These need to be given a lot of sun ideally (6-8 hours/day or more). Not much water but enough to keep it going. The flowers come out in May typically and fruits by September/October. The fruits are edible and can be made into jams and the milk can be drank. Handle with care. It's no fun to thoroughly run an arm or finger into one of these. The spikes get into the skin by the hundreds and it takes hours to get them out. Often, the pear shaped leaves fall off the plant periodically...one can scoop these up and plant them in the ground (with fertilizer). They will root right off (like the jade plant). Mature plants can be 20 feet across by a good 3 feet high.
2 comments:
Well first of all, I want to say C-O-N-G-R-A-T-U-L-A-T-I-O-N-S!!! The mere fact that you are considering quitting is reason enough to celebrate!! You are very brave to choose the method you selected. Come 2/10/09, I'd love to hear that you are celebrating your first year anniversary! Great news, just great news!
About this "prickly pear"...beautiful isn't it? All my life, I've known it as Nopal, and sometimes as Chumbera, Choya, or Tunera because of its fruit, the Tunas. I take a tablespoon of Nopal in powder form every morning and my father drinks a Nopal smoothie every morning for his diabetes. The only way I eat Nopal is pickled, in a jar, and only Maria's brand. It's great mixed with feta cheese or mixed with eggs and onions for breakfast. The tunas; however, I've never tasted. I fell on a large Nopal as a child and I remember it took my Nina forever to get the "needles" out. The last image at the bottom looks more like a painting than a photo.
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