Spider Leg Cactus

[Gary350]

We call this cactus spider leg because the person that gave us some for our yard called it spider leg. It is very rare around here no one has ever seen it before except for us and the person we got it from who is now dead. I can not find spider leg cactus on Google search or ebay.

We think this is a type of prickly pear cactus with no needles. If you look very close it does have a few extremely small hair like needles you can wipe away with your finger. It grows very fast. 1 year ago he had about 8 segments to plant now it was 7 feet tall. We have trimmed the cactus down 1 foot shorter and 2 foot diameter smaller. It does good in the hot sun all day and is not extremely sensitive to too much water.

Has anyone seen this cactus before?

What is the real name?

[Sweyn]

It looks like a kind of Opuntia https://cactiguide.com/cactus/?genus=Opuntia and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opuntia

Those links might help you narrow down the type.

[Gary350]

I looked at all 20 pages. It looks like this cactus is Prickly Pear Opuntia Tomentosa. Also commonly known as Velvet Opuntia and several other names. It can easily grow 20 feet tall and makes, Orange, Red, and Yellow flowers.

[Sweyn]

That sounds good, Gary.

Please post photo's if it blooms. You might be able to grow cuttings from it. I have seen it done with other kinds of Opuntias.

[Gary350]

I have already grown about 150 new plants just by pulling off the segments and planting them in the ground. They root very quick and start growing new segments in 2 months.

[Sweyn]

That's good. Opuntias in general, are normally easy to grow as cuttings. You just need to cut off an entire pad where it joins one below it, then pot it just deep enough so that it can stand up on its own. Then, wait a few days before watering it.

From one plant, it is possible to gain many more, indefinitely.