Welcome to this article that will be talking about whether or not a cactus plant will be poisonous in the pricks. The short answer is no, the entire plant is not poisonous. So you shouldn’t have to be worried.
Even the wild cactus varieties will not have any poison in them. They might be looking like they contain some but they are harmless. But the thorns on the plant will serve a few purposes that we will cover in this article too.
The cactus plant is without a doubt one of the best ones you can grow at home, especially if you are a beginner. Low maintenance and also looking very beautiful make it a top choice for us.
Are Cactus Pricks Poisonous
Just like we said at the beginning of the article here. The cactus plant will not be poisonous in the pricks. The entire plant for a matter of fact does not contain any form of poison. It’s even edible and has for some time been used for the benefits it brings to the table.
The flavor of the cactus plant might not be the tastiest in the world but contains some great nutrients that can lower cholesterol levels and even lower the blood sugar in the body. For these reasons the cactus plant is starting to become incredibly popular among beginners and seeing more use, we feel this is very exciting.
But like we also said in the top paragraph, the thorns on the plant will serve some use as well. The first one is that it protects it from animals that would otherwise eat the plant.
Since we said it’s edible and can grow in places where barely any plants could grow it makes it a target because of being a food source. When the spines on the plant even curl then it really goes into defensive mode.
But the thorns are also there to collect water believe it or not. Growing in the desert the plant has barely any access to water. Therefore it needs to make the most of the cards it has. As the water condenses from the soil the fumes are caught by the spines. From there this water gets transferred to the main stem of the plant.
Here it will be stored and used when the plant feels like it needs to. This is believed to be the reason for its survival in such harsh conditions.
Are you curious about why the cactus stem is pretty fleshy? In this article we will be talking about precisely that, Why Is The Stem Of The Cactus Fleshy.
What Happens If A Cactus Pricks You
There is no harm in a cactus pricking you with one of the thorns. They contain no poison. So don’t worry about getting close to them when watering. The plant is actually edible.
There are no cactus varieties out there that contain poison. But the spines serve some purposes that we talked about in the paragraph above here.
We feel like we should mention that you might feel slightly numb in the skin when stung by the plant, but this is likely just your body reacting to it. If you want to, you could even cut off the thorns on the entire plant. They are technically a dead part that won’t continue growing or even grow back.
The purpose the thorns have is to deter animals that otherwise would eat the plant. But they will also be collecting water when it starts to condense from the soil.
Would you like to learn more about the roots of the cactus plant? In this article right here we dive deeper, Are Cactus Roots Shallow Or Deep.
Do Cactus Thorns Have Poison
If you have read this far in the article then you will have already discovered that the cactus plant will actually not contain any poisonous at all. It’s completely harmless and even edible.
The flavor might not be very appealing. It can be very acidic but if you get a good one then it will have flavors of green asparagus. If you want you could even cut off the thorns as they won’t make or break your cactus plant if you keep it indoors the entire time.
