Opuntia

(Prickly pear) Rubescens

Flat, paddle-shaped pads stacked one on top of the other: that's the look that makes this prickly pear so easy to spot among cacti. The fresh green pads can take on a faint reddish blush in strong light, which is where the name rubescens comes from. Picture it on a sunny windowsill or a bright shelf, where it grows into a quirky, sculptural green friend with a desert silhouette. In the wild it comes from warm, dry parts of the Americas, so it loves lots of sun and very little water. Mind the small spines and the fine glochids when you move it. Forget to water now and then? It won't hold it against you.

Give it the brightest spot you have, ideally a south-facing windowsill with a few hours of direct sun, because those pads soak up light like a battery. Water about once a month in spring and summer, only when the soil has dried out completely, and hardly at all in winter. The pads store water, so too much is far worse than too little: wrinkled pads mean it's thirsty, while soft, mushy pads mean it's had too much. Room temperature suits it well, and it copes with a cooler winter rest of around 10 °C, but keep it away from frost and cold draughts. Pot it in well-draining cactus soil with a bit of extra grit, and repot about every two years in spring. A little cactus fertiliser once a month in spring and summer is plenty, and you can skip it in winter. Handle it with tongs or folded newspaper, as the tiny glochids love to hitch a ride on skin.

Your order will be hand picked and packed in our strong and sustainable packaging as soon as possible, after which it will be delivered straight from our greenhouse to your door by your chosen carrier. You can follow the journey of your plants via the tracking link you receive in your mail. If you have any questions regarding your order and its shipment, you can get in contact with our support team.

We expect every order to arrive in tip-top shape. We take intensive care of the plants in our greenhouse and use special and as sustainable as possible protective packaging to ship our plants. We also wrote an extensive blog about how to unpack and prepare your plants for growth after shipping. However there are rare occasions where our plants don’t meet their full potential. That’s why all plants are guaranteed for 30 days after arrival, if still in its original nursery pot.