Opuntia Help / Disease?

Trouble shoot problems you are having with your cactus.
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luwe2008
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Joined: Tue Aug 04, 2015 1:59 am

Opuntia Help / Disease?

Post by luwe2008 »

Hey Guys,

I am kind of new to cacti and have a question about some things going on with my Opuntia.

First, do any of you know what variety this is?

Second, I have a few things going on with it. It has these spots developing on base of some of its pads. I know there is corking going on at the base but I am confused on what is going on with the pads. Is it corking, sunburn, phototoxicity or something else?

Here are a few pictures:

BASE
Image


PADS
Image

Image

Image

Also, what is going on here? Are the wrinkles normal or a sign of sunburn or underwatering?

Image

Thanks!
Louis.
jmoney
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Re: Opuntia Help / Disease?

Post by jmoney »

To me it looks like Opuntia gosseliniana . The damage to the pads looks like sunburn to me but wait for a more experienced member to chime in.
Budding cactus enthusiast

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luwe2008
Posts: 7
Joined: Tue Aug 04, 2015 1:59 am

Re: Opuntia Help / Disease?

Post by luwe2008 »

jmoney wrote:To me it looks like Opuntia gosseliniana . The damage to the pads looks like sunburn to me but wait for a more experienced member to chime in.
Awesome! Thanks for the help, hopefully someone can help out.
luwe2008
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Re: Opuntia Help / Disease?

Post by luwe2008 »

can anyone help?
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hegar
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Re: Opuntia Help / Disease?

Post by hegar »

Hello Louis,
I would also guess, that your prickly pear cactus is suffering from some kind of physiological disorder, i.e. sun damage or perhaps drought stress.
However, having said that, a cactus will also start to show these symptoms, if the root has rotted and the bacteria is moving up the stem.
To be on the safe side, I would cut some of the best upper pads off, let them callous over and then plant them in a different location or a pot.
That way you will at least save the plant. Then I would take a look at the root system of your Opuntia, in order to see, if that is the reason of the upper growth looking the way it does. Prickly pears are generally very tough plants and will grow quickly. However, I have successfully killed a few of them myself, :oops: including a beaver tail opuntia (O. basilaris). Some of my plants - and I do have 22 kinds of Opuntias - do suffer from the harsh climate (abundant sunshine with 100 degrees F and above) and will look a little bleached or purplish around the areoles after the frost during the winter months. Once the conditions change, most of the pads will turn a normal green again.
One thing I can say: I do not see any insects (at least the larger kinds) on your plants and I do not recognize any definite disease symptoms.
You can go ahead and click on the tab named "Pests and Disease" at the top of this page. Perhaps that will also give you an idea, what the problem with your cactus could be. At least, then you can most likely rule out those possible causes.

I am sorry, I cannot be more specific. A picture is good and oftentimes helpful, but sometimes it takes some close-up "detective work" to solve the case of a "sick" cactus.

Harald
luwe2008
Posts: 7
Joined: Tue Aug 04, 2015 1:59 am

Re: Opuntia Help / Disease?

Post by luwe2008 »

hegar wrote:Hello Louis,
I would also guess, that your prickly pear cactus is suffering from some kind of physiological disorder, i.e. sun damage or perhaps drought stress.
However, having said that, a cactus will also start to show these symptoms, if the root has rotted and the bacteria is moving up the stem.
To be on the safe side, I would cut some of the best upper pads off, let them callous over and then plant them in a different location or a pot.
That way you will at least save the plant. Then I would take a look at the root system of your Opuntia, in order to see, if that is the reason of the upper growth looking the way it does. Prickly pears are generally very tough plants and will grow quickly. However, I have successfully killed a few of them myself, :oops: including a beaver tail opuntia (O. basilaris). Some of my plants - and I do have 22 kinds of Opuntias - do suffer from the harsh climate (abundant sunshine with 100 degrees F and above) and will look a little bleached or purplish around the areoles after the frost during the winter months. Once the conditions change, most of the pads will turn a normal green again.
One thing I can say: I do not see any insects (at least the larger kinds) on your plants and I do not recognize any definite disease symptoms.
You can go ahead and click on the tab named "Pests and Disease" at the top of this page. Perhaps that will also give you an idea, what the problem with your cactus could be. At least, then you can most likely rule out those possible causes.

I am sorry, I cannot be more specific. A picture is good and oftentimes helpful, but sometimes it takes some close-up "detective work" to solve the case of a "sick" cactus.

Harald
Hello Harald,

Thanks for your help! After doing a bit of research I found a blog of someone whom took pictures of what they considered drought stressed plants. And I must say it looks A LOT like what is going on with my opuntia. However, I can not find much of what "drought stress" is. Do you have any idea of what it is and what I can do to fix it?

I will attach the blog and pictures below.

Best,
Louis.

Blog:
http://fireflyforest.net/firefly/2006/0 ... ing-cacti/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Photos:
Image

Image

Image
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hegar
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Re: Opuntia Help / Disease?

Post by hegar »

Hello Louis,
drought stress tells me, that the plant did not have an adequate amount of water at some time in its life. The plant's response is to sometimes drop the most recent pads and a die back of stems. Sometimes, the damage is limited to epidermal burning and water loss to only part of a pad.
As long as the root system and a little of the above ground growth has not succumbed to the drought, your plant should come back.
Fortunately, most prickly pears are fast growing and quite robust.

While cacti are water conserving and water efficient plants, they still do need water for their survival. Sometimes, the plant was watered too much and the roots have rotted away. Even if the rot did not extend into the stem part, the cactus will then not be able to obtain a sufficient amount of water, until new roots have been formed. Most Opuntias, however, do readily form new roots and the pads hold enough water to last, until the roots are there. Even if the pad is lying on its side on soil, roots will be produced within a few weeks. If you are seeing new growth on your plant, then the root system should be OK and you can take the badly discolored pads off, if they do not go back to looking normal by the end of the growing season. There is even a kind of Opuntia, which readily produces violet (purplish) pads, whenever the plant is stressed. That specific cultivar is liked for landscaping purposes, because of the unusual color of the cladodes.

Harald
luwe2008
Posts: 7
Joined: Tue Aug 04, 2015 1:59 am

Re: Opuntia Help / Disease?

Post by luwe2008 »

hegar wrote:Hello Louis,
drought stress tells me, that the plant did not have an adequate amount of water at some time in its life. The plant's response is to sometimes drop the most recent pads and a die back of stems. Sometimes, the damage is limited to epidermal burning and water loss to only part of a pad.
As long as the root system and a little of the above ground growth has not succumbed to the drought, your plant should come back.
Fortunately, most prickly pears are fast growing and quite robust.

While cacti are water conserving and water efficient plants, they still do need water for their survival. Sometimes, the plant was watered too much and the roots have rotted away. Even if the rot did not extend into the stem part, the cactus will then not be able to obtain a sufficient amount of water, until new roots have been formed. Most Opuntias, however, do readily form new roots and the pads hold enough water to last, until the roots are there. Even if the pad is lying on its side on soil, roots will be produced within a few weeks. If you are seeing new growth on your plant, then the root system should be OK and you can take the badly discolored pads off, if they do not go back to looking normal by the end of the growing season. There is even a kind of Opuntia, which readily produces violet (purplish) pads, whenever the plant is stressed. That specific cultivar is liked for landscaping purposes, because of the unusual color of the cladodes.

Harald
Harald,

What season do pads usually grow in? I would say about a month ago it finished blooming flowers and fruits.

Also, what season is good for pruning it back?

Thanks,
Louis.
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hegar
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Joined: Mon Jan 23, 2006 4:04 am
Location: El Paso, Texas

Re: Opuntia Help / Disease?

Post by hegar »

Hello Louis,
my prickly pear cacti do grow new pads in the spring and summer months. If the older stem sections are still alive, they will sprout both flowers and new vegetative growth at about the same time. So by next year you should be able to tell, what is dead and can be removed.
Fortunately for you, Opuntia spp. are usually very vigorous and oftentimes also fast growing cacti and thus easy to cultivate. I started out with just one pad and now have them all around the house in the front and back yards. Because they are overwhelming my other cacti, I will have to do a severe thinning out and probably even pull out and discard the majority of my 22 Opuntia/Cylindropuntia plants.

Harald
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