---
title: "I’ve never grown a cactus before and this was just a pad that broke…"
description: "I’ve never grown a cactus before and this was just a pad that broke off from a plant at the local park. This seems… excessive?"
url: "https://getplanta.com/community/vOLjreBcQ-OpqrHIhVSc4w/64b44df12c9312374d7e91d7"
community: "The Cactus & Succulent Circle"
author: "Sean"
published: "2023-07-16T20:07:13.306Z"
language: "en"
image: "https://images.getplanta.com/v1/resize/UssYDTlKOUvUHe1NzyFfeZuZvBRI0gpxVAuHCd1TNBQ/1ae97a5a73e943ce8d6a4ae8e86eb2b8.webp?size=large"
---

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# I’ve never grown a cactus before and this was just a pad that broke…

_Posted by Sean on 2023-07-16_

I’ve never grown a cactus before and this was just a pad that broke off from a plant at the local park. This seems… excessive?

![Attachment 1 of 1](https://images.getplanta.com/v1/resize/UssYDTlKOUvUHe1NzyFfeZuZvBRI0gpxVAuHCd1TNBQ/1ae97a5a73e943ce8d6a4ae8e86eb2b8.webp?size=large)

## 5 comments

### Crystal commented on 2023-07-17

I have this too…I think it needs more sun. But unsure, I’d like to know what others think.

#### John G Amero replied on 2023-07-25

Cactus’s like sun as much as Bridesmaids and Groomsmen like cocktails.

Me: Hey Cactus would you like some more sun.  
Cactus: Oh hell yeah. Bring it on.

Me: Excuse me. The Bride \& Groom would like to know if you’d like another cocktail.  
B’ \& G’: Oh hell yeah. Bring it on.

I’m kidding.  
Cactus’s can’t talk.

Cactus = 6+ hours of sun. The + is as much sun as you can deliver. ( Do not put on Space X rocket. May be closer to sun but the windows are tiny.)

B’s \& G’s = 1 + 1 One cocktail + 1 full water

### John G Amero commented on 2023-07-17

Hello,  
What seems excessive?  
The speed of growth?  
The large size of the new pad?

For all three I can say it is not excessive.😁

I live in the Philadelphia area, so zone 7. This is growing season for prickly pear cactus all across the US. Even in Philadelphia, the June, July time period produces new growth.

The prickly pear in the blue pot started with two pads connected, I cut the connected pads from a neighbors plant in Oct 2021 and shoved them into a pot.

Jun-Jul 2022 thru summer produced three new pads.

Jun-Jul 2023 Seven new pads.

Perfectly normal.

![Attachment 1 of 1](https://images.getplanta.com/v1/resize/6gxEM_j_mJgdysj-2z4vmXECXcvvzQ8T9LpBISEIrd4/0c7f3d9f70cc4a1cbfc392e2c43d42b0.webp?size=large)

#### Sean replied on 2023-07-20

That’s good know! Thank you! Bizarre to see so much growth from a plant I’ve always considered to be a slow-growing opportunistic plant. But I look forward to how it develops from here.

#### John G Amero replied on 2023-07-25

They are resilient so you can leave them for days and weeks in months outside and not touch them or anything and let nature take its course now they’ll look bad but they won’t die unless it’s like you know really bad outside like really cold really hot with no rain for extended periods.

Now this image is of a pad I cut today from a plant. The large prickly lear plant sits in rectangular stone pot sitting up on a wall and pads hanging over the wall into the alley. The plant has been outside, in that same pot, on that same wall for 14 years. The house is a rental so renters aren’t going to take card of it and the home owner I guess is just glad it’s still there as each tenant moves out.

This is the same donor plant that provided me with one cutting two pads in Oct 2021. This new cutting, all wrinkled and yellow’d will be doing great by September (fingers crossed) and then sleep all winter inside.

![Attachment 1 of 1](https://images.getplanta.com/v1/resize/6gxEM_j_mJgdysj-2z4vmXECXcvvzQ8T9LpBISEIrd4/d5560d443e684e60bdee88fd7f446c88.webp?size=large)

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