Opuntia chaffeyi

[chris68]

Ray: Good shout on the pipe. We have lots of building going on at work so I have talked to the guys and they are saving spare lengths of 6" and 10" dia. pipe - that will do nicely!

Mike: Excuse my ignorance 'best not to handle the tubers' - why? Do they break up easily, irritant parts etc? Mine seemed fairly robust when I repotted.

My plants did not seem very deciduous either just a little limp over winter but responded quickly when watered. I do have another cutting from last August. I brushed past the plant and a piece fell off about 3" (75mm) long with 3 branches, this was placed in dry mix and forgotten under the bench last autumn and through the winter during which time it stayed fairly shrivelled. During a clear up early this year I found it again and knocked it out of the 2" pot I had left it in, the top growth fell off but the pot was almost full of tuber! This has been potted up in a larger pot and 2 new shoots are just begining to show.

Has anyone tried removing all the top growth as per Pterocactus tuberosus to see if this improves flowering. The flower has come from new growth, however, the time taken for new shoots to grow on the cutting above would seem to indicate that it would be a while before enough growth is available.

[Mike P]

Have a good look at the hairs covering the tuber.

[Tony R]

Tony;
That's very interesting.

Mike;
It certainly is a mealy magnet.

Here are 3 of mine that I de-potted this afternoon.
1) Yes I 'power-washed' the tops first to get rid of mealy bugs - they certainly like this plant.
2) These were just a one inch length of root with no top growth almost two years ago.

[RAYWOODBRIDGE]

Hi Tony;
That is good to know, I think I will try a root cutting as you suggest, ( those three look good )
Dr. Tony Roberts has mealy bug on his small opuntias well that is another illusion shattered

[Ross M]

This post reminded me that I have a plant, or at least I thought I had until I went to look for it I could remember acquiring it as a small cutting (in 2009 as it turns out) and wasn't aware of it dying but when I looked for the plant I couldn't find it. A search of where I last remember seeing it revealed it had fallen down the side of the staging, languishing in a rather shady spot stuck between the base of the greenhouse and my spare pots. Must have been there for at least five years I reckon!

Anyway, with great pity I retrieved it using one of those helping hand grippers and will put it in a bigger pot along with a more secure place on the staging. Who knows, it might even flower (or die) next year

[Tony R]

Nice one, Ross!

[Ross M]

Gangly top-growth trimmed and tuber safely housed in a deep recycled Pot Noodle tub (I use a lot of these for deep rooted tuberous plants and they're very durable). Noodles not all consumed by me, I hasten to add

So he's now going to a safe spot in the greenhouse