Prickly pear, along with other cactus species, is a pressing issue in pastures. The proliferation of these cacti can impede livestock movement and pose serious health risks.
Prickly pear can rapidly overtake a pasture, choking out more desirable forages. Once established, controlling it is a labor-intensive, long-term endeavor. Complete eradication is unlikely, even with significant effort.
Because of this, they pose a very serious problem for livestock producers wherever they appear. Here are some things to consider before controlling this troublesome plant.
Understanding Prickly pear
Many species of cactus belong to the same genus as this variety. Because they adapt to different environments, they can take on various forms. Despite these differences, they generally have the same characteristics.
The most common way to identify them is by their growing a type of pad covered with spines. These are broad, flat green to grey-green succulents that are either oval or rounded. The pads can vary from 6 to 12 inches in width, depending on the specific type. They are often shrubby in nature. They grow in a clump that can be up to 4 feet wide and reach 12 feet tall.
Each pad can reproduce a new plant. Reproduction from each pad is the most common way in which prickly pear is spread. These can happen by high winds, hard rains, or just attaching to vehicles or animal furs. All required is a pad to hcontactthe ground to develop a new root system. The ease at which this plant can spread is what makes it a particularly challenging problem to deal with.
Prickly pear’s adaptability to arid and semiarid regions and even unexpected places like Florida underscores the need for a comprehensive understanding of its growth conditions. Its ability to thrive in water-limited environments and tolerate a wide range of temperatures makes it a formidable opponent. Understanding these factors is crucial to developing effective control strategies.
Controlling prickly pear
There are many methods for controlling prickly pear growth. How you choose will depend on your resources and available time.
Physical methods
Physical removal methods can be effective when dealing with a small area or a limited number of prickly pear plants. To start, you’ll need a grubbing hoe or a shovel, which are simple tools that work well for this task. The key is to cut the plant’s primary root, which is about 2 to 4 inches below the surface, ensuring you remove the entire plant to prevent regrowth.
It’s best to tackle this job during hot and dry conditions. These conditions put extra stress on the plant, making it less likely to survive once uprooted. By targeting the plant when it’s already struggling, you increase your chances of successfully removing it from your area. After you’ve removed the plants, you have a couple of disposal options.
Thoroughness is key in the physical removal of prickly pear. Whether you pile and burn the plants or bag and remove them, it’s crucial to ensure that no part of the plant touches the ground. Even a small piece can re-sprout if it comes into contact with soil, highlighting the need for meticulous attention to detail in control methods.
Mechanical Methods
When dealing with prickly pear, methods like disking, chaining, or root plowing can be used to destroy the plant’s top growth. These methods involve breaking up or uprooting the prickly pear. Still, there’s a catch: because prickly pear can spread so easily, you might end up with even denser growth if the job isn’t done thoroughly. This growth is because any remaining parts of the plant can quickly take root and grow back, worsening the problem.
Some ranchers might consider using mulching or grinding as another way to control prickly pear. These methods involve breaking the plant down into smaller pieces, making it less likely to regrow. Another option is two-way railing, a technique that drags heavy equipment over the plants to crush them. While these methods can be effective, they still require careful attention to ensure that all parts of the plant are dealt with to prevent regrowth.
Just like physical removal, it’s best to perform these methods during hot and dry conditions. This reason is because prickly pear, like many plants, is already under stress in such situations, making it less likely to recover once it’s been disturbed. By choosing the right time to apply these methods, you can increase the chances of successfully controlling the spread of prickly pear on your land.
If you are using mechanical methods to control prickly pears, clean equipment thoroughly to prevent the sppad from spreadingo other areas of your ranch.
Prescribed burning
Some species of prickly pear are more easily controlled by burning than others. While fire can be effective, knowing which type of prickly pear you’re dealing with is essential. The key to success with this method lies in the intensity of the fire. For the fire to work well, there must be plenty of fine fuel, like dry grass or leaves, to ensure the fire burns hot enough to damage the prickly pear thoroughly.
If the fire doesn’t get hot enough or doesn’t burn for long enough, you might only end up with what’s called a “top kill.” This term means that only the plant’s above-ground parts are destroyed, while the roots and some of the pads survive underground. When this happens, the prickly pear will likely start growing back from the remaining tissue.
If the burning isn’t done correctly, new pads could sprout within a few years, usually between three and five years. This new sprouting would put you back at the beginning, dealing with the same problem all over again. So, to make burning an effective method, it’s crucial to ensure the fire is intense and lasts long enough to reach and destroy the deeper parts of the plant.
Aerial spraying
Aerial spraying is a helpful method when you need to cover a large area or when the terrain makes it difficult to use other control methods. This technique involves applying herbicide from an aircraft, allowing you to treat hard-to-reach areas efficiently. It’s especially effective in places with open and expansive land, making it challenging to use ground-based equipment.
Timing is vital for aerial spraying to work well. Since cactus is a cool-season plant, it’s best to carry out the spraying in the spring or fall. The cactus is most actively growing in these seasons, making it more susceptible to the herbicide. Targeting the cactus during its growth period increases the chances of successfully controlling the spread.
One herbicide that has proven effective for aerial spraying is Surmount. When applied at a rate of 4 pints per acre, Surmount has been shown to achieve about 75% control of the cactus. While it may not eliminate every single plant, this level of control can significantly reduce the density of the prickly pear in the treated area, making it a practical option for large-scale management.
Pad or Stem spray method
This method works better on relatively thin strands of cactus. Strands such as along a fence line or in a small concentrated area of the pasture. Unlike the aerial method, producers can use this one year-round. The Brush Busters program with the Texas AgriLife Extension program recommends using Tordon 22K. The recommended mixture for this method is 1% Tordon to water.
You will spray the cactus pads or stems until they are almost wet, but not to the point of runoff. Spraying both sides of the pad will result in more consistent and faster results.
One drawback of this method is that the plant’s complete killing will take a little time. Though the pads will start to yellow very quickly, the entire plant typically takes 2 to 3 years to die.
If you want to make your spraying more effective, I discuss that here.
Controlling strategies
Since each treatment method has pros and cons, using any of the abovementioned methods will require careful planning. Those areas with small infestations should receive priority treatment.
If you are dealing with larger infestation areas, you should begin by treating the outside perimeter of the area and then work your way into the center.
It is essential to remember that one year of treatment will not completely eradicate prickly pear. Acceptable levels of control will usually take 2-3 years of repeated treatments, with follow-up treatments taking an additional 2-3 years.
