Does anyone have pads from a prickly pear? A recent trip to Italy has brought memorys from the Prickly Pear. I remember from my childhood, a field full of Prickly pears and in the late summer, they would be all ripe, so during summer vacation, one day my whole family would go to field and pick prickly pears. They weren't as good as the ones in Italy, but still a VERY close second. Does anyone have pads of Prickly pears? Someone in my neighborhood has prickly pears growing. I asked them, they said the had it for 10 years, from Mexico, and never gotten a fruit on it.

contact nullzero, he's the major cactus fruit guy on fruit growing forums. 

I do and can send you a couple to grow, but be prepared  to winter the plants indoors

The fruit is good. Getting to the fruit on top without falling in was the challenge for me. This was years ago when I was in elementary back in 2001. Haven't had one since. 

BLB: I contacted you.

American Fig boy: The plants weren't that tall in Italy, only like 5 feet tall. It would of sucked if you had fallen in the prickers

Prickly Pears come in (at least) white, yellow and red color variations.

Hi
here in israel they grow these in side of the roads everywhere.
i took a pad one year ago and now it looks like:

the problem is it doesnt fruit yet dont know hwy.
maybe i am over watering it or maybe it needs to be root bound?
anyhow at least its rooted.....

ill take more pads of the side of the roads....

does anyone knows if somone can grow these from the fruit (as seen in youtube)?

films with a ficus indica farm for some fun:

Those look delicious. What do they taste like?

Bumped up - original post question;
The secret to getting prickly pear to flower and thus produce prickly pears is among other things make sure it gets full winter dormancy. 
It has worked for me by keeping the temp around 0C. 
Here is a photo of it last fall. 

I have this hidden pocked of Prickly pears growing in a secret hillside with dirt driveway... every summer i go there to harvest these...yummy yum yums...
the orange variety.
 

I got a start several years ago maybe 20 years or so ago.  I just set them out in some poor Georgia red clay and never do anything to them except pick some fruit every year and it seems to do just fine all on it's own.  Very easy keeper and bears lot's of fruit every year.  I love the blooms too.

what are they like? taste? texture? i see them all the time, but never had them before. not that i'm looking for more stuff to grow.. 

Dad use to bring them home from club friends and they were fabulous.

Pete, they are seed pods, you have to carefully peel them first, each seed is surrounded with some pulp around it, you just mush it in your mouth and swallow, don't chew the seeds, they are tough.  They come in Green, yellow, orange and Purple colors. sweetness varies according to color. I think the sweets I have tasted are orange ones so far, and the purples are the most aromatic.
I think, if you search the YouTube under my screen name  (Aaron4USA) you may find a short vid how to peel and eat them... It's an awful take. LOL

In Italy they are called FichiD'india, in Spanish they are Tunas, in Israel they are Sabras. They grow all over Sicily. My great-grandmother used to make cookies with them in Sicily.

I am growing mine in clay pot.
this plant was started from one pad 2 years ago,
dont know if it will fruit but hopefully with the dryness of the clay pot ill get it to flower.
also saw in some mexican youtube video that they chop half of the pods for some reason -maybe to get them to fruit?

Are all pad type cactus fruits edible? In the plains we have a smaller native pad type cactus and everything is similar to Prickly Pear, just smaller..and more prickly. They are probably a waste of time but I wonder every time I see one with fruits on it.

if they are sweet, enjoy them :)

I learned about these last fall and ordered 2 different kinds off ebay. The one with the new growth turns purple as summer goes on. I believe they are both the  red fruit varieties. Maybe I will look for some more colors.

I used to enjoy seeing them when I used to drive in the Southwest. All kind of colors from red to yellow, orange and purple.

They were a beautiful sight to see.

I'd like some for the part of our property outside the chain link.  They would provide another fence, but they spread pretty fast, and how do you harvest the middle?  In thinking mode.

Suzi

Just keep them trimmed to a thin line so you can reach.