I have enjoyed reading this forum for weeks and I have learned so much about cactus,I bought a prickly pear cactus from my local nursery and the guy told me it was zone hardy for our area, upstate NY, I didnt plant it in the ground because I'm not sure if I will be moving,it is in a pot on my front steps. My question is What should I do with it when the temps start to fall here, night before last it went down to 55 and last week we were in the triple digits. So what is the best way for me over winter it? I'd really like to hang on to this beauty.
Thanks for all replies
Christine
First off welcome to the forum.
I grow cold hardy Opuntia's (prickly pear) in zone 5 which I believe you are also.
Since its in a pot for now I wouldn't leave it out once it starts getting below 45 consistently. Once you bring it in ideally you want to keep it where it will stay cool (around 45) so it gets its winter rest.
By chance do you know the ID of your Opuntia
Fill free to ask questions and hope you stick around.
Hi Christine, Bill is our hardy Opuntia man ,and knows far better than me what to do with them, but I think he may have forgotten to mention that you should cut right down on the watering. it will need to be dry during its winter rest.
Christine, if you post a picture someone (not me!) may be able to give you a name. There is a forum for getting names for unknown plants.
Most hardy Opuntias tolerate quite a bit of water in winter, one reason people can grow them outside on the east coast and in England, although they don't really need it. In a pot, just make sure that it drains fast enough not to become waterlogged. Better still place it where it won't get rained on. They will often appear to shrivel up and go limp in winter, its just their way of protecting themselves from the cold. Maybe someone has pictures of this, it can be quite alarming?
They will often appear to shrivel up and go limp in winter, its just their way of protecting themselves from the cold. Maybe someone has pictures of this, it can be quite alarming?
Thank you all for all your help I never knew cactus could survive in cold climates until just a few weeks ago We dropped down to 49 last night, what a change from last week If I can figure out how to post pics here I will
First glance looks like Opuntia compressa to me, but maybe the cladodes (pads) are too large. Bill opuntia will probably shoot me down in flames anyway.
Nope, won't shot ya down John as I believe you nailed it.
I have O. compressa from 4 different states and you would be surprised the slight difference in size.
Christine,
Your prickly will survive your cold winters once you plant it in the ground. Although O. compressa doesn't have spines it does have some gochlids so be careful handling it
Last edited by ihc6480 on Sun Aug 13, 2006 1:10 am, edited 1 time in total.
What should I do with it when the temps start to fall here, night before last it went down to 55 and last week we were in the triple digits. So what is the best way for me over winter it? I'd really like to hang on to this beauty.
We dropped down to 49 last night, what a change from last week 
