Few Opuntia grow in your area. I know that O. humifusa and O. fragilis do, and perhaps some of the other hardy species (macrorhiza, polyacantha) can be found there too.

There are some pictures of seedlings here:

young Opuntia seedlings

and some older:

slightly older seedlings

Thanks for images. What I got is similar:

That does not look right. The picture is small, but at least the seedling in the front has more than 2 leaves. Opuntia never grow more than 2 (well, occasionally 3) before the main body start to grow between them. (They do grow a kind of short, cone-shaped leaves later, but that is another story).

How long ago did you sow them? Opuntia can take a long time to germinate.

Here is another try:

I soaked them for 24 hours as suggested and they've been sowing for a month and a half.
Thanks

Okay, so I went to a spot not far from me here in south dakota and found a bunch of prickly pears and one other cacti that was growing in abundance.

It is cold here, so the prickly pears were shriveling and as I understand it this means they are going into dormancy.

If I uprooted some, would they easily transplant to some cactus potting soil? Would I need to water initially? Is dormancy a bad time to transplant?

Thank you so much for all your information!

David

That is definitely not an Opuntia (or other cactus).

so the prickly pears were shriveling and as I understand it this means they are going into dormancy.

Yes.

If I uprooted some, would they easily transplant to some cactus potting soil?

Yes.

Would I need to water initially?

No. They will not absorb it, it will just make them prone to rot.

Is dormancy a bad time to transplant?

Yes. You will not gain anything by transplanting them now, and it is best if they have a few months to establish the root system before they become dormant, otherwise there is more risk for trouble later.

I appreciate your information greatly as I do not know much about this. Here is another pot that I planted some of the original seeds in and what is coming to fruition:

Here is what I got the original seeds from:

sorry to say, that is not a prickly pear seedling. Just some type of weed. But that is a nice looking cactus you got your seeds from. Next time, microwave the soil for a few minutes before sowing to be sure to kill all other seeds... no confusion then. Just make sure the soil is cooled down before sowing ;-)

Looks like you've got a very nice young lamb's quarters and possibly a ground ivy.

How long have the seeds been in the pots?

2 months

You might consider using a soil appropriate for cacti seedlings.
Your mix is dark black with, no doubt, organic matter. Although cacti seedlings
do need to stay moist (unlike many adult cacti forms), they don't need to be wet.


Josh