Actual size and flowering may vary slightly based on season.
Cinnamon Dot Prickly Pear
Cinnamon Dot Prickly Pear is the rusty-brown form of bunny ears cactus. Its light green pads are flecked with reddish-brown dots, so the plant looks dusted with cinnamon. It has no long spines and stays small, about 2 to 3 feet tall. Buttery yellow flowers open in spring. It suits rock gardens, planters and patio pots, and needs very little water once rooted.
Best for: rock gardens, planters, patio pots and small cactus beds that want warm color. A small cactus that also works as a low cactus ground cover in a dry corner.
It is a common pick for cactus rock gardens, where the cinnamon-brown dots add warm color. It grows about 2 to 3 feet tall and spreads 3 to 5 feet.
It stays small and grows well in planters and patio pots. Use fast-draining soil and let it dry out fully before the next watering.
Left to spread, it forms a low cactus ground cover in a dry corner or median. Trim pads at the joint only to keep it in bounds.
The brown dots are glochids that come loose and float off when the plant is bumped. Keep it away from paths, kids and pets. Wet, poorly drained soil rots the roots.
- Tight group4 ft apart, center to center
- Looser group6 ft apart, center to center
Wait about a week after planting before the first water, then water every other week while nights stay above 60°F. Once rooted, water only rarely. Hold off in winter, since wet soil rots the roots.
It is hardy to about 20 to 25°F. On freeze nights, cover it with frost cloth to the ground or move pots under cover.
The cinnamon dots are glochids that come loose and can float off when bumped. Handle it with gloves and tongs, and keep it back from paths.
It needs little or no fertilizer. If you feed it, use a light, diluted feeding in spring or early summer, never in fall or winter.
Drainage test first. Dig the hole and fill it with water. If water is still sitting in the hole a day later, you likely hit caliche, clay or hard soil, so fix the drainage before planting. If it drains very fast, the soil is sandy. Standing water around roots is a common reason new plants fail.
Weed cloth. Cut it away from the planting hole and where the roots will spread. Remove any plastic sheeting completely, since it keeps water and air out of the soil.
Rock or decomposed granite with no soil underneath. Bring in soil close in texture to your native soil, mix it with the soil below, and build up enough depth for roots before planting.
If you can break through. Use a breaker bar, pick, or jackhammer. Dig through the caliche and break out the solid chunks. Backfill with the soil you dug out, with no compost or manure in the hole. Confirm drainage before planting.
If you cannot break through. Dig narrow holes through the hard layer beside the root ball, not under it, and refill them with the same soil, not gravel. If it still will not drain, plant on a low mound of the same soil.
Root ball. Check the outside edges for any roots circling around. Loosen or cut those so they grow outward. Do not break up the center of the root ball.
Depth. The top of the root ball should sit at or just slightly above the surrounding soil level. Planting too deep can lead to rot and kill the plant.
Drip emitters. At planting, put the emitters on the root ball, on different sides of the plant. After about 2 months, move them to the outer edge of the root ball. Over the first year, add emitters farther out toward the edge of the branches as roots grow. Once a plant is rooted, never water only at the trunk.
What makes cinnamon dot different from other bunny ears?
The main difference is the color of its dots. Cinnamon dot has reddish-brown glochids on light green pads. White dot has white glochids, and the common bunny ears has yellow ones.
Are the brown dots soft?
No. They are glochids, tiny barbed hairs with no long spines around them. They come loose easily, can float off when the plant is bumped, and stick in skin.
How do I handle it?
Wear thick leather gloves and use long tongs, or grip pads with folded newspaper. If glochids get in your skin, tape or white glue peeled off once dry lifts most of them.
How big does it get?
It usually grows about 2 to 3 feet tall and 3 to 5 feet across. It stays smaller in a pot.
How cold can it take?
It takes cold to about 20 to 25°F. On a hard freeze night, cover it with frost cloth or a sheet that reaches the ground, not plastic.
How often should I water it?
Water a new plant about every 2 weeks through its first summer. Once rooted, water it rarely. Hold off in winter, since wet soil rots the roots.
Does it take full sun?
Yes, full sun is best, and it takes part shade too. A newly planted cactus can sunburn in its first summer, so light shade cloth helps that first year.
When does it bloom?
Buttery yellow cup-shaped flowers open in mid-spring. Red fruit follows in summer. Bees come to visit the flowers.
Can I grow it in a pot?
Yes. It is a common container cactus. Use fast-draining soil and let it dry out fully between waterings.
Should I fertilize it?
It needs little or no fertilizer. If you feed it, use a light, diluted feeding in spring or early summer, never in fall or winter.
Can I start new plants from pads?
Yes. Let a cut pad dry and callus in the shade for a week or two, then plant it cut end down. Pads that have callused root easily.
Cinnamon Dot Prickly Pear for sale in Arizona, delivered to you
Cinnamon Dot Prickly Pear is a small bunny ears cactus with reddish-brown dots instead of white or yellow ones. People grow it for that warm color, its size and its easy care in pots and rock gardens. This page covers what to expect: size, sun, water, cold, flowers and how to handle it.
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What is cinnamon dot prickly pear?
It is the reddish-brown form of bunny ears cactus from Mexico. Its light green pads carry tufts of cinnamon-colored glochids instead of long spines.
How big does cinnamon bunny ears get?
Plan for about 2 to 3 feet tall and 3 to 5 feet across. It stays smaller in a pot or planter.
Cinnamon dot vs white dot prickly pear
Both are forms of bunny ears with no long spines. Cinnamon dot has reddish-brown glochids, white dot has white ones. Care is the same: full sun, fast-draining soil and very little water.
How often do you water cinnamon bunny ears in Phoenix?
Water a new plant about every 2 weeks through its first summer. Once rooted it needs water only rarely. Keep it dry in winter.
Is cinnamon bunny ears cold hardy?
It takes cold to about 20 to 25°F. On hard freeze nights, cover it with frost cloth that reaches the ground.
Cinnamon dot prickly pear in a rock garden
It fits cactus rock gardens, planters and small desert beds, and can spread into a low cactus cover.
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