Some prickly pear fruit pictures.

[nullzero]

I picked about 14 of these large size prickly pears from the side of a road (common space area).  This was an excellent sweet fruit with a subtle melon flavor. Best part was the small soft seeds with low seed count about 10-15 per fruit. A great prickly pear, would rate it in my top 3 so far.

[Tim]

Aside from the day laborers, I've not seen or heard of anyone else picking these from the side of the road 

That does look very promising. Good find

[Xeno]

I picked about 14 of these large size prickly pears from the side of a road (common space area). 

Harvest some pads and grow them!

[nullzero]

I picked about 14 of these large size prickly pears from the side of a road (common space area). 

Harvest some pads and grow them!

Of course I got a pad or two  .

[Ethan]

Cool find N/Z, glad you brought it out of obscurity.

-Ethan

[tabbydan]

I never get why the Opuntias languish in relative obscurity while Hylocereus undatus has a fantatical cult following.

The Opuntias all have a lot more flavor, granted they have stickers and hard seeds, but they have actual flavor!

I've heard of Opuntia species and varieties with numerous tasty flavors.  So far I've mainly had "Jolly Roger" and "watermellon" flavored fruits.  The ones I bump into most frequently are O. vulgaris and O. humifusa (both winter ready species).

The pads are also edible, tasting somewhat like a cross between green beans and asparagus.

[Jackfruitwhisperer69]

Hi Nullzero,
That looks freak'n tasty  I like to pop them in the fridge and devour later, when cold...YUMMY

Growing up, eating Prickly pears, you will always hear this...Don't eat too many of them, they will clog the plumbing

THX for sharing

[davidgarcia899]

Would you be willing to share a pad? ill pay for shipping

[Felipe]

I never get why the Opuntias languish in relative obscurity while Hylocereus undatus has a fantatical cult following.

Bacause the appearance of the dragonfuit is much more appealing and because people are too lazy to handle with prickles!

Tunas are one of my favourite fruits. I can eat pound after pound from ones sitting. Here a few recent pics from my opuntias:



[URL=http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/651/img2754ye.jpg/]

[URL=http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/145/tunosimgp2183.jpg/]

[URL=http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/26/tunosrojosimgp2181.jpg/]

[URL=http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/844/tunosimgp2194.jpg/]

[URL=http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/706/tunosamarillosimgp2182.jpg/]

[nullzero]

I am glad this has gathered some interest, ignorance of this crop is only a disadvantage to the person. Here are some facts about Opuntia sp.;

*One of the most water efficient crops out there

*The pads and fruit are highly edible (dual use crop, not many fruit trees can do that)

*The fruit and pads are very healthy and have lots of positive health benefits (been said to lower high cholesterol, help combat diabetes, keep blood sugar levels stable, aid in weight loss, aid in healing ulcers/wounds, and many other things)
http://www.drugs.com/npp/prickly-pear.html
http://www.examiner.com/article/prickly-pear-helps-reduce-weight-treat-diabetes

*The fruit seeds contain omega 6 fatty acid amount other fatty acids and you can make a useful flour out of them. http://classicalgeek.hubpages.com/hub/Prickly-Pear-Flour

*The sap of the pads cleanses dirty water... http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26759259/

The flavors of the fruits vary greatly from watermelon/honeydew to raspberry and banana. This is why I want to focus on crossing some Opuntia sp. I have a banana tasting fruit, which I hope to cross with Opuntia joconostle (tangy berry taste). Got varieties that have sugar over a 13 BRIX.

The one pictured above must of been close to that range... you could see the sugar glistening in the light. I have been very lucky to have one of the Opuntia. sp produce seedless fruit and now to stumble on this very low soft seed pad.

Also the pads differ a good deal in taste. I have ones that taste like Lemon + Green bean another tastes like Lime with a slight asparagus flavor. I have heard of ones tasting like cucumber and other flavors. So far I like Opuntia subarmata for its pads, the best pads I have had so far (lime asparagus flavor).

Would you be willing to share a pad? ill pay for shipping

I have only one pad atm from this location (in process of rooting), I would have to make more collections. I have many other pads, but the fruit quality has not been tested by me yet. The fruit of this collection is very good. PARL 244 is a little a head of this one (due to the fact it was sweeter with a stronger honeydew melon flavor and was 100% seedless on its first fruit).

[davidgarcia899]

Ive been meaning to expand my opuntia collection currently i only have one that doesn't produce fruits, it flowers and the fruits begin to form, but always drop before they mature. It is also spineless except for little tiny spines that you can barely see

[nullzero]

David,

Is this going to be in the ground or container? You may want to use a native Opuntia to graft on for nematode resistance if its for the ground. I have many Opuntia sp. to trade soon, I would love to share some with you just give me some time (have a few more trades etc. of pads).

I want to make a trip to the location to get another few pads, however I am not sure if that will happen until near the end of the month. I do have other pads available such as Peruvian Yellow fruited one etc. Your going to want a pad that has good humidity tolerance as well.

[tabbydan]

Null:  I've heard of a whole range of flavors in the fruits... so far I haven't tried a lot of species or named varieties though

Also I thought that this might be a cool thing to intercrop in an orchard if you're depending on rainwater and not sure about it.

You could have this on gravely mounds that drain towards nearby trees.  The Opuntia don't need a lot of water.  You could cut down weeds and get another valuable crop on land that might be borderline too arid for the other trees.  The fruits and pads can be eaten, and if people don't buy the pads the grower could also sell them as livestock feed.

I agree that Hylocereus undatus gets undue attention because it is so pretty and otherworldly looking.  I'm just always shocked at the contrast between H. undatus being sought after (despite being so insipid), and Opuntia being tough and having real flavor....

Maybe Opuntia  growers should do some marketing about how the fruits were once a stand in for human hearts (in sacrifice rituals).... then again that crowd doesn't buy much produce

My favories in cacti tend to be the Cereus and Selinicereus in terms of fruit flavor.

[nullzero]

Tabby,

Yeah it baffles me the ignorance of the crop. Demographic trends are in favor of the crop gaining more popularity. Most Latin heritage families have consumed or are familiarized with the crop. The quality of the fruit is sub par sold at most Latino markets over here (taste and freshness are not there).

This is a perfect crop for intercropping. It is low demanding takes little water and only needs small amounts of fertilizer compared to other crops. I am growing several Cereus as well, including purple fleshed ones.

As for Dragon Fruit, its a great fruit with a great presentation. But its very narrow in its taste profile of the different varieties I have tasted. A common problem as well is the watery tasteless fruits. While the mania for DF is going on, I will be working on making a banana berry tasting Opuntia cross  .

I would love to share some pads with you sometime, but give me a little time hehe. I may have to buy some land out in the desert of SoCal sometime, to keep a repository and breeding testing area (good thing land prices are cheap in the desert).

[davidgarcia899]

David,

Is this going to be in the ground or container? You may want to use a native Opuntia to graft on for nematode resistance if its for the ground. I have many Opuntia sp. to trade soon, I would love to share some with you just give me some time (have a few more trades etc. of pads).

I want to make a trip to the location to get another few pads, however I am not sure if that will happen until near the end of the month. I do have other pads available such as Peruvian Yellow fruited one etc. Your going to want a pad that has good humidity tolerance as well.

I have always wondered about that, the one I have doesn't seemed to be bother by any amount of water, it grows like a weed anywhere I put it. The first paddle i planted 5 years ago is no a grouping with a 10 foot width and ten foot height. I guess its wrong to assume all opuntia's will react the same?

[lkailburn]

Yum those look tasty! I found some wild growing down in the south of my state, i split some fruit open to smell and they smelled great! Melony, sweet. I didn't eat any since i'm not too familiar with cactus.

-Luke

[nullzero]

David,

Is this going to be in the ground or container? You may want to use a native Opuntia to graft on for nematode resistance if its for the ground. I have many Opuntia sp. to trade soon, I would love to share some with you just give me some time (have a few more trades etc. of pads).

I want to make a trip to the location to get another few pads, however I am not sure if that will happen until near the end of the month. I do have other pads available such as Peruvian Yellow fruited one etc. Your going to want a pad that has good humidity tolerance as well.

I have always wondered about that, the one I have doesn't seemed to be bother by any amount of water, it grows like a weed anywhere I put it. The first paddle i planted 5 years ago is no a grouping with a 10 foot width and ten foot height. I guess its wrong to assume all opuntia's will react the same?

The Opuntia species differ greatly and there are a lot of hybrids out there. I have one pad PARL 342 that rots very easily. While others will take as much water as they can get. So a trial of different genetic Opuntia sp. would be the best option. Will keep in contact and can give you a few pads in a few weeks, most should preform well for you.

Cool find N/Z, glad you brought it out of obscurity.

-Ethan

Ethan, thanks I would love to share some of these pads with you next time we meet up.

[tabbydan]

This is a perfect crop for intercropping. It is low demanding takes little water and only needs small amounts of fertilizer compared to other crops. I am growing several Cereus as well, including purple fleshed ones.

I would love to share some pads with you sometime, but give me a little time hehe. I may have to buy some land out in the desert of SoCal sometime, to keep a repository and breeding testing area (good thing land prices are cheap in the desert).

I'm in a similar boat.  I don't even have a proper greenhouse for my tropicals let alone much of a spread for growing stuff outside.

[davidgarcia899]

Alright null sounds good!

[Xeno]

Yum those look tasty! I found some wild growing down in the south of my state, i split some fruit open to smell and they smelled great! Melony, sweet. I didn't eat any since i'm not too familiar with cactus.

-Luke

You can always juice the cactus fruits. That's what I plan on doing. The carefree harvesting way: Grab some strong tongs, grab fruit with tongs and remove, place fruit on a slab of cardboard, grab a small but sharp knife, and remove the outer layer of skin. Then juice it. I tried eating the fruit whole but I don't like the hard seeds. Though I've heard the seeds are good for you.

[lkailburn]

Are there any nonedible cactus fruits?

-Luke