Cactus Gardening

Prikly pear cactus grows througout the SouthEast USA where there is the right soil conditions and where it doesn't get too cold in winter. They would not grow in thick woods or areas covered with foilage. But they can grow in any pasture that has the right soil.

I heard from a botany teacher that cacti can be cut down at ground level. They will develop a protective layer on the plant's cut and can then be transported to wherever, placed in the ground, and it will grow again. I dont know how true this is but it was from a college Botany Professor. Answer Your Botany Professor was not wrong but the plant was harmed.

Most cactus have stickery texture with toucher stems.

Yes. try not to water it too much, because they are desert plants. They are adapted to water shortage. Give it a little water at a time. if it starts to look a little bit wilted, then water it more than you did. The amount to water it all depends on its size, and origin.

any plant with petals that are multiples of three

The pads and fruit of the prickly pear cactus are edible. The fruit can be peeled and eaten raw. However, many experts suggest that the fruit is best when it is made into candy, jelly, juice, or wine. It is also available dried or in extract form.

so they can store more water when it rains and this is where Photosynthesis takes place

some times it depends on the speshe

A waxy stem helps a cactus survive by minimizing water loss. Water may be lost through evaporation under high heat or transpiration. A cactus' thickened stem decreases water loss and disperses harsh sunlight, be the surface glossy, leathery or waxy. The texture makes it difficult for water to enter through or escape from the stem. It also makes it difficult for the sun to burn or scorch the plant's surface.

As a cactus is a form of a plant, it will require sunlight for photosynthesis and water to stop it from drying out and to help the cactus plant grow.

It's on the cactuses of the Opuntia spp that the cochineal insect [Dactylopius coccus] feeds. It particularly favors Opuntia fica-indica, whose common name is barbary or Indian fig cactus. The insect keeps competitors from feeding on prickly pear moisture and nutrients by making carminic acid. The acid may be taken out of the insect's body and eggs, for the making of carmine or cochineal dye.

Cactus have a large root system to soak up maximal amounts of moisture. They need as much as they can get in the desert with the ground mainly being incredibly dry. The roots have large surface area again to soak up as much moisture as possible.

The benefits of cactus spines are similar to the benefits of the thorns and the leavesof herbaceous plants. The spines act the part of thorns in their defense of the cactus plant's stem, growth buds, and breathing pores. They act the part of leaves in their channeling of any available moisture - be it dew, fog, or rainfall - down to the immediate ground around the cactus. From the ground surface, the drops seep into the soil, to be added to the water table or taken in by the cactus plant's roots.

One way that a cactus excretes wastes is through its breathing pores, or stomata. Guard cells on either side of the stomata's opening control the entry of gases such as carbon dioxide and the exit of gases such as oxygen. Another way is through the photosynthetic process, by which the sun and the cactus cooperate to make energizing starches and sugars. Still another way is through the exudates that the roots release into the soil. A cactus plant's waste products are considered attractive, delicious prey by the underground soil food web.

Botanists and Horticulturists are biologists who study cactus plants [Cactaceae family] and African violets [Saintpaulia spp].

Fruiting times depend upon the particular cactus. Some don't bear fruit at all. There's quite a bit of variability among those that do fruit. For example, the old man cactus [Espostoa melanostele] takes 15 years to bring forth pale yellow flowers and then yellow to red berries. Other cactus plants flower, fruit, and seed upon becoming a certain size, instead of a certain age. In the way of another example, the candy barrel cactus [Ferocactus wislizeni] bears lemon, orange or red bell or funnel shaped blooms, which are followed by small yellow berries, upon reaching a 12 inch/30 centimeter diameter.

Pachycereus pringlei, also known as Mexican Giant Cardon or Elephant Cactus, is a species of cactus that is native to northwestern Mexico. At 63 feet, it is the tallest cactus in the Americas or, for that matter, in the world.

It's estimated that around 90% of the cactus holds water. Water may be stored in the roots and in the stems. It also is estimated that a cactus may lose as much as 60% of its stored water without being adversely affected.

Yes. Cacti photosynthesise through their bodies, not their thorn-like leaves which have no chloroplasts.

A cactus is a succulent plant normally found in deserts and other arid regions. Most cacti have thick skins and spines to discourage animals that might consume them for the moisture stored inside.

Only if something poisonous has got itself spiked on it and put poison on it, but otherwise, no.

The great majority of the land mass of Australia is either arid or sem-arid, there is very little surface water, the rain fall is low and there are very few rivers that actually run other than immediately after heavy rain.

Some of the larger deserts are the Great Victoria Desert, the Gibson Desert, the Tanami Desert, the Great Sandy Desert, the Little Sandy Desert, Sturt Stony Desert, the Simpson Desert. That accounts for most of the west of the continent, nearly two-thirds.

Many species of cacti can survive a frost. Some can survive temperatures that are below zero for a time. However, there are species of cacti that are more tropical in nature and cannot tolerate freezing temperatures.