Verdalia

Prickly pear (paddle cactus)

Opuntia spp.

UncommonCactusEasySafe

A cactus. Prefers full sun. Wants a fast-draining substrate. As a species it wants water about every 14 days. Not known to be toxic.

Prickly pear (paddle cactus): how often should you water it?

~14days between waterings

That’s the interval our references converge on for this species indoors: roughly every 14 days between waterings, adjusted for your light and your season.

What we do and don’t publish

Why we don’t give you a date.

We publish the interval this species usually wants. We don’t publish a date for your plant — nothing here measures it. The interval is a starting point you adjust from what you actually log.

Start trackingLog a watering, and the interval starts adjusting to your home.
Guidance is curated against general horticultural references including the RHS, the Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder, and university extension services. Each field is either published or left empty — never estimated.

Care cadences

WWaterEvery ~14 days
FFertilizeEvery ~60 days
RRepotEvery ~1095 days

Not established for this species: clean leaves · mist. We’d rather leave them empty than guess.

What’s known about this species

Light

ExposureFull sun
Tolerates direct sunYes
Minimum light10750 lux
Daily light target10 mol/m²/day

Environment

Ideal temperature24 °C
min 10 °Cmax 35 °C
Humidity3050% RH

Soil & pot

Drainagefast

Gritty, fast-draining cactus mix in a pot with drainage; many species are vigorous, so allow room for pads. Handle with thick protection because of glochids.

Toxicity

SafePet-safe

Non-toxic to humans and pets per available sources.

A short profile, on purpose

2 of the fields we publish aren’t established for this species in the references we trust. Empty means unknown — not zero, and not a guess.

Suggest a correction

The species’ year

Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
GrowingDormantFeed

A typical year for this species in a temperate northern home. It shifts with your light and your latitude — we don’t track your plant’s season, so treat this as rhythm, not schedule.

Keep this species honest in your own log.

Verdalia holds the interval, your log moves it. Free to start.

Start tracking

Verdalia publishes species guidance curated from horticultural references. It does not measure your plant — you log what you do, and the intervals adjust to what you log. Suggest a correction