Howdy from Las Vegas, NV

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badlands
Posts: 20
Joined: Fri Apr 12, 2019 4:04 pm
Location: Las Vegas, NV

Howdy from Las Vegas, NV

Post by badlands »

Good day everyone! I came upon this web site when I was trying to identify a cactus I had purchased from a neighbor who had a plant sale in his backyard... I still don’t know what species it is :lol: but I have learned so much from the articles and this forum.

I started collecting cacti last year after I got fed up with failing at keeping succulents alive... I got a boost of confidence when I successfully propagated a beaver tail cactus pad I found on the sidewalk. I took it home, put it in a leftover plastic pot with some soil and literally ignored it for months while it sat in the Las Vegas heat during the summer. I pulled it out some time later and found the darned thing had rooted! I mean, lots of roots!

So I decided to give this poor thing a proper home in a real pot. Since then, I have been collecting cacti, dabbling in propagation, and putting them in beautiful talavera pottery that I love to look at.

Here is a look at my beaver tail cactus progress.
October 2018
October 2018
69FA9782-98A1-4652-B8EE-F5DC898B4D73.jpeg (226.64 KiB) Viewed 3331 times
April 2019
April 2019
B96B0A26-BD19-4846-9461-4628EBC69341.jpeg (174.96 KiB) Viewed 3331 times

I look forward to chatting with all of you and learning. Cheers!

-Thalia
-T
zone 9a
Las Vegas
Instagram @badlands_cactus
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hegar
Posts: 4596
Joined: Mon Jan 23, 2006 4:04 am
Location: El Paso, Texas

Re: Howdy from Las Vegas, NV

Post by hegar »

Hello badlands,
first of all: welcome to the CactuGuide cactus and succulent forum. It is good to hear, that you have been learning about cacti by being on this forum. Also, I congratulate you to your success with the cultivation of the prickly pear cactus, most likely a beaver tail opuntia (Opuntia basilaris).
That plant looks just like one that I tried to grow in my front yard cactus bed. I had received one pad from a cactus hobbyist in Las Cruces, New Mexico. I do not know where I went wrong, but that pad was sitting in the ground for three or four years and never produced any growth. It actually shriveled up from the side and decreased in size. Then, at the very last moment, the plant decided to put out a bit of small and spindly looking growth in the fall. Then we did have a cold snap and the cactus died the rest of the way. Perhaps I am the only forum member who has failed growing an Opuntia. :oops: In may defense I may add, that I had various species of Opuntia growing hog wild in both my front and back yard. Only the O. basilaris gave me trouble.

I hope, that your newfound hobby will give you a lot of satisfaction and pleasure.

Harald
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gemhunter178
Posts: 2762
Joined: Mon Oct 31, 2011 6:10 pm
Location: Massachusetts,USA. Zone 6A

Re: Howdy from Las Vegas, NV

Post by gemhunter178 »

Welcome!
Very nice propagation! Just be careful of touching prickly pears (opuntiads) as they have these glochids that stick to you.
A cactus and succulent collector who especially likes Ariocarpus. …Though I have a bit of everything! Want some pictures? See my flickr! I also do art and such.
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ElieEstephane
Posts: 2909
Joined: Tue Dec 13, 2016 12:10 am
Location: Lebanon (zone 11a)

Re: Howdy from Las Vegas, NV

Post by ElieEstephane »

Welcome to rhe forum Thalia!
I too have given up on succulents and they always seem a bit touchy for me. Cacti will take anything you throw at them. Opuntias particularly have been very easy for me even rooting in the dead of winter. They are some of my favorite
Beautiful pot btw
There are more cacti in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
One of the few cactus lovers in Lebanon (zone 11a) :mrgreen:
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badlands
Posts: 20
Joined: Fri Apr 12, 2019 4:04 pm
Location: Las Vegas, NV

Re: Howdy from Las Vegas, NV

Post by badlands »

Harald that’s such a bummer that you weren’t able to successfully propagate that opuntia. 😪 Hopefully you have success in the future. This particular opuntia is one of my favorites because I love the shape of the paddles, they look like hearts, and the magenta flowers they produce are so beautiful.
PS I was raised in El Paso 😁
-T
zone 9a
Las Vegas
Instagram @badlands_cactus
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badlands
Posts: 20
Joined: Fri Apr 12, 2019 4:04 pm
Location: Las Vegas, NV

Re: Howdy from Las Vegas, NV

Post by badlands »

gemhunter178 wrote: Sat Apr 13, 2019 4:19 am Welcome!
Very nice propagation! Just be careful of touching prickly pears (opuntiads) as they have these glochids that stick to you.
Thank you very much gemhunter! Yes, I have had a rough week working with opuntiads! I was transplanting some opuntia rufida minima plants and arranging them together into one pot... my gloves weren’t giving me the mobility I wanted, so I did it bare handed with some tongs... still got lots of glochids stuck to me! LOL!

I haven’t quite figured out which gloves I prefer to use for which job. Glochids are ruining all of my gloves 😂
-T
zone 9a
Las Vegas
Instagram @badlands_cactus
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badlands
Posts: 20
Joined: Fri Apr 12, 2019 4:04 pm
Location: Las Vegas, NV

Re: Howdy from Las Vegas, NV

Post by badlands »

ElieEstephane wrote: Sat Apr 13, 2019 7:29 am Welcome to rhe forum Thalia!
I too have given up on succulents and they always seem a bit touchy for me. Cacti will take anything you throw at them. Opuntias particularly have been very easy for me even rooting in the dead of winter. They are some of my favorite
Beautiful pot btw
Thank you ElieEstephane! I love talavera pottery a lot. It will make any plant look great!
-T
zone 9a
Las Vegas
Instagram @badlands_cactus
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DesertSun
Posts: 322
Joined: Sun Feb 11, 2018 5:33 pm
Location: Zone 9b

Re: Howdy from Las Vegas, NV

Post by DesertSun »

Welcome! Nice talavera pottery, I too love these although they are a bit hard to be found in my neck of the woods.
"The best fertilizer is the gardener's own shadow"
Chinese proverb
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