What cactus is this?

Hypatia

My officemate has a cactus and thinks it is unhealthily drooping and is structurally unsound, so he wants to start lopping off pieces. This led to trying to figure out what it was supposed to look like, where we then found that we both sucked at trying to find it on the internet.

I am turning to the amassed wisdom of the forums because you guys are awesome. What kind of cactus is this?

Enc

That's a cool cactus. The only kind.

Bowen

Looks like an Opuntia or maybe a Christmas Cactus. Does kinda resemble prickly pear cactus a bit (Opuntia). Looks pretty healthy to me. But I don't think cactus should be in soil like that, they're desert plants.

Djeet

Easter Cactus (Rhipsalidopsis)? The ones I've seen aren't so spiny and they have a drooping/trailing form. Try not to over-water.

Edit: Or maybe X-mas cactus like bowen suggested. And then there's apparently a Thanksgiving cactus as well which have pointy bits, but not those spines. These are all related cactuses (or cacti). Ima call them succulents.

Hypatia

Thank you! You guys are amazing!

We stared at it and pictures of the ones you suggested for a while and he's convinced it's an Opuntia/prickly pear, except we're still a little confused about why his leaves are so thin compared to all the pictures.

Djeet

Prickly pear are much larger. They set a pink bulbous fruit thing (we call them tunas here, and they make for a nice addition/base to a margarita), and a yellow to pink rosette-type flower.

The Rhipsalidopsis sets a flower with longer petals, more like a daisy. These things are pretty tough and make good houseplants.

But depending on care they might not bloom.

Pinfeldorf

That there succulent is most certainly a prickly pear. It's not going to get very big, as the root system for most succulents like to go shallow and wide (desert habitat and all), so it'll pretty much always look like a baby. And it looks perfectly fine to me.

NightDragon

bowen wrote: »

Looks like an Opuntia or maybe a Christmas Cactus. Does kinda resemble prickly pear cactus a bit (Opuntia). Looks pretty healthy to me. But I don't think cactus should be in soil like that, they're desert plants.

Going to just reiterate this here - make sure the soil is well-draining. I haven't often seen succulents/cacti in soil like that...it may be too absorbent. I'd suggest your coworker throws some sand/cactus-soil in there to balance things out and make sure the cactus isn't getting overwatered.

I don't know a lot about succulents, but that might help it look a bit better.

Hypatia

Thanks! That advice really helps since he was already wondering if he should be transferring it to a larger pot again, I've passed the advice along--I'm actually kind of curious to see how it does if he leaves it on the window sill during the winter.

Liiya

When not in bud/flowering keep around 55f, water infrequently, water more often when in bud/flowering and increase temperature. Give it lots of sunlight but not direct so it doesn't fry. Mist the leaves once a week, re-pot it after flowering has finished.