Pest battle with Prickly Pear — and how I won

I had a serious problem with spider mites in warm dry indoor conditions on my Prickly Pear earlier this year. Caught it late and had to work hard to bring the plant back. The experience was frustrating but educational.

Now that it's healthy again I can fully appreciate spectacular but brief blooms that can appear overnight, which is remarkable. I've repositioned it in a greenhouse or conservatory staging and improved my attention to protecting from frost below -5°C even for hardy varieties. rapid growth during the warm summer months was the proof that the plant had fully recovered — genuinely beautiful. Moral of the story: inspect regularly and catch problems early.