Bunny eared cactus, outside or not

[DaveMac]

Hello! This is my first question and it is actually a combination of concerns I have. To keep it simple, one plant I bought was this tiny bunny ear cactus. Looks really cute. It came in this very tiny pot, about an inch square so I replanted it into a nice decorative pot.

The issue I have is whether or not it is safe outside as I live Daytona Beach and we are subject to these afternoon thunderstorms that can drop quite a bit of rain in only a few minutes. The second part of my issue is that I used a pot that has no drainage holes in it. So it holds water till it evaporates.

I am afraid it will get flooded and washed away if I leave it out in the open so I try to keep it inside as much as possible.

If I changed it to a pot with holes for drainage, would it be safe to leave outside? Are pots without drainage holes bad for plants?

 

[zigs]

Welcome to the forum Dave

Pot with no drainage is no good for most plants, especially a cactus that needs very good drainage. It needs a lot of grit so any water drains away as quickly as possible.

It's a member of the Opuntia family so it could be planted outside where you are. Be careful of the tiny spines called glochids, they are very irritating so use a cloth if you handle it.

 

[zigs]

Here's an ID video for Opuntias I made a while back

 

[DaveMac]

Thank you so much. I will need to re-pot or plant that right away.

 

[zigs]

No worries Dave

Re pot or plant out before you next water. Only water once a week during the summer and add some tomato feed to the water. Slow down with the watering in the autumn and hardly water at all over winter. You need to make sure it stays reasonably dry over winter.

 

[Logan]

Hello @DaveMac and welcome to the forums.