Plants vs Zombies 2 - Penny's Pursuit - Cactus - May 2022

This quest focuses on the Premium (money) plant Cactus and was offered between May 18, 2022 and May 25, 2022.

Cactus is a member of the Spear-Mint family.
Costs 175 Sun. (150 at level 5)
Fires a dart which damages 2-4 zombies dealing 30 damage (+10 per level)
When approached, Cactus will bury itself underground - dealing 10 damage (+5 per level) to all zombies who walk on it.
When given plant food, Cactus' dart deal double damage. (60 damage at level 1 and +20 per level)
When given plant food, Cactus' spikes will deal 20 damage (+10 per 2 levels)
Plant food effect never fades.

Cactus is a money plant which really does not have a home.

For 25 Sun less, you can plant Red Stinger (columns 1-3) and deal the same damage. So the extra 25 Sun is the ability to turn into Spikeweed when a zombie gets close.

Or for 25 more Sun, you could have Laser Bean and deal 10 more damage and damage all zombies in the lane.

Or, if you have the plant and can power it up, Shadow Peashooter does 40 more damage to all zombies in a lane for 50 Sun less.

Because of this - it is difficult to see what niche this plant fills. Spear-Mint already has a couple of long range plants which deal similar damage. The ability to hide can also be a detriment as Cactus will not fire if a zombie is close. If a zombie is stalled, then Cactus will just hide, waiting for the danger to pass. This usually means other plants are eliminating the zombies in question.

Level 1 - Difficulty 🌶️🌶️🌶️ - Bonus 1 of 2
Perk = Bass Blast - Knock-back
Survive the zombie attack
Protect the endangered plant - Red Stingers on R1C5, R3C5 and R5C5 / R1C6, R3C5 and R5C6 / R1C6, R3C6 and R5C6
Score more than none / 500,000 / 500,000

Level 2 - Difficulty 🌶️🌶️🌶️ - Bonus 1 of 2
Perk = Knock-back
Survive for 3 minutes
Protect the endangered plant - Sweet Potato on R3C5
Defeat Cardio zombie 1 / 2 / 3 time(s).

Level 3 - Difficulty 🌶️🌶️🌶️ - Bonus 0 of 1
Perk = Knock-back
Survive for 1.5 minutes
Score more than 750,000 / 2,500,000 / 20,000,000

Level 4 - Difficulty 🌶️🌶️🌶️ - Bonus 2 of 2
Perk = Knock-back
Survive the zombie attack
Protect the endangered plant - Coconut Cannon on R3C3 / R3C5 / R3C6
Never have more than none / 19 / 12 plants

Level 5 - Difficulty 🌶️🌶️🌶️ - Bonus 1 of 2
Perk = Poison Zombies
Survive for 2 minutes
Score more than 500,000 / 750,000 / 1,000,000
Poison zombies none / 30 / 50 times

+Timestamps
00:00 Level 1 - Difficulty 3
03:14 Level 2 - Difficulty 3
06:36 Level 3 - Difficulty 3
07:55 Level 4 - Difficulty 3
11:46 Level 5 - Difficulty 3