Prickly Pear Catus - When to cut?

[Cactor]

Hopefully this is not a repeat, but I recently bought a prickly pear cactus and it's already growing a new pad. Would you recommend letting it grow or can I cut off the pad (once it's mature, of course) and grow a clone?

Side note: It's really hard researching about prickly pear because all I can find are recipes.

[oldcat61]

If you want care info, google by its proper name - Opuntia. Common names are just too imprecise & confusing. If you post a photo, we can tell you which Opuntia it is & any special advice.

[Cactor]

If you want care info, google by its proper name - Opuntia. Common names are just too imprecise & confusing. If you post a photo, we can tell you which Opuntia it is & any special advice.

Here's a picture. Sorry if the lighting is a problem.

[Brunãozinho]

If you want to propagate many clones you can just wait for this pad to mature, then you can chop it into pieces, small pieces will root and develop new pads, these pieces should have preferrably more than two areoles each. Also you should wait for them to callous before planting.

[Cactor]

If you want to propagate many clones you can just wait for this pad to mature, then you can chop it into pieces, small pieces will root and develop new pads, these pieces should have preferrably more than two areoles each. Also you should wait for them to callous before planting.

How well do these cuttings "heal"? Like, will it eventually become a round pad or will it have noticeable slices? I've never cut a cactus before, so I'm not sure what the results would be.

[oldcat61]

Not sure why you're so intent on making clones of this one pad. Why not let it mature & make a beautiful plant before you turn it into a brood mare? Sue

[Cactor]

Not sure why you're so intent on making clones of this one pad. Why not let it mature & make a beautiful plant before you turn it into a brood mare? Sue

I'm just excited because I didn't expect it to grow a new pad so soon. I'm not sure what to do with it, so that's why I asked here. My only worries is that it will off-center the pot and start tipping.