In Mexico we call it "NOPALES". There in Australia could be a tremendous source of biomass, to fed cows or sheeps. The plant is entirely edible. Had a lot of sugars, and nutrients and can grow in the most hostile enviroments whit no water or man care. In México, we cut the taller part, or "leaf", cut the spikes of the leaf with a kinife, wash it, cut slots on it like a fork, roast it in a frying pan with salt, and serve with a big steak and fries. It is a little slimy, but the more you fry it, the less slimy becomes. Very delicious I can say. Vegetarian people eat it a lot even in snacks. Here it cost 50 cents (USD)/ kg.
You may have to use machine gun this time for the increasingly overabundant CCP spies and bad businesses they bring. This is one cactus that’s thorns on your sides.
Can’t see the responses.. I don’t know why they’re being deleted. Would love to be able to counter bullshit, but I can’t if UA-cam won’t allow others to post responses to me that I can see..
Holly plant. (AKA. Nopal) Native to Mexico and on the Mexican flag! The whole thing is edible and the root is medicinal. This Cactus is a Mexican delicacy, usually eaten cooked and the fruit this eaten fresh, tastes just like dragon fruit (which is also native to Mexico)
I’ve been trying to grow the same cactus in the foothills of the Sierra and am having a hell of a time. Deer and squirrels love to eat them and if they don’t get them damn gophers will eat them from underneath. 🤬
@@72marshflower15 I recently did a Google search on "gophers", and I was amazed how much "love" gophers get...man I was impressed how much you guys really "love" your gophers... www.google.com/search?q=gophers&rlz=1C5CHFA_enAU882AU882&oq=gophers&aqs=chrome.0.69i59j46j0l3j69i60j69i61l2.9059j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
💯 I used to eat them on the way home, lots of tongue pains lol but I got good at it you just need a rock- also anyone that eats my cactus salad is always shocked how good it is. I want cactus to be just as popular as green beans or asparagus lol 😂 too ambitious 🤷🏻♀️😂
My farm here in Texas has native prickly pear cacti, I hate them cause they take up land that my goats can graze, plus they have hurt my guard dogs and goats so I have no choice to kill them. Their fruits taste so yummy though and the cactus patty (the green round bit) is also edible and supper yummy if ya cook it right.
Last time I was this early cane toads hadn’t be brought to Australia yet; because the government thought they’d be a great pest control measure *one ecological disaster later*.
Introducing new species is always highly dangerous.. We still don't know whether the moth introduced to Australia might later mutate to eat native plants..🙄
It became a problem because Australians didn't know of its many uses, a source of food, ecological paint, color for fibers(cochinilla), parcel borders, etc. In Mexico Many different species of cacti are an important part of the food and medicine industries!
No, it became a problem because the plant was invasive. They don't occur in such quantities and density in their native habitat. Monocultures are typical for invasive plants and pose a threat to biodiversity and the ecosystem. In their native habitat "invasive" species are part of an ecosystem that has evolved over millions of years, which has resulted in a balance between all inhabitants. If x amount of seedlings die due to a fungal disease and x amount of them get eaten by animals, the plants are naturally selected to get spikey, produce bitter chemicals and more seeds so that a few will make it. If you take such robust plants to an environment where nothing eats or damages them, they unfold their full potential and overgrow everything else.
@@XoroksComment, kudas, you explained it all so well. Lack of knowledge make people usually see things in such simplistic ways and that's what leads to approaches like thinking Australians could have got ridden of these species by simply eating them and using them for whatever.
Firstly there are Still Many Prickly Pear in that Region of Australia, Except the Farming/ Mining is more Intensive there now. The Real Prickly Pear Failure though was Very Poor Governance. Hence the Moth Control was a Distraction to the Real Problem and Different Problems occur after this. The Poor Governance was Not Fixed and other Equally serious Problems exist Today.
eandt.theiet.org/content/articles/2018/05/top-10-invasive-species-when-pest-control-goes-wrong/ Use the internet! There are thousands! Cats introduced around the world are on of the worst, but hey if your to dumb to look it up I’m sorry your so lazy! Here the trouble is multiflower rose, Asian ladybugs and kudzu!
If only you knew how expensive Mexican food is here in Australia. People love it, it's so exotic to us. But it's super expensive. The thought of actually eating cactus is totally foreign to us.
I don’t understand why Australians didn’t take advantage of a plant that destroys histamine, has delicious fruit full of vitamins, is a staple food in other countries and it has perfect growing conditions. I can’t get enough of it. The pads are great in salads, bbq, with burritos and nachos, in sauces and raw. I love doing my bit for conservation and foraging for prickly pear.
definitely not as good as the original, prickly pear would have significantly reduced the flammability of the country side rather than turning it into a death inferno
The scientific name was given to them when formally described by scientists. That name stays with the insect wherever it may be spread. The scientific name was in place well before they were considered as a biological control to be imported into Australia.
As a Mexican/Tejano I'm watching this thinking "instead of struggling to get rid of them, y'all could've controlled the 'attack' or the "invasion" by using it as a food source both humans and livestock. You could just burnt the spines and feed it to the livestock" btw. I hope one day all my cacti get as big as the images you showed
There is a town in Mississippi or Alabama which has a monument to the Boll Wevil. It destroyed the cotton crops. Farmers had to find another crop and began growing soybeans. They discovered that they made a lot more money from soybeans and the Boll Weevil was the best thing which happened to them.
So they caused a problem and introduced bigger problems using pesticides and moths... Prickly pears are delicious. Tender cactus shoots are good for breakfast diced, sautéed and mixed in with scrambled eggs, tomatoes and onions. You can also make a salad with onions, tomatoes, olive oil, cilantro and avocado.
It's impressive to see how many people in the comments think that a simple solution is that "they should have just eaten the cacti". It is not that simple and I'll try to contribute with some info that I can provide. I live in the Northeast of Brazil, where I grow different plants of the Opuntioideae subfamily (Opuntia is just one genus of those). Besides growing them as food for cattle, I'm a cactus collector/enthusiast and have contributed with biologists and researchers of these plants. We call the plants that belong to the Opuntioideae subfamily as Opuntiads, and there are hundreds of species and subspecies, plus variations of Opuntiads (many of them result from decades of artificial selections and crossbreeding). So, yes, some people (especially in Mexico) eat some specific parts of a selected number of species that are part of this subfamily. But...This does not mean every species is edible, or that the whole plants are edible, or that everybody would enjoy eating them, or that people would even be able to eat the plants faster than they grow, even if people would eat that all day long. Some Opuntiads that have been a pest in Australia can be found quite often where I live too, and believe me, this are mostly not the species you would want to make Nopalitos (name such plants get as a human food) from. Many of them have numerous, aggressive thorns that you won't be able to get rid of that easily. Some of them we have tried even throwing in campfires, and after all lumber is burned, the cactus pads are still there with their thorns, the pads just shrink some. Also, when growing out of their natural habitats, where such cacti face natural predators that limit their growth, such plants can grow at a tremendously fast pace and proliferate and dominate big areas in very short periods of time. After a plant establishes itself, sometimes you can cut all pads off, and still new ones will emerge from whatever is left of the stem in just a few days. These plants are incredibly resilient and can grow quite fast when in a suitable environment. New pads emerge not only from the pads that fall, but also from even the fruits that fall. Yes, it is that crazy, a fruit that is left on the ground will develop roots and become a new plant (clone of the mother plant, in this case). Anyways, I hope more people can understand that it is too simplistic to see things that way and say that this wouldn't have been a problem if people knew they could have eaten the plants.
In Mexico they are now growing cactus to feed livestock and not have to buy feed. Now it is said that to be a cattle rancher you have to be a farmer as well. Great video!
You have to understand the enormity of the problem. It was not possible for farmers to grow any crops. The cacti took up every square meter of farmland. Many walked away from their farms, cacti ruined they lives with no income.
it's interesting their commission went to Mexico and came back with a moth. Guess in the early 1900s doing a whole campaign to get people to eat it wasn't considered a real solution. Funnily enough, a few years ago I started seeing a lot of interest in nopales and worried they'd become the new hip super food - and hurt long-time consumers with the increase in demand - like what happened with quinoa.
I believe the problem is they couldn't control the populations. It reproduced beyond their ability to conceive of a way to keep it in check. Granted, I suspect a lack of imagination was also to blame. But from what was being described the fields were solid cactus plants. It was simply too much bio mass for them to use.
Every introduced species of fauna and flora have decimated our native environment!!!!!! We should not have ANY Hooved creatures in this country ..... at all. One day; NON-NATIVES will innerstand. ( the HARD way )
All the best cacti seem to come from Mexico! Here in the US, a lot of cactus species native to Mexico are sold as houseplants. I have a couple different opuntia species. I also have a lot of little cacti of various species. I leave them outside as much as possible, but I have to take them inside my house when temperatures get below freezing. I live in Ohio. In Ohio, there's no chance of any cactus becoming invasive, because they can't survive our winters.
@@hamsterama You may be surprised how diverse Cacti are. There are species in Patagonia and the high Andes. Not sure if they could survive outside where you live. But they are probably best left where they grow naturally. Mexico does have incredible diversity in Cacti. Some of the smallest to some of the largest and some of the most popular for people to grow at home.
@@geoffbreen2386 I recently got some books from library about cacti. I'll have to flip through them and see if any species from the Andes are available for sale in the US. But yes, you're right, many species are best left alone. Not all plants can be "domesticated" and live outside their native environments. I really love the small cacti species native to Mexico. In the winter, when I have to bring them inside, they easily fit on a windowsill. Also, the small species, from my experience, don't embed itchy and painful glochids into your skin when you touch them.
4 роки тому+1
Scary. Here in the drylands of Brazil the opuntia cacti are a very important survival food for our herds. If this moth gets here it would be an economic disaster.
Yeah, heard about the Prickly Pear attacking the native grasslands and forests of Australia and that a parasite was found and that quickly righted the wrong of introducing the prickly pear where none had originally grown, but I thought it was imported from Mexico and South America, from the Carribbean? Anyways ya all should farm the Prickly Pear like farmers in North-Central Mexico do, harvesting the pads, obviously cutting the spines off first and harvesting the nochtli(fruit), I know you guys have a different culture, but that's one thing us humans are great at, adapting ourselves to our local ecosystem. Uprated and thanking for sharing this informative and interesting video, greetings from Central Mexico! :)
Yes your local ecosystem includes cacti naturally. None are native to Australia. They were considered as of no use and a weed, an unwanted plant. If you look closely at a lot of photos and multiply that effect over massive areas you see that its not just a few fruit and edible pads. Its a takeover of farmland here and Australians had no history or interest in these out of control plants as food in any way. They wanted them gone.
Problem was, at the time, every person in Australia would have had to eat 25 cactus plants per day. Not very appetising, when there was plenty of fresh meat readily available
@@einfelder8262 That's not really a problem either, Australia at the time was a cattle country a farming industry. They could of just feed the cactus to the cattle or pigs. 25 plants a day would not be a problem for cattle, I'm just surprised the Australians never thought to do that. Yes they would have to prepare it, takeing the needles off, but there was already needless cactus aka Nopales. Maybe it was because Mexico had hundreds of years to find uses and that information wasn't shared with Australians.
@@missbrowny2994 Eating the fruit doesn't kill the plant... they are talking about eating the actual cladodes. De-thorning them for consumption is not sustainable at this scale though.
@@jeremygilmore3208 buddy there’s a whole industry dedicated to selling prickly pear pads to eat. I see them in the super market all the time. Not economical at scale? Humbug!
Wow great video! I live in Arizona and we view them so differently here but I totally understand why this was a major concern for the outback! Thanks for sharing!
I really enjoyed this video. You gained a subscriber. I lived in Victoria for a couple of years and videos like this help me feel connected and educated.
I would be really blessed if my own prickly pear plants would be as big as the Australian ones. "Nopal/Opuntia" plant is an amazing source of food for humans (salads w/tomatoes, mexican lime and coriander, meat/chicken/pork tacos with nopales, nopal dishes, even nopal snacks, refreshing water, jams, beer, etc.) and cattle (even with spines or burning the spines in some cases), a wonderful source of biomass (able for ethanol production, eco-friendly soaps) a nitrifying bacterias plant producer (biofertilizer production in their roots) and excellent allied for soil water retention (as the agave plant). Basically, a superfood. Is ideal for weigth-loss and low carbs diets, and usually used for treat high-cholesterol, diabetes disease, obesity and it is high in fiber, antioxidants and carotenoids. It's one of most underrated plants, but it's understandable how delicate are the isolated ecosystems as the Australian and need rigurous scientific studies for controlled-growing. I hope nopal would help another countries with climate/food/industrial challenges (as North and Central African regions, Central Asia and Middle East, all regions who need to fight against desertification, hydric soil stress and food shortages) Greetings from Mexico
Here in Florida there are similar situations but thankfully not yet quite as bad (in most places) as this cactus. Like Australia, our problem started when people imported vegetation from other parts of the world. First species? Bamboo. Not easily killed so removing from your property or even pruning it back is neigh on to impossible. Next is kudzu, a vine that grows anywhere and everywhere. Camphor trees are another. The leaves smell like medicine and the trees send new growth everywhere in a quest for water and light. I had 3 or 4 at the corners of my small urban lot but in their need to get light for new leaves the trees sent branches over the top of my house in a cantilevered fashion. I lived in fear of all three trees during hurricane season. Then there is water hyacinths that are chocking ponds and rivers
If you want a cactus attack in your own home, try haworthia cooperi (succulent plants). I had 1 haworthia cooperi, ....16 months later, they became 12+ separate haworthia cooperi plants. They only get an hour of sun indoors.
Saw about 300 acres of them in the early 50s. Loved the fruit, but couldn't walk through the area. Years later, area was arable again. Only A few plants seen, not vast areas as before.
We just planted prickly pear to our garden and our neighbour said that this wasn't a good idea. I don't think there will be any such occupation here bc of the climate but I still know they spread a lot. Thanks for the video.
You know you can eat the cactus pads when there young right? And you can eat the fruits fresh or make jams with them. You can Google mexican food with cactus pads.
@@JoseGarcia-uo5qz I watched a video from USA where ranchers were using a "flame gun" to burn away spines on growing plants so the cattle can consume them. After they get chewed back hard they can re shoot new growth. Just as an emergency food source. I expect goats would probably eat spine free pricky pears.
Only in industrial size the non-native specieses can endanger natives. Private plants are too small to be a threat and usually die out when relased due to stress.
@@WadcaWymiaru Private plants are sometimes thrown into bushland by gardeners no longer wanting to grow them. These small amounts dumped beside roads is how many problematic infestations start. They spread slowly and often people dont notice till they take over a large area.
@@geoffbreen2386 native grasses are my lifeblood and I can tell you we are losing most of them to exotics at an alarming rate. Virtually nobody except me even notices.
Really enjoyed this video. Cactus is one of my favorite plant in the world and I never thought that this once caused harm and inconvenience to others. Continue sharing informative contents like this. 🤗🍅
Interesting. I grew up in southern Texas where prickly pear is native. From San Antonio southward, it is everywhere! Some stands are as large as a small house. But as you drive east of my hometown of San Antonio, they suddenly stop around a small town called Waedler. The annual rainfall as you travel east of San Antonio increases by 1 inch/ 15 miles or 2.5cm/25km. Is it the rainfall that makes it stop, or soil type? Maybe a botanist online can answer the question. Sorry to hear about the huge problem in Aussie land.
Soil type. Opuntia lives on the east coast up to Quebec. They grow on stony slopes, hillsides and sandy and rocky soils including barrier islands and beaches and anywhere sandy doesn’t matter if it’s a forest or a grassland if it finds sand or rocky well draining soil it will colonize. Opuntia humifusa is the main species
From Goondoowindi head east parallel to the Dumeresque river and you'll have a lovely time amongst the prickly pear cactus and for real fun there's heaps of Tiger pear.
Fascinating. I'm in the Sonoran Desert of Arizona. The Prickly Pear is not hardy because of the odd mold found here, they can not combat and get sick easily but those of us that grow healthy ones make Prickly Pear jam.
I live in a mexican desert, these kind of moths are everywhere, and the cactus population here is very minimal for a plan that grows so easily. Not to mention theres not that many birds that eat the fruit to spread them far and wide.
Brilliant video. Left me with heaps of questions and I'm a massive cactophile. Does cactoblastus attack other cactaceae or just opuntia? Like if it reaches Texas will it wipe out loph? Or in Arizona the segareos? (Apologies on poor spelling)
I think the real threat to Lophophora williamsii is over collecting of wild populations. Given how easy they are to grow from seed there is no need for wild collection of plants. Once their gone they are gone forever.
@@geoffbreen2386 I whole heartedly agree and how easy they are to graft (Too accelerate growth) I'm just thinkin of endangered or threatened cacti In general. And do cacti from the endemic area of cactoblastus have a defence mechanism against it?
Excellent video 10/10. About 20 years ago I was a forester in the Pilliga Forest in NSW. This video was really interesting for me and I watched it with my children as we are studying biological control as part of our homeschooling. Thank you very much!
Herbicides were used to little effect on a massive problem, and the chemicals were never going to be cheap. Farmers tried everything they could. But being drought tolerant the cacti were a huge adversary.
Knowing how to cook that cactus one has a good source of nutrients and fiber, and it tastes well. You can combine it with another vegetables and ingredients to make good salads and it contains a viscous transparent liquid that lowers glucose levels. It has several industrial applications as well
Amazing that ppl thought of this method in 1910-20s. Lacking sophisticated understanding of insect and plant biology, I guess in a way it is common sense, which often times is not so common.
@Eyes wide open true dat.Japanese researchers failed at attempt to make 1/3 scale pyramid with any technology available .I believe that the notion that cities only started 10,000 years ago is erroneous .People look at ancient architecture precision and assume it is Gods or aliens ; couldn't be humans.I am amazed constantly at what was known long ago even if the knowledge was not widely spread.
Thanks for watching and for all the nice comments!! Like my T-shirt? Get it here!: teespring.com/cactus-attack
In Mexico we call it "NOPALES". There in Australia could be a tremendous source of biomass, to fed cows or sheeps. The plant is entirely edible. Had a lot of sugars, and nutrients and can grow in the most hostile enviroments whit no water or man care.
In México, we cut the taller part, or "leaf", cut the spikes of the leaf with a kinife, wash it, cut slots on it like a fork, roast it in a frying pan with salt, and serve with a big steak and fries.
It is a little slimy, but the more you fry it, the less slimy becomes. Very delicious I can say. Vegetarian people eat it a lot even in snacks.
Here it cost 50 cents (USD)/ kg.
Estaba pensando en eso, pudieron haberlos usado para comercelos o para el ganado
Candied Nopales are good, but I've never comes around to enjoying eating them just like that, despite having one on my forehead lol.
Yes! Young nopales are delicious cooked with fresh onions, cilantro, beans and chilli peppers
Pues sí, pero son tan ignorantes que no saben que se pueden comer.
@@mildsoup8978 no seas ignorante, para eso se preparan antes, además de ignorante perezoso.
well, at least Australia didn't have to use machine guns
Lol we lost them all to the emu ........ during the war we lost to them 😬
They don’t want lead poisoning like the US does 🤣🤣🤣
😂😂😂
You may have to use machine gun this time for the increasingly overabundant CCP spies and bad businesses they bring. This is one cactus that’s thorns on your sides.
Can’t see the responses.. I don’t know why they’re being deleted. Would love to be able to counter bullshit, but I can’t if UA-cam won’t allow others to post responses to me that I can see..
Holly plant. (AKA. Nopal) Native to Mexico and on the Mexican flag! The whole thing is edible and the root is medicinal. This Cactus is a Mexican delicacy, usually eaten cooked and the fruit this eaten fresh, tastes just like dragon fruit (which is also native to Mexico)
Never heard that last part b4, for what and how do you prep them?
Saltyyy Kush420 Nopales
you can also manufacture glue and paint with them (search for "pintura de nopal")
@@mildsoup8978 look up "nopal recipes"
@Saltyyy Kush420 "nopal" is the name
It’s like when you lose your arms and a new person grows out of it.
And that person is you.
Yeah, I hate when that happens.
I’ve been trying to grow the same cactus in the foothills of the Sierra and am having a hell of a time. Deer and squirrels love to eat them and if they don’t get them damn gophers will eat them from underneath. 🤬
Then stop doing it..
@@72marshflower15 I recently did a Google search on "gophers", and I was amazed how much "love" gophers get...man I was impressed how much you guys really "love" your gophers...
www.google.com/search?q=gophers&rlz=1C5CHFA_enAU882AU882&oq=gophers&aqs=chrome.0.69i59j46j0l3j69i60j69i61l2.9059j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
Try small patches in different areas. Odd since the Sierra madre is a second home for them.
That shows their high intelligence! Maybe the animals are telling us something.
alus nova - I think he's talking about the Sierra Nevada in California where it's much colder.
Cactus pears are so delicious!
💯 I used to eat them on the way home, lots of tongue pains lol but I got good at it you just need a rock- also anyone that eats my cactus salad is always shocked how good it is. I want cactus to be just as popular as green beans or asparagus lol 😂 too ambitious 🤷🏻♀️😂
they are very delicious..I don't love to harvest them..so I just buy them
It's the quenchiest!
Yesh
My farm here in Texas has native prickly pear cacti, I hate them cause they take up land that my goats can graze, plus they have hurt my guard dogs and goats so I have no choice to kill them. Their fruits taste so yummy though and the cactus patty (the green round bit) is also edible and supper yummy if ya cook it right.
Last time I was this early cane toads hadn’t be brought to Australia yet; because the government thought they’d be a great pest control measure *one ecological disaster later*.
BRING IN THE TOADS
@@pancakes4552
Bring the French now...
All hail HYPNO TOAD!!!
Introducing new species is always highly dangerous.. We still don't know whether the moth introduced to Australia might later mutate to eat native plants..🙄
It became a problem because Australians didn't know of its many uses, a source of food, ecological paint, color for fibers(cochinilla), parcel borders, etc. In Mexico Many different species of cacti are an important part of the food and medicine industries!
It had no natural predators in Australia. Anyway, it was imported originally because of its uses.
No, it became a problem because the plant was invasive. They don't occur in such quantities and density in their native habitat. Monocultures are typical for invasive plants and pose a threat to biodiversity and the ecosystem. In their native habitat "invasive" species are part of an ecosystem that has evolved over millions of years, which has resulted in a balance between all inhabitants. If x amount of seedlings die due to a fungal disease and x amount of them get eaten by animals, the plants are naturally selected to get spikey, produce bitter chemicals and more seeds so that a few will make it. If you take such robust plants to an environment where nothing eats or damages them, they unfold their full potential and overgrow everything else.
@@XoroksComment, kudas, you explained it all so well. Lack of knowledge make people usually see things in such simplistic ways and that's what leads to approaches like thinking Australians could have got ridden of these species by simply eating them and using them for whatever.
Ray Al Naturel it became an environmental disaster, whether it could be used or not it doesn’t matter if it’s destroying the native ecosystems
All us Mexicans watching this 👁👄👁
Jose Chiquito we eat them
Tan ricos los taquitos de nopales en salsa verde o a la mexicana 😋
Firstly there are Still Many Prickly Pear in that Region of Australia, Except the Farming/ Mining is more Intensive there now.
The Real Prickly Pear Failure though was Very Poor Governance. Hence the Moth Control was a Distraction to the Real Problem and Different Problems occur after this. The Poor Governance was Not Fixed and other Equally serious Problems exist Today.
I grew up eating them; their fruit, young cactus pads basically as a stir fry vegetable. Now they're drinkable in juices. Man, Australia missed out.
Coyotl ay 😋
99 out of 100 ecological control relocation turns out terribly! Many disasters have occurred this way!
Name some.
eandt.theiet.org/content/articles/2018/05/top-10-invasive-species-when-pest-control-goes-wrong/ Use the internet! There are thousands! Cats introduced around the world are on of the worst, but hey if your to dumb to look it up I’m sorry your so lazy! Here the trouble is multiflower rose, Asian ladybugs and kudzu!
And cane toads.
Farmer Ted you’ve mixed commerce as the means or motivation for introductions with pre-scientific attempts at pest control using animals.
I know. I was waiting for the moths to kill everything then they would have to bring in spiders or some shit.
Thanks TTK, i never heard about this before good job on giving information on less known topics and history with citation too !
The first death of a prickly pear plant from Cacto blastus was September 1926 at the control station in Chinchilla.
In mexico we eat it, and there is also a company that is turning cactus into leather.
If only you knew how expensive Mexican food is here in Australia. People love it, it's so exotic to us. But it's super expensive. The thought of actually eating cactus is totally foreign to us.
I don’t understand why Australians didn’t take advantage of a plant that destroys histamine, has delicious fruit full of vitamins, is a staple food in other countries and it has perfect growing conditions. I can’t get enough of it. The pads are great in salads, bbq, with burritos and nachos, in sauces and raw. I love doing my bit for conservation and foraging for prickly pear.
That's what happens when you mess with Mother Nature. NEVER FAILS!
Tumbleweeds 2, electric boogaloo ?
Also zombie cactus pads, not even clippings stuck in the ground, but just left there? That's scary. :(
definitely not as good as the original, prickly pear would have significantly reduced the flammability of the country side rather than turning it into a death inferno
Hey they are great to eat ,just take the spines off and boil
You've done it. You've solved the entirety of Australia's prickly pear problem. Just eat them!
jinch why not Australia should start exporting them to Mexico or other countries
@@philceballos2991 because mass cultivation would cause more ecological damage as the prickly pear will overgrown native flora.
Steven Nguyen I’m not saying keep planting it just use what’s there
mroldnewbie if you are talking about the fruit that grows on top who grow in different colors, yes you eat the seeds.
Wait... it’s name was cacto-blastus? Did that come before or after it blasted away the cactus?
The scientific name was given to them when formally described by scientists. That name stays with the insect wherever it may be spread. The scientific name was in place well before they were considered as a biological control to be imported into Australia.
@@geoffbreen2386 You're right of course, but, Damn, it does sound like a really cool cartoon villian doesn't it?
Dung beetle. The most successful introduction of a species in australia
Do u have a link?
That’s a tortoise heaven
I'm thinking the same 😂
Great video! Very informative! I've always loved cacti and succulents, but this is an eye opener.
Forget the emu war when there's the cactus war!
As a Mexican/Tejano I'm watching this thinking "instead of struggling to get rid of them, y'all could've controlled the 'attack' or the "invasion" by using it as a food source both humans and livestock. You could just burnt the spines and feed it to the livestock" btw. I hope one day all my cacti get as big as the images you showed
Try despining them, cooking, and eating! Check youtube for Mexican recipes.
Jim Oehl nopales 🤤🤤🤤
Do they taste like Dragon fruit?
We called the fruit: tuna. The tunas grows well in the Andes mountains..so delicious.😁
I am surprised they didn’t use the prickly pear casts as a fruit and vegetable crop.
Love your channel. Nice to see Australians making quality youtube!
There is a town in Mississippi or Alabama which has a monument to the Boll Wevil. It destroyed the cotton crops. Farmers had to find another crop and began growing soybeans. They discovered that they made a lot more money from soybeans and the Boll Weevil was the best thing which happened to them.
So they caused a problem and introduced bigger problems using pesticides and moths... Prickly pears are delicious. Tender cactus shoots are good for breakfast diced, sautéed and mixed in with scrambled eggs, tomatoes and onions. You can also make a salad with onions, tomatoes, olive oil, cilantro and avocado.
It's impressive to see how many people in the comments think that a simple solution is that "they should have just eaten the cacti".
It is not that simple and I'll try to contribute with some info that I can provide.
I live in the Northeast of Brazil, where I grow different plants of the Opuntioideae subfamily (Opuntia is just one genus of those). Besides growing them as food for cattle, I'm a cactus collector/enthusiast and have contributed with biologists and researchers of these plants.
We call the plants that belong to the Opuntioideae subfamily as Opuntiads, and there are hundreds of species and subspecies, plus variations of Opuntiads (many of them result from decades of artificial selections and crossbreeding). So, yes, some people (especially in Mexico) eat some specific parts of a selected number of species that are part of this subfamily. But...This does not mean every species is edible, or that the whole plants are edible, or that everybody would enjoy eating them, or that people would even be able to eat the plants faster than they grow, even if people would eat that all day long.
Some Opuntiads that have been a pest in Australia can be found quite often where I live too, and believe me, this are mostly not the species you would want to make Nopalitos (name such plants get as a human food) from. Many of them have numerous, aggressive thorns that you won't be able to get rid of that easily. Some of them we have tried even throwing in campfires, and after all lumber is burned, the cactus pads are still there with their thorns, the pads just shrink some.
Also, when growing out of their natural habitats, where such cacti face natural predators that limit their growth, such plants can grow at a tremendously fast pace and proliferate and dominate big areas in very short periods of time. After a plant establishes itself, sometimes you can cut all pads off, and still new ones will emerge from whatever is left of the stem in just a few days.
These plants are incredibly resilient and can grow quite fast when in a suitable environment. New pads emerge not only from the pads that fall, but also from even the fruits that fall. Yes, it is that crazy, a fruit that is left on the ground will develop roots and become a new plant (clone of the mother plant, in this case).
Anyways, I hope more people can understand that it is too simplistic to see things that way and say that this wouldn't have been a problem if people knew they could have eaten the plants.
Also there was more than one species being a pest in Australia
In Mexico they are now growing cactus to feed livestock and not have to buy feed. Now it is said that to be a cattle rancher you have to be a farmer as well. Great video!
Aren't pricklypear pads and fruits edible? As in, show the locals how to cook em and your problems will soon be solved.
yeah you can eat them, why would they want to get rid of it.
You have to understand the enormity of the problem. It was not possible for farmers to grow any crops. The cacti took up every square meter of farmland. Many walked away from their farms, cacti ruined they lives with no income.
it's interesting their commission went to Mexico and came back with a moth. Guess in the early 1900s doing a whole campaign to get people to eat it wasn't considered a real solution. Funnily enough, a few years ago I started seeing a lot of interest in nopales and worried they'd become the new hip super food - and hurt long-time consumers with the increase in demand - like what happened with quinoa.
@aj b to who? Why would you sell the less expensive and useful cacti, which exists in masse And is invasive, instead of just weeding it out?
I believe the problem is they couldn't control the populations. It reproduced beyond their ability to conceive of a way to keep it in check. Granted, I suspect a lack of imagination was also to blame. But from what was being described the fields were solid cactus plants. It was simply too much bio mass for them to use.
Woow, in México this Opuntia cactus(nopales) is our national treasure...🤔
Every introduced species of fauna and flora have decimated our native environment!!!!!! We should not have ANY Hooved creatures in this country ..... at all. One day; NON-NATIVES will innerstand. ( the HARD way )
All the best cacti seem to come from Mexico! Here in the US, a lot of cactus species native to Mexico are sold as houseplants. I have a couple different opuntia species. I also have a lot of little cacti of various species. I leave them outside as much as possible, but I have to take them inside my house when temperatures get below freezing. I live in Ohio. In Ohio, there's no chance of any cactus becoming invasive, because they can't survive our winters.
@@hamsterama You may be surprised how diverse Cacti are. There are species in Patagonia and the high Andes. Not sure if they could survive outside where you live. But they are probably best left where they grow naturally. Mexico does have incredible diversity in Cacti. Some of the smallest to some of the largest and some of the most popular for people to grow at home.
So much a national treasure it's in the Mexican flag.
@@geoffbreen2386 I recently got some books from library about cacti. I'll have to flip through them and see if any species from the Andes are available for sale in the US. But yes, you're right, many species are best left alone. Not all plants can be "domesticated" and live outside their native environments. I really love the small cacti species native to Mexico. In the winter, when I have to bring them inside, they easily fit on a windowsill. Also, the small species, from my experience, don't embed itchy and painful glochids into your skin when you touch them.
Scary. Here in the drylands of Brazil the opuntia cacti are a very important survival food for our herds. If this moth gets here it would be an economic disaster.
Wow, this is amazing! Great video and so well done!! Keep up the good work!!
I live in New Mexico, and one of the prickly pears in my yard, has that fungus which creates that dye.
They didn't had to bring a moth from Mexico, they had to bring a mexican who knew how to cook em.
Wow, the cactus is actually medicinal and a culinary delicacy!
Such a cool channel! 🌵🌵
Yeah, heard about the Prickly Pear attacking the native grasslands and forests of Australia and that a parasite was found and that quickly righted the wrong of introducing the prickly pear where none had originally grown, but I thought it was imported from Mexico and South America, from the Carribbean? Anyways ya all should farm the Prickly Pear like farmers in North-Central Mexico do, harvesting the pads, obviously cutting the spines off first and harvesting the nochtli(fruit), I know you guys have a different culture, but that's one thing us humans are great at, adapting ourselves to our local ecosystem. Uprated and thanking for sharing this informative and interesting video, greetings from Central Mexico! :)
Thanks, I'm Australian and have prickly pear in my backyard. I will have to try the fruit
Yes your local ecosystem includes cacti naturally. None are native to Australia. They were considered as of no use and a weed, an unwanted plant. If you look closely at a lot of photos and multiply that effect over massive areas you see that its not just a few fruit and edible pads. Its a takeover of farmland here and Australians had no history or interest in these out of control plants as food in any way. They wanted them gone.
Y’all should have just ate the cactus 😋
Problem was, at the time, every person in Australia would have had to eat 25 cactus plants per day. Not very appetising, when there was plenty of fresh meat readily available
@@einfelder8262
That's not really a problem either, Australia at the time was a cattle country a farming industry. They could of just feed the cactus to the cattle or pigs. 25 plants a day would not be a problem for cattle, I'm just surprised the Australians never thought to do that. Yes they would have to prepare it, takeing the needles off, but there was already needless cactus aka Nopales. Maybe it was because Mexico had hundreds of years to find uses and that information wasn't shared with Australians.
Jerry Velasco did it video say that when animals eat the fruits then poop it out they then produce more cactus plants?
@@missbrowny2994 Eating the fruit doesn't kill the plant... they are talking about eating the actual cladodes. De-thorning them for consumption is not sustainable at this scale though.
@@jeremygilmore3208 buddy there’s a whole industry dedicated to selling prickly pear pads to eat. I see them in the super market all the time. Not economical at scale? Humbug!
They are a hellish nightmare when stepped on bare foot.
That happened to you?! haha!
That was top notch, mate. Thanks.
Interesting mate had some land near Kingaroy heaps of prickly pear and something was killing it good video
We were taught about cactoblastis in primary school in the 60s
It's a shame we don't yet have an equivalent that can target cain toads while leaving native frogs alone
Best outro! "I hope at least you enjoyed it, at most learnt something" You have my sub!
Wow great video! I live in Arizona and we view them so differently here but I totally understand why this was a major concern for the outback! Thanks for sharing!
I really enjoyed this video. You gained a subscriber. I lived in Victoria for a couple of years and videos like this help me feel connected and educated.
I would be really blessed if my own prickly pear plants would be as big as the Australian ones.
"Nopal/Opuntia" plant is an amazing source of food for humans (salads w/tomatoes, mexican lime and coriander, meat/chicken/pork tacos with nopales, nopal dishes, even nopal snacks, refreshing water, jams, beer, etc.) and cattle (even with spines or burning the spines in some cases), a wonderful source of biomass (able for ethanol production, eco-friendly soaps) a nitrifying bacterias plant producer (biofertilizer production in their roots) and excellent allied for soil water retention (as the agave plant). Basically, a superfood. Is ideal for weigth-loss and low carbs diets, and usually used for treat high-cholesterol, diabetes disease, obesity and it is high in fiber, antioxidants and carotenoids.
It's one of most underrated plants, but it's understandable how delicate are the isolated ecosystems as the Australian and need rigurous scientific studies for controlled-growing. I hope nopal would help another countries with climate/food/industrial challenges (as North and Central African regions, Central Asia and Middle East, all regions who need to fight against desertification, hydric soil stress and food shortages)
Greetings from Mexico
Don't they know in Australia that prickly pear cactus pads are edible. And good for humans and cattle alike?
Prickly pear can solve world hunger
Good luck having prickly pear for breakfast, lunch and dinner
whew!
australia
averts
another
prickly situation.
Thanks so much for your time and efforts in making this great clip!
Opuntia grows wild in Georgia in the USA. I've seen a lot of patches of them around Stone Mountain.
Here in Florida there are similar situations but thankfully not yet quite as bad (in most places) as this cactus.
Like Australia, our problem started when people imported vegetation from other parts of the world.
First species? Bamboo. Not easily killed so removing from your property or even pruning it back is neigh on to impossible. Next is kudzu, a vine that grows anywhere and everywhere. Camphor trees are another. The leaves smell like medicine and the trees send new growth everywhere in a quest for water and light. I had 3 or 4 at the corners of my small urban lot but in their need to get light for new leaves the trees sent branches over the top of my house in a cantilevered fashion. I lived in fear of all three trees during hurricane season. Then there is water hyacinths that are chocking ponds and rivers
If you want a cactus attack in your own home, try haworthia cooperi (succulent plants). I had 1 haworthia cooperi, ....16 months later, they became 12+ separate haworthia cooperi plants. They only get an hour of sun indoors.
And that’s why I more prefer UA-cam than public Tv. I can learn something new whenever I want. Great Content btw. You’ve got my sub
Saw about 300 acres of them in the early 50s. Loved the fruit, but couldn't walk through the area. Years later, area was arable again. Only A few plants seen, not vast areas as before.
if you want to see HUGE numbers of HUGE examples these cacti drive along the Gore highway in southern Queensland, it's astonishing.
Yep I live along that highway and have loads of big ones at the back of my block.
We just planted prickly pear to our garden and our neighbour said that this wasn't a good idea. I don't think there will be any such occupation here bc of the climate but I still know they spread a lot. Thanks for the video.
You know you can eat the cactus pads when there young right? And you can eat the fruits fresh or make jams with them. You can Google mexican food with cactus pads.
@@JoseGarcia-uo5qz I watched a video from USA where ranchers were using a "flame gun" to burn away spines on growing plants so the cattle can consume them. After they get chewed back hard they can re shoot new growth. Just as an emergency food source. I expect goats would probably eat spine free pricky pears.
Only in industrial size the non-native specieses can endanger natives.
Private plants are too small to be a threat and usually die out when relased due to stress.
@@WadcaWymiaru Private plants are sometimes thrown into bushland by gardeners no longer wanting to grow them. These small amounts dumped beside roads is how many problematic infestations start. They spread slowly and often people dont notice till they take over a large area.
@@geoffbreen2386 native grasses are my lifeblood and I can tell you we are losing most of them to exotics at an alarming rate. Virtually nobody except me even notices.
You have earned a new Sub. Great content!
Nice informative video mate!
I would like to have that plant in a controlled garden... 😍🌵❤👍
Im glad I found your channel greetings from El Salvador I do have cactus in backyard
Very interesting video! I just signed up as a new subscriber. Thanks for posting!
Heatwaves, bugs, emu armies, and prickly pears. What else do the Aussies have to deal with?! 😲
More poisonous critters then most places on earth.
@@duanenavarre7234 Legit! How do you survive everyday? 😲
Edit: Always wanted to visit but I'm afraid I'll die.
Really enjoyed this video. Cactus is one of my favorite plant in the world and I never thought that this once caused harm and inconvenience to others. Continue sharing informative contents like this. 🤗🍅
Interesting. I grew up in southern Texas where prickly pear is native. From San Antonio southward, it is everywhere! Some stands are as large as a small house. But as you drive east of my hometown of San Antonio, they suddenly stop around a small town called Waedler. The annual rainfall as you travel east of San Antonio increases by 1 inch/ 15 miles or 2.5cm/25km. Is it the rainfall that makes it stop, or soil type? Maybe a botanist online can answer the question. Sorry to hear about the huge problem in Aussie land.
Soil type. Opuntia lives on the east coast up to Quebec. They grow on stony slopes, hillsides and sandy and rocky soils including barrier islands and beaches and anywhere sandy doesn’t matter if it’s a forest or a grassland if it finds sand or rocky well draining soil it will colonize. Opuntia humifusa is the main species
I just come here from reading a line from my ncert textbook.. Love from India.. ✌
Nice video bro!
Love your videos! So well researched, thorough and well spoken :)
I feel sad that the cactus plants were obliterated.
Such an underrated channel this is
From Goondoowindi head east parallel to the Dumeresque river and you'll have a lovely time amongst the prickly pear cactus and for real fun there's heaps of Tiger pear.
Great video. Miles QLD also has a memorial about the cactus in the historical village
Fascinating. I'm in the Sonoran Desert of Arizona. The Prickly Pear is not hardy because of the odd mold found here, they can not combat and get sick easily but those of us that grow healthy ones make Prickly Pear jam.
I live in a mexican desert, these kind of moths are everywhere, and the cactus population here is very minimal for a plan that grows so easily. Not to mention theres not that many birds that eat the fruit to spread them far and wide.
A very cool story and an interesting video! Keep them coming!! :)
Brilliant video. Left me with heaps of questions and I'm a massive cactophile. Does cactoblastus attack other cactaceae or just opuntia? Like if it reaches Texas will it wipe out loph? Or in Arizona the segareos? (Apologies on poor spelling)
I think the real threat to Lophophora williamsii is over collecting of wild populations. Given how easy they are to grow from seed there is no need for wild collection of plants. Once their gone they are gone forever.
@@geoffbreen2386 I whole heartedly agree and how easy they are to graft (Too accelerate growth) I'm just thinkin of endangered or threatened cacti In general. And do cacti from the endemic area of cactoblastus have a defence mechanism against it?
@@ventactics I do not have the expertise to answer these questions.
Great video 👍 you have a new subscriber
Excellent video 10/10. About 20 years ago I was a forester in the Pilliga Forest in NSW. This video was really interesting for me and I watched it with my children as we are studying biological control as part of our homeschooling. Thank you very much!
Leave it to Australia to declare war on a plant. 😂 😂 😂
The failure of the War on Emus is fake news
So Australia lost the first Cactus war, but won the 2nd Cactus war. Good job Australia
What about Eucalyptus species from Australia that are so invasive in other parts of the world?
I have a HUGE fear of Cacti, so the Title Was Not so Pleasant to read. SO scary!!
Wow, that's a strange phobia! Most cacti species that are kept as houseplants won't hurt you.
Thanks. I’d always thought that they’d been poisoned not eat out. Thank you.
Herbicides were used to little effect on a massive problem, and the chemicals were never going to be cheap. Farmers tried everything they could. But being drought tolerant the cacti were a huge adversary.
I really enjoyed your channel.
Knowing how to cook that cactus one has a good source of nutrients and fiber, and it tastes well. You can combine it with another vegetables and ingredients to make good salads and it contains a viscous transparent liquid that lowers glucose levels. It has several industrial applications as well
Here in Texas we eat the pricker pares and the plant itself , not to mention if you hit it with a flame you can feed your cattle with it as well
I so appreciate watching this video, I lived in Dalby as a child, thank you for this awesome piece of information 🤗😁
Amazing that ppl thought of this method in 1910-20s. Lacking sophisticated understanding of insect and plant biology, I guess in a way it is common sense, which often times is not so common.
@Eyes wide open true dat.Japanese researchers failed at attempt to make 1/3 scale pyramid with any technology available .I believe that the notion that cities only started 10,000 years ago is erroneous .People look at ancient architecture precision and assume it is Gods or aliens ; couldn't be humans.I am amazed constantly at what was known long ago even if the knowledge was not widely spread.
Very informative. In NZ it is drilled into us how bad some species can be at destroying the ecology of a place.
Very informative and extremely well done.
This is very cool!
Great video! Thank you! Helped with our homeschool lesson.
Wow useful information thanks for sharing
How did a country the size of Oregon take over half the world?!
A lot of ships.
With lots of charm.
I say old chap do continue.
Your asinine ignorance is jolly entertaining what what! (Guffaw Guffaw).
Sorry, I couldn’t resist it!
Because of absolute superiority!
guns and germs.
Amazing info. Thank you
2:06
Jesus Christ they should be named Hydra Cactus
That’s actually a great and clever name.