Opuntia Violacea

Water:

April-September: 1 x every 2 weeks*

October-March: 1x per month *

*This is only for a sunny location

Light: sunny

Nutrition: 1x per month (May-September)

The Opuntia Violacea is a beautiful leaf cactus. The Opuntia Violacea occurs in a large area in southeastern Arizona, Texas and northern Sonora in Mexico. Here the Opuntia Violacea grows in dry grassy plains and rocky areas.

The Opuntia Violacea "Santa-rita" is best known for its purple color. When this Opuntia species is placed outside in full sun, the leaves turn a beautiful purple. This first happens on the top edge of the leaves and then the color continues to the rest of the leaf. New leaves that are made are still green at first.

The flowers appear in spring and early summer. These are yellow in color and can appear in large numbers on the leaves. Especially the beautiful contrast of all those yellow flowers on the purple leaves makes this Opuntia Violacea a real eye-catcher.

The Opuntia Violacea is an easy species that mainly grows in spring and summer. Then she can form many new leaves in one growing season. In winter, this Opuntia Violacea can withstand cold temperatures of -12. It is wise to cover this cactus against the rain or place it under a roof. A lot of moisture in combination with cold temperatures is not good for the Opuntia Violacea

If you overwinter the Opuntia Violacea in a very cold environment, it will improve its purple color and ensure that it produces more flowers in the spring.