Plant in full to part sun in a well-drained soil and irrigate sparingly. It is hardy to around 10° F, so useful in gardens in USDA Zone 8 and above. An interesting and attractive plant in the ground or in large containers.

Opuntia gomei and this variety have both sometimes been sold as Opuntia undulata, a similar but tropical and tender species that also has pads with undulate margins. Opuntia gomei comes sea level to around 300 feet in elevation from along the Gulf coast from Tamaulipas in northeastern Mexico into southern Texas and up the Rio Grand for about 60 miles. The origin of the genus name is debatable but one story is that it derives from the Latin word 'Opuntius' as a reference to it being native to the ancient Greek city of Opus and according to botanical accounts by Theophrastus and Pliny the Elder, a spiny plant with edible roots and leaves grew at this location and somehow the name was transferred to this New World cactus. A more likely though is that it is from the Greek word 'opus' which means "fig juice" for the fig-like fruits. It may also be a composition word from the Aztec name of "nopalli" combined with the Latin word 'pungere' which means to "prick" or "sting. The specific epithet got its name from a combination of the botanical name for genus of the fig, Ficus, and the misconception that early European explorers had arrived in the "Indies" when they found the plant in the New World. The specific epithet honors William Gome of Brownsville Texas, who assisted botanist David Griffiths in collecting plants such as this one, which he described in 1910 in his "Illustrated Studies in the Genus Opunita III", published in the Missouri Botanical Garden Annual Report. Griffiths was known to be a splitter and others have and lumped this plant as a variety of Opuntia lindheimeri. The cultivar name reportedly was given to this plant by Helen Winans (sometimes incorrectly spelled Wynans), an active Cactus and Succulent Society of America member and cactus dealer from Brownsville Texas in the 1970's and 80's.

We first saw this plant growing in gardens in Austin Texas and thank Santa Barbara Cactus and Succulent Society member Rob Hoffman for giving us the first starts of it in 2015. 

The information displayed on this page about Opuntia gomei 'Old Mexico' is based on our research conducted about this plant from books in our nursery library as well as from information that is provided by reliable online resources. We also have included our own observations made about it as it grew in the nursery gardens and other gardens visited, as well how the crops of this plant performed in the containers when we had them in our nursery field. We also include comments received from others and welcome hearing from anyone who has information about this plant, particularly if it includes cultural information aiding others to better grow it.