Cold-Hardy Prickly Pear Cactus

Prickly pear cacti provide popular food across tropical regions of the world, though the genus is native to the Americas. Most commonly grown for the sweet fruit, colorful-fleshed fruit, the species Opuntia ficus-indica is the most famous, but many other species are commonly eaten or juiced. In Mexico and other places, the fully-formed young pads are a common vegetable (known as nopal, singular, or nopales, plural). A low-growing, small-fruited species known as Opuntia humifusa grows along the U.S. east coast as far north as New England, but it is the relatively large-fruited species called Opuntia stricta that is of interest here. Native as far north as North Carolina or possibly Virginia, Opuntia stricta is the tallest and largest of the cold-hardy prickly pears. The fruit grow to roughly 3 inches long by 2 inches wide. The deep red-purple flesh is quite tasty, a pleasing mix of sweet and tart. Additionally, the fruit were recently found to contain among the highest amounts of betacyanins (the same antioxidant pigment that gives red beets their color), compared to other prickly pears, which means it has medicinal or nutritive uses that have yet to be fully studied. It has large pads that grow similarly to nopales, but little is known about its possible use as a vegetable. This plant was not on our radar until I found a patch growing in a south-facing front yard in southern New Jersey (shown in photo). It appears to be quite mature, and was well laden with fruit when I came across it in 2017. As of March 2018, I'm attempting to sprout many seeds after preparing them in three different ways (dried fresh from the ripe fruit, dried naturally after slowly rotting indoors, and stratified outdoors over the winter while kept moist in the rotten flesh of the fruit). Hopefully one or all of these methods will produce a plethora of seedlings. I intend with this project to send seeds and/or seedlings to volunteers across the northern United States to test the limits of this hardy species. Where it was found in New Jersey is considered USDA Zone 7, but winters sometimes get quite cold here, dipping into temperatures more typical of Zone 5. I'm willing to send seeds (once we learn how to best germinate them) and seedlings to volunteers as far north as Zone 4, or possibly colder. I'm also interested in identifying cultivars with particularly large fruit and/or readily edible young pads. This project will begin with Opuntia stricta (grown in the presence of Opuntia humifusa), but intentional hybrids and other species will be included as I get them from other growers and researchers.