Cold Climate Cactus

This is a good photo of a location that should be good for Opuntia fragilis. The broad leaf plants and grasses are hardly making it here. They probably start out in the spring when there is plenty of rain then as summer gets hot, even with rain, the sand drains too fast for them to grow well. This is marked to help find the location next spring when the fragilis will be planted. It is hard to imagine not being able to find this location, but most of the ground looks barren in the early spring. The marker may be very helpful.

The Opuntia fragilis plants were given an application of Captan and Superthrive as root fungus prevention. The weather has been hot and wet which has been more intense than most summers here in Wisconsin. Some Opuntia plants I've had for years outdoors in Wisconsin have died from root rot this year. The plants for the DNR 690 have not shown any signs of having any problems, but as a precaution they are now treated.

The Opuntia fragilis will be planted next spring in several prairie locations. The best time to plant them is in the early spring, so they will have their new growth to establish themselves in the new location. The best information as to where exactly to plant them is in the middle of summer. The mid summer weather will show where broad leaf plants are unable to maintain their hold, and these ares are going to be the best places to plant fragilis. The mid summer heat will cause plants to dry up and die back where the soil is too sandy.

Now is the best time to mark these broad leaf dead zones, and then plant the fragilis next spring. These areas would not be as easy to find in the early spring without markers, because plants look like they are growing everywhere as they are coming up.

It will be a good situation for the prairie. The fragilis will be able to grow in areas where broad leaf plants can't make it through the summer heat. The cacti will stay in these locations because they will not be able to spread into the lush areas and compete where the broad leaf plants thrive.

Opuntia fragilis will have the best sandy locations with plenty of sun by making the prairie now.

These pads were rooted in rock medium and they are starting to grow into plants too.

These pads were rooted in water, and they are now establishing themselves as growing plants.

A day after finding the roots growing May 3rd, these pads are planted in growing medium. They are covered with deer netting to prevent animals from catching them on their fur. Pads can go missing if they are not protected.

The Opuntia fragilis pads in water suddenly grew roots. They became quite long in a few days.

These pads are in water on a hot pad under lights. They will start roots, be planted in pots and placed outdoors. They will grow into new plants this summer.

The Opuntia fragilis pads are placed on growing medium in a plastic tray. The medium is mostly rocks and small amounts of sand. The whole tray is wrapped in deer netting to prevent rodents like local rabbits accidentally moving the pads. The pin wheels are around to help keep animals away. The tray is outdoors and will sit in the sun and rain where the pads will put down roots and turn into small plants this summer.

These Opuntia fragilis pads are being kept under lights for four days to insure that they are dry. On April 18th we traveled to make sure we could find the collection site. We were surprised to find that the colony we were taking propagation materials from had been disturbed. Very little damage, but construction had disturbed some of the pads at the outer edge of this colony. These disturbed pads were chosen as collection material over taking more from the center of the colony. They provided about half of the needed collection materials, and the rest of the pads were taken from the edges of the plants in the middle of the colony. They will rest under the lights and then be set up in conditions for rooting next.

The purpose for Obtaining this permit from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is to; propagate Opuntia fragilis for prairie restoration activities. Search on - Endangered and Threatened Species Permit 690 - in this blog to follow this species.