Prickly Pear Oozing Sap

16 years ago

I have a prickly pear cactus that I recently bought on craigslist. It came with a bunch of misc succulents, all pretty healthy looking other than being leggy and in need of more sunlight.

Anyway, The prickly pear has only two pads. They are each pretty big, maybe each 10 inches tall. the plant looks very healthy, but I can see that all of the other growth has been picked off, leaving scars all around the edges of these two pads. I'm noticing in some spots that there is a little bit of sap oozing out from the cactus, leaving little hard balls as big as pin heads, all at the top of the pads. I'd like to know if this is oozing normal, and what it means. Also, if the pads are really scarred can I expect new growth at all?

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Comments (4)

tjicken
16 years ago
The answer to your second question is yes. I suspect that most of the removed tissue was old flowers and fruits, and that does not matter. Even removal of pads does not bother Opuntia much.
(I don't know about your first question, I have never seen the the symptom you describe. It does not sound dangerous.)
wantonamara Z8 CenTex
16 years ago
When the coriad bug bites and sucks the opuntia, it can cause some sap dripping. I had to stop growing certain species of opuntiad because it was too tasty . and it looked like a drippy mess. I will stick with the cactus that seem not to be bothered by the bug. I Live out in the country and spraying for coried bugs is a impossible thing when they are all around in the native cactus..
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unicole
Original Author
16 years ago
I don't see any bugs on it. I've been looking, since I had a problem with mealy bugs on my jade and wound up having to cut a ton of it off due to damage. But it seems to have been an isolated incident.

I will just keep checking on it. I'm glad to know that the scars won't affect its growth. Thanks!
unicole
Original Author
16 years ago
Turns out, a new pad grew right where the sap was oozing. This little pad grows incredibly fast!