 3rd fruit i tried ...i mentioned earlier...deep crimson tennis ball size.......great for bread useless ...as a fruit ...all seeds....beautiful large thin pads..........I have a few pads.........

the pic below are some cereus validus...jamacan......and a x.................like now... I was up in the wee hours pollinating these night bloomers.............cause of their chromesome count ...they don't self pollinate.............and we don't have bats here.....keen to try the dusting cement treatment to self pollinate..........a collecter kindy sent them down from the north....................recommended fruiters.................i know cereus peruvian is a recommend fruit ...lots of breeding development in Isral....see you tube......................

sorry ...about the pics small size...not...sure why they came out so small?...any pointers?

so if anyone can name the opuntia's above..............or guess...any suggestions welcomed................i tried woofs? (can't recall who posted it) (search engine link) but i did't have enough info....ie flower colour....................

[Optimystic]

Im reminded of linguiformis by that pic of the skinny opuntia, but Im sure thats not it and really I don't know lol

I know the thin ones are the ones more often used for rood rather than the thicker ones

and green is often preferred over the blue ones, but im not sure if it matters if you just get the fresh younger growth

I really haven't developed a taste but I may try that with onions & garlic

sure is excellent to sautee zucchini strips in pepper flakes with garlic and olive oil... that there is sum grub worth throwing together .. tunas are like a buck for a half dozen large sized one, about the same for a bag of nopales

I know theres a diabetic recipe including nopales, pineapple and aloe vera... im sure the tunas could be mixed in there

those blue fruits remind me of Cipocereus Bradeii! cool looking ...

I got a cereus forbesii from the store.. they grow fast as f00k! in the heat at least... looks like the fruits maybe worth a try

they are really spiny columns tho, right up my alley I suppose ... too bad they aren't frost hardy
i've got a few other cereus species to cross with, Hildmannianus Tortuous, Respandus Monstrous, Hildmannianus Monstrous and Harrisia Jusbertii... but all just got started in the past year or two and they need a repotting

I wouldn't mind some of those seeds just to try some cross breeds

thats something I want to get into a bit but over a long period of patient time

I kept a bunch of seeds from that big red fleshed fruit.. I also have a bunch of hylocereus red flesh seeds

the sprout rate isn't great on the hylos but theres hundreds so yeah just message me if u want sum... i barely got paid enough

to cover the bill tho so might be next month before I can ship something lol

been meaning to root a ton of plants and have a plant sale eh

Edited August 21, 2013 by Spine Collector

[Dreamwalker.]

Cow Tongue Prickly Pear (Opuntia engelmannii var. linguiformis) has red fruit...the nopales look similar ...but the spines are different....it has no glocids...or very few.........i was going to try eating the nopale when I have more plants......Yeah the fruits of Cipocereus bradei are extraodinary..really worth trying to grow some... seeds or plants .....diffinatly on my want list....big things that look like they are from another planet...gets my interest.......sounds like your getting a nice collection of cereus..........smooth fruits.........i have manged to grow both the red/magentas and white hylocereus.undatus....took a few different seed houses before I got either very fresh or well ripen fruit seed...........fast growers...doz. of plants a good foot long with lots of shoots...reding a bit at the moment though.....totally understand the money thing...no prob...but the cereus x's will be a while before they are super ripe...(cool temp still...nothing is moving)...if they ever get that far.........its a bit of a worry cause the plants were fresh cuttings and i'm not sure if they have rooted........i was really suprised they fruited...could end up haveing to try 'embryo rescue' which is new to me...so all I have at the moment are the opuntia seeds...............but if the cereus x's do mature..........and i have excess seeds I'll keep you in mind and post you a few....I guess it will be several months before I know....so i'll see what your eating then....hopefully some stenocereus or the yellow dragon selenicereus megalanthus.........but i'd be happy to send a few regardless...(what comes round goes round)..I'm hopeing my x's will mature because i think they should yeild some interesting plants...........and its nice to work with fresh seed..........and cereus are a lot easier to sprout than opuntia............hopefully this season I can cross op x cereus with cement dust....some interesting freaks ....I grow a lot of frost tender plants..........i bring them insde under polycarbonate for the winter and let the cacti dry up a little...............

[woof woof woof]

few links

http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/proceedings1996/v3-446.html#Table%201

cultivars in spanish

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAnl2H8KT5w&NR=1&feature=endscreen

[Dreamwalker.]

nice pics.......but i can't speak spanish......................another good opuntia link though................

Cactus Farming in Morocco

www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=VBdCHtBSqh8

Israel Develops Tastier Pitaya Cactus Requiring Less Water

www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=QKfptpd8HYM

Edited February 23, 2015 by Dreamwalker.

[Optimystic]

its so hot when a mexican lady says naturaleza

Thanks Dream... I am definitely interested but at the same time

I am no hurry to get any more seeds lol

I think we're in opposite seasons, heading towards the tail end of summer here..

but still very much like summer...

Edited August 23, 2013 by Spine Collector

[junkheadrev]

Those look a lot like the tree opuntias of the Galapagos .

Maybe O. Echios or O.galapagia.

An amazing cactus but they are hard to get your hands on .

The last two i have seen on ebay went for 70 + for a 9cm pad.

Well worth it once they hit a growth spurt .

[Dreamwalker.]

hi junkheaddrev ............i wish they were O. Echios or O.galapagia...I'd love some seed of those ...total lust (but I guess they are 100's of years old).......couldn't imagine finding those in NZ....yeah Spine we are diffentatly reverse seasons....has some advantages.....Texas is big right?....so I guess there are all kinds of climate ...from hot deset to dry/wet cold mountains?,,,i've never been there...

...i'm suspecting the lower yellowing Op. maybe Opuntia stricta.taking into account what SallyD (id) was saying about hybridising freely and soil con. and look at some images..................

[Optimystic]

im pretty sure this one guy had Galapagos Opuntias on ebay for 3 bux a pad for a long time... I was gonna get one

but I decided not to for whatever reason... I think it was cause they are not for this climate or something but I don't remember

Im not sure what they were ,he just called them 'Tree Opuntias" but they were tree like and grew taller than the trailor in the photo with a huge trunk on them

yeah Texas is pretty huge... maybe 10 hours or more to drive from one tip to the other

but its pretty hot here lol most of texas is zone 8 or 9 but the panhandle (northernmost handle like section) is in zone 7

which has winter weather more often during the wintertime eh

most winter days here are like spring, but the night temps do get cool... occasional flurries and maybe average 2 light freezes a year

but the occasional icing over...

anyways... I picked up another spineless opuntia yesterday... of the side of the road - out in the country (I live in the suburbs of a big city)

I didn't think there were glochids at first til I got a little tiny one in my hand on the drive back.. this one looks greener than the others I have which are more bluish and the adult plants were all over the place... maybe 3 foot/less than a meter high... A voice told me "grab a pad" lol so I got two!

hehe

Edited August 27, 2013 by Spine Collector

[Dreamwalker.]

cool drive along cactus shopping

i'd do all my shopping that way.................................let us know what the fruit taste like...............probably a year or 2 away I guess............

[Sallubrious]

im pretty sure this one guy had Galapagos Opuntias on ebay for 3 bux a pad for a long time... I was gonna get one

but I decided not to for whatever reason... I think it was cause they are not for this climate or something but I don't remember

Im not sure what they were ,he just called them 'Tree Opuntias" but they were tree like and grew taller than the trailor in the photo with a huge trunk on them

yeah Texas is pretty huge... maybe 10 hours or more to drive from one tip to the other

but its pretty hot here lol most of texas is zone 8 or 9 but the panhandle (northernmost handle like section) is in zone 7

which has winter weather more often during the wintertime eh

most winter days here are like spring, but the night temps do get cool... occasional flurries and maybe average 2 light freezes a year

but the occasional icing over...

anyways... I picked up another spineless opuntia yesterday... of the side of the road - out in the country (I live in the suburbs of a big city)

I didn't think there were glochids at first til I got a little tiny one in my hand on the drive back.. this one looks greener than the others I have which are more bluish and the adult plants were all over the place... maybe 3 foot/less than a meter high... A voice told me "grab a pad" lol so I got two!

hehe

Talking about spineless Opuntias

I picked up a book from the US a few years ago - Luther Burbank Spineless Cactus Identification Project.

I got mine from some obscure website for a few bucks but here it is at Amazon http://us.yhs4.search.yahoo.com/r/_ylt=A0oGdMRx2R1SLXUAikcPxQt.;_ylu=X3oDMTByZWgwN285BHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDMQRjb2xvA3NrMQR2dGlkAw--/SIG=137c4ie1u/EXP=1377716721/**http%3a//www.amazon.com/Luther-Burbank-Spineless-Identification-Project/dp/1438903537

It has one, yes one rave review on Amazon

I was a bit disappointed with the book, the plot was very predictable, it didn't really build to a climax and it really just left me wanting more.

But honestly I have some weird fucked up inner calling that makes me pull over and get a pad whenever I see an Opuntia, I don't know what the fuck it's all about I just can't help myself. After I found out that you can get spineless cultivars I started reading about Burbanks and his work, then the interest just got out of control. If I lived in a southern state of the US I'd have a yard full of the fucking things.

That book I linked was really not that bad, it really opened my eyes to how many spineless cultivars there are. Most of the stuff I found online suggested there were around 10-12 cultivars but Burbanks' paperwork was destroyed in a fire so no-one really knows. Some suggest there were closer to 60 Burbanks spineless cultivars but he only released a limited number. Apparently they can be found all across the southern US states and they are disappearing because people love to stomp them out, because they don't have spines they are an easy target.

[MountainGoat]

I'm keen to revive this thread... What varieties are available in oz for fruit quality? How many do you have now Sallubrious?