Tropical Gardens UK: Five Mistakes To Avoid Growing Opuntia Cactus - Prickly Pear

If you are looking for a challenge and want to grow something a little unusual in your cold-hardy, tropical-effect garden then you will struggle to find a plant more exotic that the Opuntia cactus - prickly pear. Given the appropriate variety and conditions required to maintain it in good quality throughout the year it is relatively easy to grow prickly pear - Opuntia species right here in the UK. That being said there are mistakes that you should try to avoid in order to ensure success, five of which are discussed by English horticulturist Simon in this video.
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• Five Mistakes to Avoid...

[@Stephen-gp8yi]

You know your stuff Simon great content🤙🏻

[@walkingtalkinggardeners]

Thanks, Stephan. we appreciate your supportive comment. Kind regards, Simon and Lorna

[@greatnorthernexotic]

Great video! I agree with you about o. humifusa - it really is an underwhelming looking plant 😄 further to the species you mentioned, i'd also recommend o. phaeacantha and o. scheerii, both of which survived outdoors for my last winter. 👍

[@walkingtalkinggardeners]

Thanks Great Northern Garden, I appreciate you adding a couple more great choices to the list. Kind regards Simon

[@nicholasryan5401]

Great video, I had eleven cacti between the spare room windowsill and the box room windowsill a few years ago but my wife said they had to go. I gave them to my mother who has a glass porch and loves cacti. I do have a glasshouse for cherry tomatoes and bell peppers in the summer and I keep nine pots of agapanthus, six pots of alstroemeira, two pots of calla lilies, four pots of delosperma and two pots of shrubby salvias in the glasshouse over winter.

[@walkingtalkinggardeners]

Hi Nicholas, and thanks for getting in touch. It's a shame you had to lose the cacti but happy wife, and all that. Still, it sounds like you have your hands are full with your other plants. Kind regards Simon

[@JenenaMaughan]

I live in Australia & my neighbour chopped down a large oppuntia in their yard. It was around 12' tall & multi branched & filled a skip bin when it was all chopped up. They look nice but have been a problem weed in the bush in the past here.

[@walkingtalkinggardeners]

Hello Jenena, we hear a lot of scary stories regarding invasive plants in you country. It's got be a challenging place to garden. I do like Opuntias but when you see them everywhere around the Mediterranean they definitely need controlling. Thanks for you comment. Simon

[@Stephen-gp8yi]

High Simon I received my Braeburn apple tree today mm106.its 6 ft tall and has five apples growing on it(three fell off during delivery).I was told an apple tree can’t produce fruit until it’s 4 years old so I’m presuming mine must be 4 or 5 years old?

[@walkingtalkinggardeners]

Nope, you have been poorly informed. You have a grafted tree with the dwarfing rootstock mm106. MM means it was developed by East Malling Institute and John Innes Institute, Merton. The rootstock are usually a couple of years old before grafting, and the braeburn scion is usually allowed to grow 2-3 years before sale. They almost always flower and fruit at this point, but it is best practice to remove the fruit as the young stems aren't usually strong enough to support the weight of the fruits. Fruiting this young also diverts energy away from branch growth, which you need to increase so it can support the weight of the fruit in subsequent years. Seed grown apple will usually fruit in around 10 to 15 years, but the grafting system forces that maturity and therfire fruiting to within 2 or 3 years. I hope this helps. Simon

[@Stephen-gp8yi]

@@walkingtalkinggardeners thanks.i noticed it has been pruned back so will leave it to grow naturally.hope the branches will grow back!