SPINELESS CACTUS THREAD

[ZEROPILOT]

I have a "spineless" cactus variety.
A fruiting prickly pear cactus with very few. Very thin spines.
My question is: is there a truly spineless variant?
I'm under the assumption that the answer is no. But I don't want to give the wrong information
I have two gigantic cactus that were started from two single pads that were sold to me as spineless.
They have never truly had no spines.
In fact. There is one in my thumb as I type too tiny to see. But I feel it.

 

[wellington]

The spineless I had purchased didn't have the bigger white/cream color spines but did have the tiny ones. Found out the hard way. Yep, I thought spineless meant nothing on it too go into your fingers. I grabbed bare handed to break it off and yelp, fingers full of those little buggers.

 

[NorCal tortoise guy]

I have some pads I just planted that seem to have no spines at all I handled them bare handed and had no problem. These pads came of a big plant and my brother who collected them said he had no problems when picking them. I guess time will tell if they stay completely spineless
My other spineless cactus don't have the big spines but do have the little ones

 

[ZEROPILOT]

I have some pads I just planted that seem to have no spines at all I handled them bare handed and had no problem. These pads came of a big plant and my brother who collected them said he had no problems when picking them. I guess time will tell if they stay completely spineless
My other spineless cactus don't have the big spines but do have the little ones

So....There may actually be a spine free?
That's good to hear.
I'll stop calling mine spineless and call them semi spineless.
I only harvest the newer pads because there truly are no spines on them.

 

[jaizei]

I haven't tried it myself but Opuntia cacanapa 'Ellisiana' is said to be more spineless than most of the spineless varieties.

 

[Tom]

I have two different types of "spineless" opuntia (out of 40ish stands) that are actually spineless. All of the rest have varying degrees of tiny little spines and those damn glochids. I have those little glochids all over me from about April to December every year. No matter how careful I am, they always get me. Hands, arms, legs, torso feet. Its awful. I just live with it.

Want me to send you some @ZEROPILOT ? They don't like to go below freezing, but they survive it and come back every year. I bet they'd both do great in FL.

 

[JoesMum]

I have two different "spineless" varieties. As far asI can work out, the spined varieties are easier as you can usually see the spines. The so-called spineless varieties have spines so fine they sneak up on you no matter what you do

 

[ZEROPILOT]

I have two different types of "spineless" opuntia (out of 40ish stands) that are actually spineless. All of the rest have varying degrees of tiny little spines and those damn glochids. I have those little glochids all over me from about April to December every year. No matter how careful I am, they always get me. Hands, arms, legs, torso feet. Its awful. I just live with it.

Want me to send you some @ZEROPILOT ? They don't like to go below freezing, but they survive it and come back every year. I bet they'd both do great in FL.

I've P.Med you, @Tom

 

[EllieMay]

The spineless I had purchased didn't have the bigger white/cream color spines but did have the tiny ones. Found out the hard way. Yep, I thought spineless meant nothing on it too go into your fingers. I grabbed bare handed to break it off and yelp, fingers full of those little buggers.

Ditto

 

[Pearly]

If there is a completely „bold” cactus, I have yet to see it and would totally buy few pads. The glochids are also the bane of my existence. I hate them! They hurt like a devil and get in my gloves. I have not been able to use my expensive leather “rose gloves” due to those damn glochids. Can’t see them enough to get them out but I’m reminded of them when trying to put them on

 

[Tom]

If there is a completely „bold” cactus, I have yet to see it and would totally buy few pads. The glochids are also the bane of my existence. I hate them! They hurt like a devil and get in my gloves. I have not been able to use my expensive leather “rose gloves” due to those damn glochids. Can’t see them enough to get them out but I’m reminded of them when trying to put them on

I have a pair of oversized thick rubber gloves. These work best for stopping the glochids and containing the little small spines too. I rub my gloved hand over the pads to remove any spines or glochids and it work great. Sometimes I run the pads under water when I do this and it washes away all the spines and tiny glochids.

Sometimes I'm in a hurry and I don't want to walk over and get my cactus gloves, so I'll try to just carefully pinch the pad between thumb and forefinger while I cut it off. I always regret this and end up picking tiny little spines out of my hands and forearms. My other technique is to hack a pad off and just let it fall to the ground. Then I use the tip of my knife to stab the pad and carry it wherever I need it without touching it.

I have no idea how our tortoises handle these things with their mouth, but it clearly doesn't bother them at all. Sometimes I'll pick out glochids with my teeth and spit them out and I've never had them stick in my mouth, lips, or on my tongue. Odd because they seem to be attracted to hands like magnets.

 

[Kapidolo Farms]

The best I've found are 'spineless' varieties with very few places where spines would have grown had it been a spiny type. Spine dimples maybe? I also have some spineless plants where a few pads do produce spines, while most do not. I have a wild type from New Jersey with no spines but an incredible number of glochids.

When cleaning cactus pads for making 'Cactus Chips' I scrub them with a Chore Boy stainless steel scrub pad mounted on a dowel and run on a drill, while under running water. I could run these over tender skin and no glochids will stick me. But once dried, the skin pulls away from those 'spine dimples' and more glochids are exposed. I've used a blow torch and then the Chore Boy, and still once dried, more glochids are exposed.

I spoke with a botany professor from grad school thinking ne might tell me that the pad produces more glochids as a stress reaction to the handling. His comments suggest they are deep in the spine dimples, so if/when they dry some before rooting, they still have the protection provided by the glochids. I am guessing that those glochids may prevent consumption by some animals. We all know tortoises get by just fine even with spiny types of opuntia.

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

 

[Neal]

I've had a hard time finding any types that don't have some glochids at some point in the life of a pad. I have a bunch that are spineless but still have glochids, and only a couple that are spineless and have no glochids.

- This one is the best I have as far as being completely spineless and glochid free. I have not ID'd it yet, and have not seen a similar type anywhere else. Close to cochenillifera, but not quite exactly. Grows fast and the tortoises love it:



- Another good one is I have: https://cactiguide.com/cactus/?genus=Opuntia&species=cochenillifera. I've seen this referred to as variegated cactus. I don't recall any glochids on these, but my plants are wimpy. If there are glochids then they usually don't last long. Grows slow, but the tortoises love it.

- This type is pretty common. I've heard it called different things, so I'm not sure exactly what it might be. It's spineless. It does have glochids but not big or pervasive ones, and they don't last too long. The older pads are usually glochid free.



- I just got a few pads of a different variety from my neighbor. She called it a paddle cactus, but I think that's just a generic term for certain types of opuntia. It's similar to the one posted above, but is a different shade of green and texture. Don't know much about it other than it is spineless and these old pads don't have glochids. I would guess the younger pads have glochids....we'll see. The tortoises go crazy for this type:



- Just picked up a new variety. Don't see this type much. No spines and very tiny glochids:



- Indian Fig is good, but sometimes I'll still get those glochids. My tortoises don't seem to like this variety so I don't have much of this type.

 

[Tgs]

Very old post, but I came across it today. It brings me some peace of mind. I bought 2 varieties of spineless cactus as a porch pickup today and thought I had been had. One is an Indian fig variety and the other says ellisiana. After handling them, I had all sorts of tiny splinters in my finger tips. I had the same experience where I tried to pull them with my teeth and I'd lose track of the splinters in my mouth. It was a weird experience because I never felt one jab me in the mouth. It sounds like they are ok to drop to feed as they are..