Will opuntia grow fruit on its own or do I need to cross pollinate?

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skrinkle
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Will opuntia grow fruit on its own or do I need to cross pollinate?

Post by skrinkle »

I’ve only got the one so I’m wondering if I should get a second
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7george
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Re: Will opuntia grow fruit on its own or do I need to cross pollinate?

Post by 7george »

Cross-pollination I think. And the second one has to be from a different seed, not a cloning with the same origin as your first.
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greenknight
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Re: Will opuntia grow fruit on its own or do I need to cross pollinate?

Post by greenknight »

I did some searching and found an interesting paper on the subject - it seems that some Opuntias will self-pollinate, some won't but can be hand-pollinated with their own pollen, while others require cross-pollination. Some can produce seed without pollination, a phenomenon called apomixis.

It's not an easy read: https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/0e43/2 ... 7a62da.pdf
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