I don't grow these and do not know much about them - but does 'prickly pear plant' have so many 'hair'? Photos I see show many different spines, but not so much fur :). If yes, does anyone know proper name?

Yellowing of succulent may be sign of few problems. I would be concerned about possible rot (and obviously pest damage). Can you somehow gently squeeze yellowish parts to feel if they are firm or soft? There seems to be white 'stippling' on some stems that could be pests - mites or similar - but it is difficult to be sure because of the hair....

Its growth pattern does look very Opuntia to me. That's as far as my knowledge goes. As others have said, it may be rot caused by too much or too little water (it looks like too much from here or maybe too little for too long and then too much.) Whatever the cause, the plant is weakened and is susceptible to pests and what you're seeing is likely not due to one particular thing but a cacophony of many things.

Thank you all for your responses.

I do not think it is spider mite damage because I do not see the usual signs of mites and have dealt with them in the past...but I did have some bad soil last month that I found fungus gnat larvae in (I always inspect soil before bringing it in my home) but that issue was resolved quickly and there have been no signs of an infestation. I did a hydrogen peroxide and water treatment to all my plants just to be safe and the bad soil was removed right away.

I have felt the cactus and it seems to be firm still and there is little added texture to the cactus. Another thing I have noticed is that it doesn't seem to be changing, I noticed the discoloration last week and it looks exactly the same today.

The cactus is an Opuntia and commonly goes by "Snow prickly pear" or "Snow ponytail".

As far as watering goes, maybe two times was too much? when I got the cactus the soil was bone dry and pulling from the edges of the pot, so I re potted it and watered the next week. Then I waited 30 days and gave it another watering, this time with the hydrogen peroxide and water like I did for all my plants.

I really appreciate the responses. I am going to continue to watch it closely and for now I have moved it away from my other plants just in case. I have around 70 plants and don't want to risk something happening to them.

One final thought I have is that maybe it is sunburn? my other plants in the same location are having no problems though.

Whatever the browning is about - if this is the same situation that is very often seen when cacti and succulents are attempted under ordinary household conditions - the elongated pad shapes developing are the result of the north window not being nearly bright enough for a plant like this. If so you will instead have to provide a much brighter aspect for it to grow normally. Maybe through the use of artificial lighting, if there is no sunny window you can put it near.

mkeeler

Thank you for the name. I didn'tknow there are hairy opuntias!

I found couple of them listed as Opuntia erinacea ursine 'Ponytail Snow Hairy Grizzly Bear' and/or O. orencia (not sure which one is correct and/if they are same plant )...also another hairy Opuntia engelmannii -v- broskowitzii 'Hairy Roger' (from: https://www.thecactusking.com/plants/succulent/opuntia-engelmannii-v-broskowitzii)

May I ask what kind of mix are you using for your succulents?

Did you do the hydrogen peroxide before or after this appeared?

It is one of my favorites! the hair is just so interesting.

The mix I am using is my own personal mix that I have been using for years. It is a mix of "superfly bonsai USA" pumice, "calibonsai" succulent sand, "Thunder acres" coconut coir, and a small amount of "Fat plants san diego succulent" soil. I order everything off of Amazon. Its been great over the years and is very fast drying and drains well. I have also had luck with using pine bark in my mix.

The hydrogen peroxide treatment was done after the spots appeared, so that was not the cause either. I had bought a plant and when I went to re pot it I found the larvae so I treated all my plants right away, just in case an adult gnat was in the plant.