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How to propagate cholla in Albuquerque
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Posted by vidito1 albuquerque (My Page) on Sat, Apr 21, 07 at 12:48
| We want to get a hedge of cholla started for our yard here in Rio Rancho. I believe the native variety here is cane cholla (Opuntia spinosior). How does one harvest it from the wild and start it. What time of year can one collect segments? Can you break the segments off or do you need to wait to collect ones that fall off naturally.
If someone has these, I would gladly trade Datura (white) seeds or Devils Claw seeds and pay postage. Colors other than yellow are very desirable but yellow is fine also. |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: How to propagate cholla in Albuquerque
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| You can break a segment off and let dry for a week and then stick it in soil. It will root. I thought our local cholla was opuntia imbricata? |
RE: How to propagate cholla in Albuquerque
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| Thank you. And you could very well be correct about the scientific name. Talking to people I've heard it called jumping cholla, cane cholla, walking stick cholla, etc. so I was guessing, based on pictures from the internet. Either way, my hubby wants a hedge of it, and he brought home a big tub of pieces today. I'm going out to the garage now to break off the segments and let them sit and form calluses. I'll plant them in a week. They'll have yellow flowers but thats ok. I got 4 segments off of ebay (they fell off) that are supposed to be purple, and are from Louisiana. Thanks so much for your input |
RE: How to propagate cholla in Albuquerque
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| Hi vidito1- adp abq is right, the most common native cholla seen in the Albuquerque area is Cylinropuntia imbricata (tree cholla). But Cylindropuntia spinosior is also native to southern New Mexico. These do very well in Albuquerque. In fact, I'll be in town for the next few days, so let me know if you would like some cuttings. Regards, cd |
RE: How to propagate cholla in Albuquerque
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| Your husband has a good idea. I'd have more cacti in my yard if my wife let me :) Cholla looks great when not in drought mode. |
RE: How to propagate cholla in Albuquerque
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| Thanks Cactus Dude. After breaking off the joints from the pieces brought home, I have plenty even if only half of them take root. The hubby has some unusual tastes. He also wanted bamboo in the back yard (working on that, what's recommended for this area (Golden Goddess, non-invasive, clumper) and was planted last year, looks pretty poor so far, but it still freezes sometimes at night. If the cholla takes, I'd like to add some prickly pear, a few Agave, maybe a century plant in the front yard in the rock landscaping. The back I want much greener (but not allowed to plant anything needing mowing). Besides the bamboo, which may or may not be successful, I've had great success with the Datura and Devils Claws. I think there'll be alot of Datura this year because it is so green and showy, but I'll have to keep up with the prickly seed pods. Thank you for being so generous with your offer Dude. vidito1 |
RE: How to propagate cholla in Albuquerque
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| Hi vidito1 No problem, I'm always happy to offer cuttings or plants if I have extra, and believe me, there are plenty of Cyl. spinosior in my mom's backyard. If you eventually plant prickly pears and/or agaves, here are a few suggestions: Opuntia ellisiana (very nice spineless pads)
Opuntia santa-rita or Opuntia macrocentra(beautiful purple pads)
Agave neomexicana
Agave parryi cd |
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