---
title: "What would cause the new “ears” to drop off my rabbit ear cactus?…"
description: "What would cause the new “ears” to drop off my rabbit ear cactus? About 4-5 have dropped off in the past month. This plant is about 3/4 years old."
url: "https://getplanta.com/community/lKxUkhzRR_aIJD7o1QvtwQ/3YBuNwZDQdpTNDYvyFIl1w"
community: "Pests, diseases and problems"
author: "StayinAlive"
published: "2026-07-20T14:24:30.192623Z"
language: "en"
image: "https://images.getplanta.com/v1/resize/72bm3ownOOTsGKAgT21G0gOsnocxJs1Xgz34dXIGSBE/E53FX9n_TsWiY1ND3eNAIA.webp?size=large"
---

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# What would cause the new “ears” to drop off my rabbit ear cactus?…

_Posted by StayinAlive on 2026-07-20_

What would cause the new “ears” to drop off my rabbit ear cactus? About 4-5 have dropped off in the past month. This plant is about 3/4 years old.

![Attachment 1 of 1](https://images.getplanta.com/v1/resize/72bm3ownOOTsGKAgT21G0gOsnocxJs1Xgz34dXIGSBE/E53FX9n_TsWiY1ND3eNAIA.webp?size=large)

## 6 comments

### StayinAlive commented on 2026-07-20

As I look over it more, there are 9 that have fallen off. I do not see any pests.

### Morgan Picillo 🖤 🌿 commented on 2026-07-20

How is the lighting? Is it getting direct sun?

#### StayinAlive replied on 2026-07-20

I live south facing, and currently, the sun moves over my building so there is no direct sun until 11:30/noon. There is direct sunlight until 6:30 or so once it moves west.

### plantgeek commented on 2026-07-20

opuntia are well known for their pads being very easy to knock or fall off. they do this on purpose to propagate themselves. it's completely natural and not indicative of any problem unless you notice other signs of stress or illness, and as long as the plant does maintain some growth points to continue getting larger. if it's knocking off ALL of the new growth points, you might need to repot it

#### StayinAlive replied on 2026-07-20

Thank you so much as this makes the most sense, given it has sprouted a bunch of new growth over the past two months or so. You may be able to see it in the photo, but there are many new buds coming from the base of the plant, rather than the top (still very green). This is the first time this has happened and kind of wild that it would just push the newbs off like that!

#### plantgeek replied on 2026-07-20

yeas!!! a lot of people don't know that they're self pruning. especially if they're having a growth spurt like yours, they're very likely to knock off some of the new buds to put energy into others

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