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This blog is designed to expand and complement information on Opuntiads of the USA, a Web site devoted to Opuntia and related genera. The focus of this blog is broader and includes other cacti, succulents, and even animals that interact with cacti.
The Web site for opuntiads is pretty straight forward; there is a list of species and lots of photos for each species, but there is not much comentary. This blog is different from the Web site; the goal herein is to make Opuntia and other cacti ”lovable,” or at least understandable. The images are smaller here, but I’ll try to provide additional links so that blog readers can find other images easily.
My name is Joe Shaw; I have a BA in Botany and a PhD in Plant Pathology. I try my best to release only accurate information: I check and doublecheck what I write and hope you enjoy reading about cacti and succulents.
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Blog looks interesting. I am a botanist and MSC Plant Pathology from McGill Univ. Quebec Canada.!
Are you interested in photos of Opuntia fragilis growing in Victoria BC Canada?
Eric, did you receive the photos of Opuntia fragilis from Victora BC?
have read your articles and am most interested. If i can provide photos with size etc and any other info regarding them let me know.
hi there,i love cactus i heard by opuntia cactus works medicine + many more things.i have huge to give you.looking for serious buyer to come forward please mail me erasertouhidwe78@gmail.com.me touhid thankyou.
I have a propagation question. I sometimes propagate Opuntias by removing the green fruit and laying it on its side in potting soil and they usually sprout a leaf. I am assuming that since this is a green fruit with immature seed that the resulting plant is a clone of the parent from vegetative reproduction. My question is to anyone who has experience with this if my assumption is correct. I have noticed that with this method the fruit remains green and does not ripen, but becomes part of the stem with time. I like this method of propagation because it does very little damage to an existing plant and the “cuttings” are very small and compact, and you can potentially take a lot of cuttings from a single plant. I have not tried this method with other cactus, but it might work. I usually collect the green mature fruit after the bloom is done. Is anyone interested in setting up a green Opuntia fruit exchange?
Hi,
Thanks for your note. I’d like to receive photos of O. fragilis from BC.
Thanks,
Joe Shaw
Joe, photos to follow. Do you want specimens? if so will they get through customs. I can send from the site and from my garden.