Oputunia - prickly pear cactus

[Fariapea]

Hi everyone,

I wonder if anyone can help. My mum gave me this cactus a couple months ago. It's prickly pear. I've been watering it every 3 weeks-not too much. I don't know if this is normal I've attached a picture but it seems to be developing these pale white patches that I can mostly rub off with my finger. Any ideas? She thinks it could be fungus but we don't have any other indoor plants. Thanks

Picture

Are the white patches a bit fluffy? If so, that is mealy bug, a common pest on cacti (although I cannot really detect any in your photo). The brown spots could be a number of things from scale insects, fungus or cold damage (so difficult to tell from a photo!) scale insects are like tiny limpets, which can be scratched off, but I don’t think the spots look typical for those. I’m hesitant to recommend any treatment without knowing the exact problem I’m afraid!

Where are you keeping it?

Hi,

I wouldn't say they're fluffy. The only way I can describe it is if a tiny bit of chalk was on the mother stem. I can wipe them off and they do come of. There's a teeny amount of white residue. The brown/yellow spots were there when my mum gave it to me-I can't wipe those of-they feel like scabs. I've put it in the front living room opposite a small window. It sits next to a read diffuser? Yday I cleaned all the pale patches so I am going to see what it does. Thanks

Chalky white deposits may just be from water splashes, which sometimes leave chalk spots, so nothing to worry about. Do make sure it gets as much sun as possible, as Opuntias are essentially “desert” plants, and if light isn’t strong enough, will stretch and grow spindly.

Grown indoors, it won’t need much water in the winter months - just enough to keep it ticking over, and might benefit from being in a cool room too. Cacti usually go into dormancy in winter, but indoors need a little water.

Thanks a lot for your help! It's just occurred to me they could actually be water spots 🤣. Or not.... I've wiped them and don't plan on watering for 4 weeks so we'll see. Hmm maybe I should put it on a window sill instead. Thx