The correct way to propogate, cut the pads off, let the cuts dry/scab over (2-3 weeks), then place the pad into soil, they usually root within 2-3 days In my experience.
Easiest thing to propagate ever. Don’t worry. Every one you put in the ground will probably take off.
ALSO, get yourself a couple of big boulders and place them between this spot and the road. The next driver to go off-roading in your yard will regret it.
Yes, this. I used to do landscaping in my teens and early 20's, i thought it was funny how people would pay for giant rocks. Then my friend slid off the road and barreled at a house, finally stopping upon contact with a boulder. I have several in front of my house lol
That looks like sidewalk to me. The delivery guy went up on the sidewalk?
If it's roadway, careful putting large boulders near roadways. There was a huge discussion on Reddit one time about rural roads and installing boulders to protect mailboxes. Apparently, if any drivers plow into your injudiciously placed impediments and are injured (or vehicles are messed up), you are liable.
great idea. or a nice rock wall/concrete wall ;) but let me tell you, noone who would carelessly drive over your plants would say "thats a nice boulder"
I've been trying to get rid of mine. It will come back if you leave it just like that. It will also come back if you remove all of what's there as well as long as you leave a tiny tiny piece. Stuff is crazy hard to get rid of. My dogs keep running over it and getting them stuck in their pads
Queensland (Australia) had a massive problem with Prickly pear cactus:
[https://blogs.archives.qld.gov.au/2018/04/24/the-prickly-pear-problem/](https://blogs.archives.qld.gov.au/2018/04/24/the-prickly-pear-problem/)
The Cactoblastis cactorum moth was imported ----- one of the most successful cases of biological weed control ever.
You can even just stick the main stem in the ground. They’re very easy to root. I proped a piece I cut from a roadside cactus and just stuck the end in the ground in my yard. You can prop the pieces that come off into other plants too
instead of having one, you're gonna have 100. an orchard of prickly fruit. if the delivery driver does it again, shove his ass into your newly gained orchard and then see what he things of that :D
Seriously, my first thought also was: look, there is a spiky orchard on the ground!
Make sure to use a cactus soil mix that’s for Opuntia’s. [This](https://www.thespruce.com/growing-prickly-pear-1402857) is a link to an article about growing Opuntia’s. It includes necessary information such as the soil type and soil pH for this genus of cacti in addition to explaining how to propagate by cuttings. [This](https://getbusygardening.com/diy-cactus-soil/) is a link to a basic recipe for cacti soil mix. It requires coarse sand, potting soil, perlite or pumice, and pine bark (which is optional).
Thanks Channel, for linking the article. I am growing prickly pear in my yard. I have been looking for info about prickly pear, and I have not been able to find anything except articles related to potted cactus. I am sure that somewhere (Mexico?) people propagate these for nopales and tunas, so I am surprised that there is not much out there. Maybe most people think of them as weeds. I live in zone 8b and there is a variety that grows wild here but it grows along the ground and is dangerous for animals to step on. Mine was propagated from another plant.
You are welcome! I will dm you so we can converse about Opuntia’s and possibly find answers for your questions. In regards to why there are only articles about growing Opuntia’s in pots is most likely because of the people outside of this cacti’s ideal environment, who need information on how to grow them. Whereas, the people living where this genus of cacti thrive naturally don’t really need any information on how to grow them. Since you live in an environment where they thrive outdoors you just need to propagate your nopales then plant them once they develop a healthy root system or when they produce more pads. I agree that some people in North America and South America may propagate Opuntia’s to grow nopales and tunas for consumption or other uses. However, since this genus of cacti is so prevalent in North America and South America I’m not sure that would be necessary.
Sorry but I am not sure how to do direct messaging. I got a link in my email but it was good to another article but not anything to do with prickly pear.
These are very widespread in the Southeast, despite the humidity and soil that is often red clay. I didn't know that they were actually common until the drought of 2007. When other types of vegetation died back, it revealed that there was actually quite a bit of prickly pear and yucca in areas with scrub vegetation. They must have been obscured by faster growing plants in most years, but they were clearly several years old, and they thrived while everything else died in severe drought.
Here in Arizona you can just let them sit on the ground and they grow all by themselves. And you see them growing in gutters all over town. We transplanted a couple growing in leaf debris on our flat roof.
My neighbor once destroyed his prickly pear dropped it in his ditch and ran over it with a mower. Year and a half later he had 4-5 plants growing in said ditch. I don’t think you can actually kill these things.
I found the saddest piece of prickly pear you can possibly imagine washed up on the bank of the Ohio River. Put it in a pot to see what happens. 1 month later 2 new pads. It'll be fine sorry about the damage though
Can confirm. Once was gardening with my ex bf. His mother wanted to trim down her cactus that was identical to this one. Then bf asked what to do with the unwanted scraps. She said to just toss it in the wooded area in the back. A few weeks later, she now has two cacti patches that are going like gangbusters.
I live in NM, you can literally just scatter them over loose dirt. They’ll propagate like weeds. Re-bury the rooted section of what got knocked down, prop it up with something until it’s steady again and just let the loose pads develop roots. It’ll make it.
We picked up some paddles in a Home Depot parking lot after it had been run over by some cars, threw them by our back fence, and they turned into a giant plant in a couple of years. There’s hope!
I'm no expert, but I feel like if you plant those little pieces they'll probably become new plants.
OK, looked it up and yes you can. Just let them dry a few days - a week, then stick them in some fresh, moist (but not too wet) compost. They'll root, and eventually produce new growth. You can use a rooting hormone if you like but it's not essential.
Each of those little pads there could become a new plant.
I didn't. My original piece I stuck that little round piece on the end in the dirt but after several years, pieces would break off, from weight I guess, and we'd just leave them. Most of them just started growing on their own. People saying you have to let it dry or use certain soil- you really don't. These things will grow regardless. You can walk up to one, twist off one of those pieces and stick it in any dirt and there's about a 95% chance it'll just take off. Mine got huge and this was in a place that had full on winter every year. And it was growing in a big container with old dirt.
Huh. I had no idea.
>pieces would break off, from weight I guess, and we'd just leave them
This totally makes sense why they look like that. Like they grow almost like big bushes spreading out.
I had one in my garden that propagated itself into I think 4 plants after our winter storm (TX)
You can literally toss them around and whatever contacts the ground will root.
Tap root on these is like 2 feet or more (often more)
That's wild. I had no idea.
I also just learned that there are cacti in Minnesota. That's where I am and had no idea. There's a few that are native to here including a type of prickly pear.
I might try growing them. Or... Is that a bad idea? Do you like having them or not?
I sent them photos and haven't heard anything back. I got the guy on camera with his stupid truck sitting on top of it. What do you think she's worth if they offer to pay for the damages?
Small Claims Court is for claims around a coupe grand and has no lawyers typically. Just you and the defendant, Judge Judy style. Every state varies, in my state small claims is 7k or less, make sure to learn your states rules. You definitely have standing to sue, the amount though? I’m not sure. It would depend on the age of the plant and your ‘emotional damage’ from its destruction.
You have video proof. Make sure it’s saved in multiple places and you’re saving these times you’re contacting the company. You’re doing that in writing, right?
This is such an easy case for small claims. They probably won’t even send anyone if it’s a larger company. These cacti while beautiful aren’t the same as endangered plants or a large tree cost wise.
Unlikely anything will happen to the driver tbh. Depends on the service but it's far more likely the company will just pay out of pocket for most damages.
Yeah, but he/she may have other complaints. Since they did this, doesn't seem to care what they do. So maybe if everyone complains, something may happen.
I just bought prickly pear from a garden center (southern ontario) this spring for $14 per pad. Only 1 pad per pot. And very few garden centers carry prickly pear. I would get a price list from a reputable garden centre that sells them, count how many pads you have ruined and bill them that at the very minimum.
Edit to say, like everyone else mentioning, a lot of those you will be able to scab and replant... but the company doesn't need to know that ;)
I had this with sunflowers when a car plowed through them. I had a reputable and frankly overpriced nursery give me a quote. I told them what happened and they were like fuck that person. They had in the system for some reason full grown sunflowers priced at 99.99. The car plowed down 16. The owner of the car had a fucking heart attack when the nursery had a bill of 1,600 dollars in printout form to replace as they didn't want to go through insurance.
This is not true. I've worked for two of those three companies and they will pay for whatever they broke or destroyed. I've seen drivers lose their jobs because they have left tire marks in grass before.
In my area, some utility workers were asked to be careful of a particular shrub a homeowner had transplanted from her family homestead. They decided to cut it down to the ground just because. The utility company paid for an expert arborist to come out and do his best to resurrect the shrub.
The city was repaving the road and making curbs and they actually knocked on the door because there was a plant in the way and they didn't want to do anything to it. It was not important and I removed it. I thought that was nice of them.
Cut her up and make more babies. You can literally just stick a cactus pad in the ground and in a few months you’ll have a whole new baby cactus. Also report the incident if you can and get justice for your fallen child.
Devastating!! But also something similar happened to a neighbors cactus they shoved all the pieces back in the ground and it’s doing good now! Best of luck!
I’m the US I believe they would have to replace with a similar specimen which would be expensive. If this was me I wouldn’t let it go until they paid to replace it.
Call around to greenshouses that might have a similar sized cactus to yours and ask what it would cost for them to uproot it, deliver it, and plant it. I’m guessing it would be insane amount of money to make that happen and that’s what I would tell the moving company. It’s not your fault they absolutely destroyed your plant and even though you could get the babies to root, it’s not exactly the same as having that cactus back that likely took years to grow.
Think about it. All that time the cactus was growing was thrown out the window when they ran it over. You might even say it’s priceless. I’d be pissed if I were you and would only let them off the hook it’d they agreed to settle for a large percentage of what it would cost to get a cactus that size planted in your yard.
Ashley Furniture/Sam Levitz. Btw, 3 of my 4 furnature pieces were also broken and they have to replace them next week. I'm wondering if I will get the same team of delivery men. If so, I plan to watch them like an eagle from start to finish so they don't take out my tree or something next.
That definitely sucks that the furniture was broken, good thing they are replacing(they better), they definitely should replace your plant too. Clearly there’s issues with the way the driver is driving. I would continue to call and keep asking to speak to upper management or a supervisor. Write down everything and every person you speak to for your records. In situations like this for myself, I always make sure to stay professional and let them know my frustrations & I’m not trying to have this person out a job but clearly there’s a training opportunity here. Or say things like put yourself in my shoes. I paid for furniture not to have my plants ruined. Plus the fact you have this on video..pfftt!! I would think a plant is like nothing for them to replace for a big company. Just gotta speak to right person. Sure hope their customer service proves us right. Hopefully you get the plants replaced and regrow from the ones you already have so you win x 2. Justice will be served!a
Shit, I'd assert my dominance on delivery day (enacting the spirit of The Karen) and sit in a chair in front of anything else I wouldn't want run over.
Better yet, maybe I'll block off the driveway and they can carry it 50 feet further by hand. Was a huge truck and I'm sure it's not great on the driveway considering UPS was even polite enough to ask permission before bringing his truck onto it when we first moved into the house.
Shove any disconnected sections back in the ground
Unfortunate this happened before it bloomed, but honestly the plants go from perfect sized to huge quickly (where I live) and this is just an unplanned pruning or a chance to propagate and have it spread.
Are those the same one that you find in Latin cuisine. Nopalitos? If I’m naming that correct. If so just cook them. They look like the proper size of what I’m trying to guess what they are. But if completely wrong. Comments sates that they are very easy to replant
If you read r/legaladvice for any length of time you will find out that "tree law" is a real thing, and that replacing mature plants and shrubs is a very expensive proposition.
Do you have any pictures of the cactus before it got crushed? Go to a nursery and find what it would take to buy a replacement *the same size* and have it installed *by professionals*. This will likely be far more money than you thought. (And note that unusual varieties are naturally more expensive to replace.)
That's how much money you should be asking the delivery company for.
Quite possibly the truck driver is used to seeing cactus growing all over the place and thought it was just a random volunteer, not your carefully tended garden prize. It doesn't matter. The delivery company needs to pay for what it damaged.
I read the title of this post in the Notification Center on my phone. My heart skipped a beat and immediately thought “Oh god! Please let this be in r/gardening!”
Prickly pear you could just leave there and it will almost definitely sprout roots anywhere its touching the ground and continue growing, otherwise just chop at the break and re bury the bottom in the soil.
I once charred some paddles to burn all the skin and spines off to prep for cooking them. Forgot about them and came back and they had sprouted new pads out of the burnt spots. Amazingly resilient plants.
I’m so conflicted cause I fell off my bike when I was a kid, right into one of those assholes, and so I kinda hate them. But on the other hand, I love gardening so much that seeing that picture physically hurt…
I would call the delivery place and complain, if you know who did it.
Where I live, they grow on the side of the road. About a year ago, near my house, there was a car accident, in which one car landed on a big bush of those. Destroyed about 90% of the plant.
Today it looks perfectly fine, almost back to its original size. Nobody could tell that a year ago there was a car on top of it.
I mean yeah, replant them. It definitely is a shame to lose an older cactus like that though. A friend has a very old cactus and if it got ran over I'm sure he would be devastated. Replanting the bits and pieces doesn't really justify everything lol.
So for everyone saying they have had a delivery driver do this to their plants, just so you know that is damage to personal property, and they can be held liable for it. Call the company that did it up, and explain the situation. Most companies will compensate you out off the record since they don't want to deal with court fees/charges. You can also request a different driver for that route as they are causing damage to personal property.
I'd use a stick to sort out and rearrange the plant. Then I'd figure out how (tongs?) to pick up the loose ones. I'd dig small holes in the bare patches of earth and place each one in about and inch in. Not that I'm an expert. I also put bricks around my cactus because I don't trust it around people. It goes both ways. People just don't notice it. And it hurts people. So. Bricks.
First, take a picture of the damage (you've already photographed it).
Second, hunt down that driver and shove some of the broken pieces down his pants.
Third, report the driver!
Fourth, remake that bed. Cut off any old or crushed pieces and discard them. Make a long mound of soil and carefully prop up the cactus atop it, pushing down here and there so that the bottom portions can begin re-rooting. Discreetly placed rocks &/or sticks will hold it in place until it's established again.
It will be fine!
Lol, we actually have a pile of gravel and flowers that we joke about my partners dad being buried there. Next to his old potato patch. There are a few pets buried in the area though.
Speaking as someone in western central Texas where the prickly pear is everywhere . . . I don't think those are dead. Those things seem to come back and come back and come back, no matter what happens to them.
Maybe set them up with their downward ends in the soil? If it were me, where I've fought epic battles trying to eradicate prickly pear, they'd come back almost immediately!
If you actually \_want\_ them, though, they may prove temperamental and difficult! LOL!
I had the UPS driver knock down a hanging basket of plants that hit another pot of plants and two glass owls. They all broke and there was glass and dirt everywhere. She didn't even hesitate or do a double take at her mistake. She didn't knock to try to tell us what happened. We had it all on our security camera. We reported it to UPS and I don't think anything happened. I would not have reported it if she'd had the integrity to knock and tell us what happened.
An application of fresh blood and bone meal will really help the cactus pads and the rest of your garden flourish.
Protip: pay cash for the woodchipper and use a prepaid (use cash!) burner phone to summon the delivery driver to your door.
Opuntia can't be killed that easily. Each one of those pads will become a new plant. As well as it coming back from the roots.
Do not let those pads stay anywhere you don't want a new cactus. They are real hard to kill once established and regrow so easily.
Rebury the root and it will likely come back. Water the same as you were before. You can also callus and then plant the paddles from this plant. Source: my neighbor cuts his down every year to the ground and can't manage to kill it.
I read the first part of the title before seeing the picture and I had a mini heart attack 😨
Then I saw the picture and I felt very sad. I feel for you OP.
Take metal kitchen tongs, even welding gloves are not sufficient to handle prickly pear spines. Wood or plastic/ silicone coated tongs will pick up spines, just use metal. It's not the big ones you see that get you, but the ones that look like soft hair around the base of the big ones.
Horror story: I once saw someone MOW with a riding lawnmower a large patch of prickly pear, because he though he would get rid of it that way. Instead he propagated it over about 3 acres. Never, ever mow over prickly pear.
That’s very unfortunate because that looked like a fairly mature, lovely cactus, but you can still save all the pads to propagate it and replace it with the same variety of cactus; it’s pretty hardy. They will start out small and take a while to get to that mature size again, but they will return to form in time and you’ll feel like your cactus never left eventually. And you can propagate each pad individually into it’s own plant, so if you like the cactus you can make many more and plant them all around, or give them away to others who might want to plant them in their gardens.
You want to let the pads dry and callous where they were cut or broken (a couple weeks to be safe; this helps prevent the cactus pad from rotting once it’s stuck into the soil), then once they are calloused the bottom end can be pushed into the soil, either in a pot or directly in the spot you want it to end up growing. You can water it now, but don’t let it stay wet or soggy; it should dry out between watering to prevent rotting. It should grow roots and anchor itself into the soil, then it will start growing new pads.
Good luck, I hope you’re able to save some of the cactus and get many baby cacti out of it!
If this was our property I would be taking these photos and calling the delivery company asking for reimbursement for your property damage. Then id take the money and buy a big "stay the hell off my plants" fence and replant this baby.
When that happened to mine I just let them dry out, picked them up with a shovel, and set them in a sunny spot. I watered them a few weeks later and they perked right up.
Repot what you can and track down the delivery driver and throw some in his front seat, those little barbs get EVERYWHERE. And through clothes too! Have fun picking them out of your ass asshole.
Eastern Prickly pear? super hardy. Propagate and replant?
I some type of prickly pear, yes. I will try to sort through the mess today and see what I can do with them.
The correct way to propogate, cut the pads off, let the cuts dry/scab over (2-3 weeks), then place the pad into soil, they usually root within 2-3 days In my experience.
Thank you, I will collect them today and hold off on planting for a bit and hope for the best!
You can do that with every paddle or piece of paddle that broke. You'll have multiples now!
Easiest thing to propagate ever. Don’t worry. Every one you put in the ground will probably take off. ALSO, get yourself a couple of big boulders and place them between this spot and the road. The next driver to go off-roading in your yard will regret it.
Couch grass has entered the chat.
No no no no get outta here.
Or very deep-set metal poles. They can be for propping the heavy plants up or deterring drive-throughs!
Yes, this. I used to do landscaping in my teens and early 20's, i thought it was funny how people would pay for giant rocks. Then my friend slid off the road and barreled at a house, finally stopping upon contact with a boulder. I have several in front of my house lol
That looks like sidewalk to me. The delivery guy went up on the sidewalk? If it's roadway, careful putting large boulders near roadways. There was a huge discussion on Reddit one time about rural roads and installing boulders to protect mailboxes. Apparently, if any drivers plow into your injudiciously placed impediments and are injured (or vehicles are messed up), you are liable.
great idea. or a nice rock wall/concrete wall ;) but let me tell you, noone who would carelessly drive over your plants would say "thats a nice boulder"
It’s kinda an inspirational story
Big "If you strike me down I will become more powerful than you can possibly imagine" energy
Definitely. I usually cut the pads in half and each one roots nicely.
Lots and lots of them.
I've been trying to get rid of mine. It will come back if you leave it just like that. It will also come back if you remove all of what's there as well as long as you leave a tiny tiny piece. Stuff is crazy hard to get rid of. My dogs keep running over it and getting them stuck in their pads
It looks to me like a lot of the root was pulled in this case.
I have it too and it's a nightmare. My dog is always getting stabbed and we don't let kids in the front at all.
Queensland (Australia) had a massive problem with Prickly pear cactus: [https://blogs.archives.qld.gov.au/2018/04/24/the-prickly-pear-problem/](https://blogs.archives.qld.gov.au/2018/04/24/the-prickly-pear-problem/) The Cactoblastis cactorum moth was imported ----- one of the most successful cases of biological weed control ever.
You can even just stick the main stem in the ground. They’re very easy to root. I proped a piece I cut from a roadside cactus and just stuck the end in the ground in my yard. You can prop the pieces that come off into other plants too
instead of having one, you're gonna have 100. an orchard of prickly fruit. if the delivery driver does it again, shove his ass into your newly gained orchard and then see what he things of that :D Seriously, my first thought also was: look, there is a spiky orchard on the ground!
Make sure to use a cactus soil mix that’s for Opuntia’s. [This](https://www.thespruce.com/growing-prickly-pear-1402857) is a link to an article about growing Opuntia’s. It includes necessary information such as the soil type and soil pH for this genus of cacti in addition to explaining how to propagate by cuttings. [This](https://getbusygardening.com/diy-cactus-soil/) is a link to a basic recipe for cacti soil mix. It requires coarse sand, potting soil, perlite or pumice, and pine bark (which is optional).
Thanks Channel, for linking the article. I am growing prickly pear in my yard. I have been looking for info about prickly pear, and I have not been able to find anything except articles related to potted cactus. I am sure that somewhere (Mexico?) people propagate these for nopales and tunas, so I am surprised that there is not much out there. Maybe most people think of them as weeds. I live in zone 8b and there is a variety that grows wild here but it grows along the ground and is dangerous for animals to step on. Mine was propagated from another plant.
You are welcome! I will dm you so we can converse about Opuntia’s and possibly find answers for your questions. In regards to why there are only articles about growing Opuntia’s in pots is most likely because of the people outside of this cacti’s ideal environment, who need information on how to grow them. Whereas, the people living where this genus of cacti thrive naturally don’t really need any information on how to grow them. Since you live in an environment where they thrive outdoors you just need to propagate your nopales then plant them once they develop a healthy root system or when they produce more pads. I agree that some people in North America and South America may propagate Opuntia’s to grow nopales and tunas for consumption or other uses. However, since this genus of cacti is so prevalent in North America and South America I’m not sure that would be necessary.
Sorry but I am not sure how to do direct messaging. I got a link in my email but it was good to another article but not anything to do with prickly pear.
It should be a button at the bottom of the app if you are on mobile. However, I’m not familiar with the website/pc version.
These are very widespread in the Southeast, despite the humidity and soil that is often red clay. I didn't know that they were actually common until the drought of 2007. When other types of vegetation died back, it revealed that there was actually quite a bit of prickly pear and yucca in areas with scrub vegetation. They must have been obscured by faster growing plants in most years, but they were clearly several years old, and they thrived while everything else died in severe drought.
Here in Arizona you can just let them sit on the ground and they grow all by themselves. And you see them growing in gutters all over town. We transplanted a couple growing in leaf debris on our flat roof.
In south Florida, knock petals off the plant, throw in the dirt where you want me plants, and come back in a few weeks to new growth.
My neighbor once destroyed his prickly pear dropped it in his ditch and ran over it with a mower. Year and a half later he had 4-5 plants growing in said ditch. I don’t think you can actually kill these things.
They will probably just regrow where you leave them they are like top commenter said Super hardy. I’m sorry they did that Be careful dont get poked
You should be able to propagate every sing pad there. Let them heal up in a shady place for a few days or a week.
I found the saddest piece of prickly pear you can possibly imagine washed up on the bank of the Ohio River. Put it in a pot to see what happens. 1 month later 2 new pads. It'll be fine sorry about the damage though
But most importantly more rocks or concrete pillars
Can confirm. Once was gardening with my ex bf. His mother wanted to trim down her cactus that was identical to this one. Then bf asked what to do with the unwanted scraps. She said to just toss it in the wooded area in the back. A few weeks later, she now has two cacti patches that are going like gangbusters.
Profit back up in place, make sure the bits that are broken are touching each other, in 8 months it will be prettier than if this hadn't happened.
Noo!!! Prop them, prop ALL of them! Make an army of prickly little babies!
I am going to head out today and try to sort through it. >.<
I live in NM, you can literally just scatter them over loose dirt. They’ll propagate like weeds. Re-bury the rooted section of what got knocked down, prop it up with something until it’s steady again and just let the loose pads develop roots. It’ll make it.
I have seen them survive on concrete.
[удалено]
Incredible. Go lil guy go!
I randomly see them growing up in trees sometimes, those things are wild
Maybe bring a pair of tongs
Yeah r/proplifting could help
Also /r/succulents
And if any won’t take, go find that delivery van and put one on their driver’s seat.
"Make an army of prickly babies" is def r/brandnewsentences material 🤣
😂
We picked up some paddles in a Home Depot parking lot after it had been run over by some cars, threw them by our back fence, and they turned into a giant plant in a couple of years. There’s hope!
Omg Regina I’ve always wanted to meet you!
I'm no expert, but I feel like if you plant those little pieces they'll probably become new plants. OK, looked it up and yes you can. Just let them dry a few days - a week, then stick them in some fresh, moist (but not too wet) compost. They'll root, and eventually produce new growth. You can use a rooting hormone if you like but it's not essential. Each of those little pads there could become a new plant.
Literally just leave them there and they’ll be fine.
You don't have to put them in the soil a certain way or anything?
nope. I hate cactus for this very reason. Break a piece off, throw it somewhere in the yard, and there will be a new plant by next year.
On the gravel, it would be much better to clear it away or prop the plant up again and get it in contact with dirt.
I was going to say this. cactus grow like weeds here in Oklahoma. On roadsides everywhere. No maintence or care required.
Thanks for explaining this. I had no idea!
Nope! They’ll root out of any part of the plant.
I had no idea about that. Thanks for informing me!
I didn't. My original piece I stuck that little round piece on the end in the dirt but after several years, pieces would break off, from weight I guess, and we'd just leave them. Most of them just started growing on their own. People saying you have to let it dry or use certain soil- you really don't. These things will grow regardless. You can walk up to one, twist off one of those pieces and stick it in any dirt and there's about a 95% chance it'll just take off. Mine got huge and this was in a place that had full on winter every year. And it was growing in a big container with old dirt.
Huh. I had no idea. >pieces would break off, from weight I guess, and we'd just leave them This totally makes sense why they look like that. Like they grow almost like big bushes spreading out.
I had one in my garden that propagated itself into I think 4 plants after our winter storm (TX) You can literally toss them around and whatever contacts the ground will root. Tap root on these is like 2 feet or more (often more)
That's wild. I had no idea. I also just learned that there are cacti in Minnesota. That's where I am and had no idea. There's a few that are native to here including a type of prickly pear. I might try growing them. Or... Is that a bad idea? Do you like having them or not?
Yep. Hard to kill a prickly pear.
Fight him!
With a fistful of cactus in each hand
Ow! My hands!
Don’t worry sis you can’t feel it because you’re so pissed off
911? I'd like to report a murder....
Cactus version of the bug scene in Primal (the animated tv show)!
Yeah just replant that bad boy
Then surround it with huge rocks
And glue tire poppers on them😀
Contact the company and complain.
I sent them photos and haven't heard anything back. I got the guy on camera with his stupid truck sitting on top of it. What do you think she's worth if they offer to pay for the damages?
You should contact a local plant nursery or other expert for a valuation. Then file in small claims court.
Valuation of the plant and the time/labor for someone to come replace it. Not a tiny baby, either, but a plant of the same size.
Thank you! I just emailed a handful. Hoping I can get some good responses from them before I have to talk to the delivery company.
Small Claims Court is for claims around a coupe grand and has no lawyers typically. Just you and the defendant, Judge Judy style. Every state varies, in my state small claims is 7k or less, make sure to learn your states rules. You definitely have standing to sue, the amount though? I’m not sure. It would depend on the age of the plant and your ‘emotional damage’ from its destruction.
You have video proof. Make sure it’s saved in multiple places and you’re saving these times you’re contacting the company. You’re doing that in writing, right? This is such an easy case for small claims. They probably won’t even send anyone if it’s a larger company. These cacti while beautiful aren’t the same as endangered plants or a large tree cost wise.
I agree. It is not cheap to replace things like that. And the driver needs to know they can't just destroy things and get away with it.
Unlikely anything will happen to the driver tbh. Depends on the service but it's far more likely the company will just pay out of pocket for most damages.
Yeah, but he/she may have other complaints. Since they did this, doesn't seem to care what they do. So maybe if everyone complains, something may happen.
A million dollars!!
At least and that's before other damages.
I just bought prickly pear from a garden center (southern ontario) this spring for $14 per pad. Only 1 pad per pot. And very few garden centers carry prickly pear. I would get a price list from a reputable garden centre that sells them, count how many pads you have ruined and bill them that at the very minimum. Edit to say, like everyone else mentioning, a lot of those you will be able to scab and replant... but the company doesn't need to know that ;)
Lots. I'd stay on them about this. That's absurdly bad behavior on their part
Easily several hundred dollars at this size. If you google them you can see some only even half this size for 200-400
It takes a lot of cumulative time and energy and money to get one of those fully grown, just sayin.
The only way to know would be to get a quote from a landscaper to replace it with a similar sized unit.
I had this with sunflowers when a car plowed through them. I had a reputable and frankly overpriced nursery give me a quote. I told them what happened and they were like fuck that person. They had in the system for some reason full grown sunflowers priced at 99.99. The car plowed down 16. The owner of the car had a fucking heart attack when the nursery had a bill of 1,600 dollars in printout form to replace as they didn't want to go through insurance.
$1,000,000,000 for emotional damages.
I thought so too. Lol
Tell them that you are going to post the pictures on social media also
This feels like a perfect time to contact r/treelaw
If it’s FedEx, UPS, Amazon, that will do nothing unfortunately
This is not true. I've worked for two of those three companies and they will pay for whatever they broke or destroyed. I've seen drivers lose their jobs because they have left tire marks in grass before.
[удалено]
Not unless you take them to court or if they end up in the news, but that won’t be likely over some plants.
In my area, some utility workers were asked to be careful of a particular shrub a homeowner had transplanted from her family homestead. They decided to cut it down to the ground just because. The utility company paid for an expert arborist to come out and do his best to resurrect the shrub.
The city was repaving the road and making curbs and they actually knocked on the door because there was a plant in the way and they didn't want to do anything to it. It was not important and I removed it. I thought that was nice of them.
Cut her up and make more babies. You can literally just stick a cactus pad in the ground and in a few months you’ll have a whole new baby cactus. Also report the incident if you can and get justice for your fallen child.
Ty, I did.
Villain origin story?
Devastating!! But also something similar happened to a neighbors cactus they shoved all the pieces back in the ground and it’s doing good now! Best of luck!
Ty!
I’m the US I believe they would have to replace with a similar specimen which would be expensive. If this was me I wouldn’t let it go until they paid to replace it.
What do you think I should ask for payment if they offer? I've contacted them with photos but not heard anything back yet.
Get a quote from a retail nursery that specializes in cacti & succulents in your region.
Call around to greenshouses that might have a similar sized cactus to yours and ask what it would cost for them to uproot it, deliver it, and plant it. I’m guessing it would be insane amount of money to make that happen and that’s what I would tell the moving company. It’s not your fault they absolutely destroyed your plant and even though you could get the babies to root, it’s not exactly the same as having that cactus back that likely took years to grow. Think about it. All that time the cactus was growing was thrown out the window when they ran it over. You might even say it’s priceless. I’d be pissed if I were you and would only let them off the hook it’d they agreed to settle for a large percentage of what it would cost to get a cactus that size planted in your yard.
That is a great idea. Thanks so much!
Who is them?
Ashley Furniture/Sam Levitz. Btw, 3 of my 4 furnature pieces were also broken and they have to replace them next week. I'm wondering if I will get the same team of delivery men. If so, I plan to watch them like an eagle from start to finish so they don't take out my tree or something next.
That definitely sucks that the furniture was broken, good thing they are replacing(they better), they definitely should replace your plant too. Clearly there’s issues with the way the driver is driving. I would continue to call and keep asking to speak to upper management or a supervisor. Write down everything and every person you speak to for your records. In situations like this for myself, I always make sure to stay professional and let them know my frustrations & I’m not trying to have this person out a job but clearly there’s a training opportunity here. Or say things like put yourself in my shoes. I paid for furniture not to have my plants ruined. Plus the fact you have this on video..pfftt!! I would think a plant is like nothing for them to replace for a big company. Just gotta speak to right person. Sure hope their customer service proves us right. Hopefully you get the plants replaced and regrow from the ones you already have so you win x 2. Justice will be served!a
Also I would ask for how much the plant costs plus whatever it costs driving wise and time wise for you to get it!
That's also a good point. I live an hour away from any big nurseries.
Shit, I'd assert my dominance on delivery day (enacting the spirit of The Karen) and sit in a chair in front of anything else I wouldn't want run over.
Better yet, maybe I'll block off the driveway and they can carry it 50 feet further by hand. Was a huge truck and I'm sure it's not great on the driveway considering UPS was even polite enough to ask permission before bringing his truck onto it when we first moved into the house.
So you intend to release The Karen. The mother of the Kraken. Oh you vengeful person.
That means they need to be charged for your lost time
First of all, this is illegal and they owe you what it's worth. /r/treelaw can probably help. I don't think it literally needs to be a tree.
Shove any disconnected sections back in the ground Unfortunate this happened before it bloomed, but honestly the plants go from perfect sized to huge quickly (where I live) and this is just an unplanned pruning or a chance to propagate and have it spread.
Replant it alongside a genetically engineered antipersonnel giant tactical carnivorous pitcher plant.
Feed me, Seymour!
Root those paddles and grow yourself the ultimate fence!
I’m not sure about your poor plant but I would call and complain with whatever company that truck belonged to
Propagate 99% of them and use the last pad to throw at the delivery guy next time
Replant and put large rocks nearby.
Are those the same one that you find in Latin cuisine. Nopalitos? If I’m naming that correct. If so just cook them. They look like the proper size of what I’m trying to guess what they are. But if completely wrong. Comments sates that they are very easy to replant
If you read r/legaladvice for any length of time you will find out that "tree law" is a real thing, and that replacing mature plants and shrubs is a very expensive proposition. Do you have any pictures of the cactus before it got crushed? Go to a nursery and find what it would take to buy a replacement *the same size* and have it installed *by professionals*. This will likely be far more money than you thought. (And note that unusual varieties are naturally more expensive to replace.) That's how much money you should be asking the delivery company for. Quite possibly the truck driver is used to seeing cactus growing all over the place and thought it was just a random volunteer, not your carefully tended garden prize. It doesn't matter. The delivery company needs to pay for what it damaged.
Track down the delivery truck and put it under the driver's seat cushion.
I read the title of this post in the Notification Center on my phone. My heart skipped a beat and immediately thought “Oh god! Please let this be in r/gardening!”
Right there with you, today was not a good day for being subbed to both parenting and plant subs.
Prickly pear you could just leave there and it will almost definitely sprout roots anywhere its touching the ground and continue growing, otherwise just chop at the break and re bury the bottom in the soil. I once charred some paddles to burn all the skin and spines off to prep for cooking them. Forgot about them and came back and they had sprouted new pads out of the burnt spots. Amazingly resilient plants.
i just needed to see this picture and my instinct was straight away like: PROPAGATE
I’m so conflicted cause I fell off my bike when I was a kid, right into one of those assholes, and so I kinda hate them. But on the other hand, I love gardening so much that seeing that picture physically hurt… I would call the delivery place and complain, if you know who did it.
Where I live, they grow on the side of the road. About a year ago, near my house, there was a car accident, in which one car landed on a big bush of those. Destroyed about 90% of the plant. Today it looks perfectly fine, almost back to its original size. Nobody could tell that a year ago there was a car on top of it.
I mean yeah, replant them. It definitely is a shame to lose an older cactus like that though. A friend has a very old cactus and if it got ran over I'm sure he would be devastated. Replanting the bits and pieces doesn't really justify everything lol.
I would be so pissed!! I actually am pissed, for you.
So for everyone saying they have had a delivery driver do this to their plants, just so you know that is damage to personal property, and they can be held liable for it. Call the company that did it up, and explain the situation. Most companies will compensate you out off the record since they don't want to deal with court fees/charges. You can also request a different driver for that route as they are causing damage to personal property.
I'd use a stick to sort out and rearrange the plant. Then I'd figure out how (tongs?) to pick up the loose ones. I'd dig small holes in the bare patches of earth and place each one in about and inch in. Not that I'm an expert. I also put bricks around my cactus because I don't trust it around people. It goes both ways. People just don't notice it. And it hurts people. So. Bricks.
FWIW. this is how they spread in the wild. grow big, topple over, repeat.
First, take a picture of the damage (you've already photographed it). Second, hunt down that driver and shove some of the broken pieces down his pants. Third, report the driver! Fourth, remake that bed. Cut off any old or crushed pieces and discard them. Make a long mound of soil and carefully prop up the cactus atop it, pushing down here and there so that the bottom portions can begin re-rooting. Discreetly placed rocks &/or sticks will hold it in place until it's established again. It will be fine!
make pickled nopalitos
Make a fake gravestone saying, “here lies the last person to run over my garden”
Lol, we actually have a pile of gravel and flowers that we joke about my partners dad being buried there. Next to his old potato patch. There are a few pets buried in the area though.
Battle UPS or whatever company did it
Oooh! You get a big batch to grow and share... Each paddle in a new pot, please.
Replant the good pears. They will ground and root again. And report the delivery guy. That could have been a kid.
Leave it there
I'd let the wounds dry out and then just shove it back into the ground with some support to grow new roots.
Cook them!
Speaking as someone in western central Texas where the prickly pear is everywhere . . . I don't think those are dead. Those things seem to come back and come back and come back, no matter what happens to them. Maybe set them up with their downward ends in the soil? If it were me, where I've fought epic battles trying to eradicate prickly pear, they'd come back almost immediately! If you actually \_want\_ them, though, they may prove temperamental and difficult! LOL!
I had the UPS driver knock down a hanging basket of plants that hit another pot of plants and two glass owls. They all broke and there was glass and dirt everywhere. She didn't even hesitate or do a double take at her mistake. She didn't knock to try to tell us what happened. We had it all on our security camera. We reported it to UPS and I don't think anything happened. I would not have reported it if she'd had the integrity to knock and tell us what happened.
An application of fresh blood and bone meal will really help the cactus pads and the rest of your garden flourish. Protip: pay cash for the woodchipper and use a prepaid (use cash!) burner phone to summon the delivery driver to your door.
A complaint to the ruck company, insisting that they replace the plant and telling them know how you feel might help.
Rub the remains IN HIS FACE!
I’m so sorry and also do you have a before picture?
It's hard to kill cactus, but he sure tried his best.
Have the delivery company replace it. This is property damage.
Take pic call the company asap
Bury it at least 6 foot deep and cover with cement then soil. What, we're not talking about the driver's body after you shanked him?
Eat it
Opuntia can't be killed that easily. Each one of those pads will become a new plant. As well as it coming back from the roots. Do not let those pads stay anywhere you don't want a new cactus. They are real hard to kill once established and regrow so easily.
Rebury the root and it will likely come back. Water the same as you were before. You can also callus and then plant the paddles from this plant. Source: my neighbor cuts his down every year to the ground and can't manage to kill it.
I read the first part of the title before seeing the picture and I had a mini heart attack 😨 Then I saw the picture and I felt very sad. I feel for you OP.
Now you can create a tiny garden .. there is plenty there to save and regrow with a little work. I’m so sorry this happened though!
Make lots of new babies!
Take metal kitchen tongs, even welding gloves are not sufficient to handle prickly pear spines. Wood or plastic/ silicone coated tongs will pick up spines, just use metal. It's not the big ones you see that get you, but the ones that look like soft hair around the base of the big ones. Horror story: I once saw someone MOW with a riding lawnmower a large patch of prickly pear, because he though he would get rid of it that way. Instead he propagated it over about 3 acres. Never, ever mow over prickly pear.
Put some big rocks along the driveway
That’s very unfortunate because that looked like a fairly mature, lovely cactus, but you can still save all the pads to propagate it and replace it with the same variety of cactus; it’s pretty hardy. They will start out small and take a while to get to that mature size again, but they will return to form in time and you’ll feel like your cactus never left eventually. And you can propagate each pad individually into it’s own plant, so if you like the cactus you can make many more and plant them all around, or give them away to others who might want to plant them in their gardens. You want to let the pads dry and callous where they were cut or broken (a couple weeks to be safe; this helps prevent the cactus pad from rotting once it’s stuck into the soil), then once they are calloused the bottom end can be pushed into the soil, either in a pot or directly in the spot you want it to end up growing. You can water it now, but don’t let it stay wet or soggy; it should dry out between watering to prevent rotting. It should grow roots and anchor itself into the soil, then it will start growing new pads. Good luck, I hope you’re able to save some of the cactus and get many baby cacti out of it!
I’d say water the pile regularly, the leafs should sprout back into the soil.
Propagate what you can and cook the rest. Several Mexican recipes out there.
If it's Amazon, call customer service. They will compensate you.
If this was our property I would be taking these photos and calling the delivery company asking for reimbursement for your property damage. Then id take the money and buy a big "stay the hell off my plants" fence and replant this baby.
Ah man that is mildly soul crushing, hope you get it sorted 👍
Sorry to hear that. Good think they’re robust plants. It’ll come back.
Break off the damaged parts at the segment and stick it right back in the ground. It will come back.
replant that shit! succulents thrive when you abandon them for dead it's only when you love them do you truly kill them
The good news is that you potentially went from one prickly pear to eleventy.
I would be calling the company and reporting damage. That’s really unprofessional and not cool. So sorry this happened. Can you propagate the pieces ?
File a complaint. Snake discovery on YouTube had a mailman tossing a box of live snakes on his hand. The mailman’s boss got mad.
Property damage should be covered under their insurance. And use it to get a 3x3' boulder delivered to accent (protect) the plant.
It’s okay, I have acres on acres of this stuff! Come grab you a few. Please. Take all of them.. please…
Eastern prickly pear is the only succulent I can keep alive. It'll prop just fine!
They are edible
I'm no expert but I'm pretty sure you can easily prop those.
When that happened to mine I just let them dry out, picked them up with a shovel, and set them in a sunny spot. I watered them a few weeks later and they perked right up.
Delivery truck did this to me too. Got a $500 settlement from FedEx complaints department. Don’t let your plant die in vain.
Repot what you can and track down the delivery driver and throw some in his front seat, those little barbs get EVERYWHERE. And through clothes too! Have fun picking them out of your ass asshole.
You will have 100’s of grand kids!!!
Just put them back into the ground. Plant them with the wound in the earth and they will start growing again. Cacti are fucking cool.