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Opuntia tuna

Elephantear Pricklypear · Sour Pickle · Tuna

Family CactaceaeGenus Opuntia

A prickly pear grown tall on a thick woody trunk, its flat green pads branching in every direction against a cloudy sky.
The whole plantrebecca spurlingCC BY-SA 2.0

About the plant

What it is and where it grows — not part of any germination protocol.

Habit
succulent shrubPlants of the World Online
Native range
Jamaica, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Southeast, Mexico SouthwestGBIF Backbone Taxonomy

Toxicity is noted only where a source states it. No note here is not a finding of safety.

Sources: Plants of the World Online — Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; GBIF Backbone Taxonomy — Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Protocol

DerivedN. C. Deno, 1993

Difficulty High Rated by us, not by the source.

  1. Gibberellic acid soak

  2. Sow and cover

    Temperature: 70°F 21°C Light: dark

No stated waiting before sowing. Then 56 days to germinate.

12% germination in 56 days.

Seed Germination Theory and Practice, 2nd ed. — N. C. Deno, 1993 · Ch. 20, Opuntia p. 182Public domain
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Opuntia (Cactaceae). Seeds are in a fruit and were WC.for 7 d. 0. tuna germ 70D GA-3(5/40 in 8th w) and 70D(none), but the seedlings quickly rotted. Extensive experiments on
Seed Germination Theory and Practice, 2nd ed., Ch. 20, Opuntia p. 182. Quoted exactly. Every value on this card comes from this record, except the difficulty rating, which is ours; the step names come from a fixed list.

Germination trials

Readers’ own records of sowing this species, published after review. Share your trial · All trials

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