gr33ntea Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 A year or so ago I got a Luther Burbanks Opuntia. Basically a botanist (among other things) by the name of Luther Burbank (March 7, 1849 – April 11, 1926) spent two decades selectively breeding Opuntia pads to be spineless, the goal was a spineless opuntia that could be grown in the desert for cattle feed. It was successful but the cactus needed constant watering and couldnt survive in the heat.I was sold a Luther Burbanks opuntia and although it is spineless it still produces glochids. (All spineless or ‘Burbank’ opuntias bear tiny bristles (glochids) around areoles and on the fruit surface (Brutsch and Zimmerman, 1990).) Below is image of Luther Burbanks opuntia, from this site http://mattslandscape.com/detail/?plant_name=Opuntia%20ficus%20indica%20var%20burbank%20spineless#full_desc The only proper spineless opuntia i can think of is the thin Opuntia Nopales because it doesnt have as much glochids as burbanks.My Opuntia below looks like it has some opuntia robusta dna in it as it has an awesome blue tinge and is thick.below opuntia sold to me as luther burbank spineless 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
☽Ţ ҉ĥϋηϠ₡яღ☯ॐ€ðяئॐ♡Pϟiℓℴϟℴ Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 (edited) nice one!I just found out about this plant a couple of months ago , just found a supplier (pet shop - tortoise food)trouble is though , they ended up having 8 other "new" ones I now need <___base_url___>/uploads/emoticons/default_innocent_n.gifawesome to see a post here about itwhat a beauty, whatever it is Edited January 21, 2015 by ☽Ţ ҉ĥϋηϠ₡яღ☯ॐ€ðяئॐ♡Pϟiℓℴϟℴ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Berengar Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 (edited) Hahaha this is so weird! I spent the last 3 days looking at some pictures from a last year's gardening fair including the ones of this particular clone, thinking if I should buy some this year even tough they are quite expensive for an Opuntia (~3 pads for 10E) and not really cold hardy, when similar cold hardy ones grow semi-feral everywhere around here. (Sorry for the intrusion gr33ntea, hope you don't mind. ) Edited January 21, 2015 by Tangich 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gr33ntea Posted January 21, 2015 Author Share Posted January 21, 2015 (Sorry for the intrusion gr33ntea, hope you don't mind. )haha all good man, damn, those opuntias are quite productive with all that fruit. I was interested in spineless opuntia for grafting. Opuntia root so much quicker then any other cactus (besides pereskiopsis) i know.But the vascular rings are in such a tricky spot. I'll give it a shot with the aerole though 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dreamwalker. Posted January 24, 2015 Share Posted January 24, 2015 haha all good man, damn, those opuntias are quite productive with all that fruit. I was interested in spineless opuntia for grafting. Opuntia root so much quicker then any other cactus (besides pereskiopsis) i know.But the vascular rings are in such a tricky spot. I'll give it a shot with the aerole thouSo have they fruited for you...& did you eat any...just wondering how good they taste? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doxneed2c-me Posted January 25, 2015 Share Posted January 25, 2015 Anyone collect any seeds? I would like to make some Salsa with them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tizocAu Posted January 25, 2015 Share Posted January 25, 2015 I want one. !!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halcyon Daze Posted April 28, 2017 Share Posted April 28, 2017 Hey gr33ntea, do you consider your opuntia to be a genuine burbanks? I thought it was meant to be totally spineless. I have one that looks quite similar to yours, with the same amount of spines or glochids or whatever. Mine's not burbanks or anything, I'm wondering what's the difference.. Maybe yours is possibly not burbanks at all. Perhaps the seller just named it that because it looked spineless at the time. Just wondering what your opinion is, as I really have no knowlege on the subject. Cheers! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drildo Posted April 28, 2017 Share Posted April 28, 2017 (edited) Good looking none the less, this is another pic from gr33ntea: Number.4 is the 'proposed' spineless burbank's - i love the look of it. Edited April 28, 2017 by Skellum Fix link 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
☽Ţ ҉ĥϋηϠ₡яღ☯ॐ€ðяئॐ♡Pϟiℓℴϟℴ Posted April 28, 2017 Share Posted April 28, 2017 So have they fruited for you...& did you eat any...just wondering how good they taste? I'll bet they taste better than any fruit in the whole world nuthn beats a good barbory fig 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drildo Posted April 29, 2017 Share Posted April 29, 2017 Wondering bout the fruit of the burbanks spineless opuntias too @gr33ntea - I realise this threads 2+ years old though. If you still have any specimens grab us some pix, tell us about the fruits bro. Very nice plants! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gr33ntea Posted April 30, 2017 Author Share Posted April 30, 2017 @halyconDaze It was sold to me by a man who sells cacti at Victria Market in Melbourne. He seemed quite reputable. Burbanks although described as spineless are most often 'almost spineless' I think it is Burbanks cactus as it fits this description, especially the thick round bluish pads it produced: "A form of O.robusta reputedly bred by the fammous Luther Burbank for cattle-friendly fodder in WWII. Thick round bluish pads on a medium-sized bush. Okay outdoors in mild areas." - http://www.cacti.co.nz/library/opuntia-burbanks-spineless/ @skellum It never made any fruit as i always kept it in a pot and neglected it. I initially wanted it as a grafting stock, but the vascular rings were too close to the sides. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gr33ntea Posted April 30, 2017 Author Share Posted April 30, 2017 I wish Burbanks cactus instead of having no spines but having glochids, had spines but no glochids. Better the devil you can see than the one that is invisible Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drildo Posted April 30, 2017 Share Posted April 30, 2017 (edited) I'm hearing ya bro, The glochids are like fibreglass I hear realllly tiny and hard to see, to remove. The chick in the video I posted in godless listing for opuntia is eating a nice prickly pear from the fruit market. She says in the video that the spines (glochids) have been removed, but she still manages to get them in her hand during the process lol. I've got a few pads coming in the mail (of a nice fruiting orange cultivar). I plan to remove fruit with blade & tongs, then charr the fruit over coals, then scrub/wash and store in fruit bowl. Hopefully this works for me. My interest has shifted from the more aesthetically pleasing (Burbanks Spineless) opuntias, toward the known good eating varieties as I believe they are just as aesthetic as the spineless varieties & they will produce delicious fruit. Here's the link for godless' post offering local opuntia (good eating) which I believe is probably the orange variety judging by pictures:http://www.shaman-australis.com/forum/index.php?/topic/44289-prickly-pear-potentially-for-sale/ Here's a link to an ebay seller who seems to specialize in opuntia selling extra large pads of both the red and orange varieties (good eating):http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/10-XL-prickly-pear-cactus-opuntia-ficus-indicus-pads-live-cuttings-RED-ORANGE-/201624597126?hash=item2ef1c33286:g:FLAAAOSwygJXhwNm Easy, cool looking cactus IMO. I look forward to tasting the fruits in a few years time. Edited April 30, 2017 by Skellum spelling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halcyon Daze Posted April 30, 2017 Share Posted April 30, 2017 Thanks for clearing that up gr33ntea. I'll have to look out for a piece some time. Cheers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sagiXsagi Posted May 2, 2017 Share Posted May 2, 2017 normal ficus-indica is grown in many greek islands as food for goats - I suppose they keep the fruits for them selves. Ficus indica is naturalised here, but I still haven't eaten the fruit or anything produced by it... opuntia compressa seems to be one of the best Opuntias to graft to 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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