Watering, fertilizing, repotting and more

Planting opuntia

Opuntia need a lot of space because, depending on the species, they can grow up to six meters high. The soil should be dry, loose and rather poor. Plant your Opuntia in Cactus soil or a mixture of earth, sand and peat or coconut fiber.

Water and fertilize opuntia properly

Opuntia do not tolerate calcareous water. Therefore, it is best to water these plants with rainwater. However, tap water that is stale, filtered or naturally soft is also suitable. The amount is heavily dependent on the weather.

Water only once a month in damp weather and up to twice a week in dry and hot weather. From May to September add a little liquid or cactus fertilizer to the irrigation water from time to time. It is better to keep the amount too small than too lush, opuntia are very frugal.

Propagate opuntia

If you would like to call a lot of opuntia your own, it doesn't have to cost a lot of money. The multiplication is through both

sowing as well as with cuttings possible. Prune your overgrown Opuntia, then pull out new plants from the cut segments.

Opuntia in winter

In the short term, the Opuntia can even tolerate frost. In the long run, however, temperatures should be between 0 ° C and 6 ° C during hibernation, because permafrost weakens the plant. Ventilate regularly to prevent diseases and pests. Only water your opuntia drop by drop when the substrate dries up more strongly. Slowly get used to rising temperatures in spring.

The essentials in brief:

• easy to care for and frugal
• water rather little, if the drought persists, a little more
• Thrifty fertilize, only in summer
• Fruits are edible
• no regular pruning required
• Propagation by seeds or cut segments
• cool overwinter