So I decided to sow

All about seed grown plants. How-to information, progress reports, show of your results.
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mmcavall
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Re: So I decided to sow

Post by mmcavall »

thanks esp_ for following my thread and experiments. After hollydays I plan to do a lot of new batches, some are cacti, some are'nt. I'll be glad to post it here. thanks
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mmcavall
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Re: So I decided to sow

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Having fun in the first week of the year: a new batch with...

Kedrostis africana
Ibervillea tenuisecta
Fockea edulis
Othonna macrocarpa
Hoodia gordoni
Pseudolithos cubiformis
Avonia quinaria
Cyphostemma juttae
Aloe thraskii
Aloe vaombe
Pachycereus pringlei
Jatropha podagrica

made yesterday, so no results yet
IrisA
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Re: So I decided to sow

Post by IrisA »

This is a great list, lots of neat and rare things! Will look forward to pictures :D
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mmcavall
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Re: So I decided to sow

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while we wait their sprouting, here are the pictures of Pachypodium horombense and Euphorbia tulearensis 3 months after sowing.

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IrisA
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Re: So I decided to sow

Post by IrisA »

Pachypodiums make for the cutest seedlings. I've never heard of this Euphorbia before, looks like a neat plant!
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mmcavall
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Re: So I decided to sow

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IrisA wrote:Pachypodiums make for the cutest seedlings. I've never heard of this Euphorbia before, looks like a neat plant!
E. tulearensis is new to me, too.
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mmcavall
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Re: So I decided to sow

Post by mmcavall »

Some pictures of the cacti seedling sowed in August 2016, i.e., ~5 months old seedlings:

Soehrensia (Echinopsis) bruchii
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Soehrensia (Echinopsis) formosa
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Notocactus submamulosus
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Lobivia aurea
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Notocactus turececkianus
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Rebutia pygmea
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Echinocereus fitchii
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Astrophytum
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Notocactus magnificus
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NOID (Gymnocalyciums and/or Trichocereus):
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And below, some of the seedlings from September 2016:
Astrophytums:
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Ferocactus wislizenii:
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mmcavall
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Re: So I decided to sow

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Maybe too early to be frustrated (10 days after sowing) but:

Zero germination for:

Kedrostis africana
Ibervillea tenuisecta
Fockea edulis
Othonna macrocarpa
Avonia quinaria
Cyphostemma juttae
Aloe thraskii
Aloe vaombe


And some variable results for:

Pachycereus pringlei (a slug ate some):
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Jatropha podagrica (pretty amazing):
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Hoodia gordoni (good germination):
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Pseudolithos cubiformis (one out of five seeds. It choose the corner of the pot to sprout at):
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Aiko
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Re: So I decided to sow

Post by Aiko »

Cyphostemma jutae can take months, so be aware and don't throw out the pot too early. I don't know how big the pots is you have sown it into. But this one might like to grow in a big pot as soon as it germinates (so you maybe want to replant it immediately after germination).
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mmcavall
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Re: So I decided to sow

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Aiko wrote:Cyphostemma jutae can take months, so be aware and don't throw out the pot too early. I don't know how big the pots is you have sown it into. But this one might like to grow in a big pot as soon as it germinates (so you maybe want to replant it immediately after germination).
thanks Aiko, I remember that advice from another post you replyied to me. To this one, I'm not expecting any imediate germination. (The pot is relatively big, it is closed and humid inside).

Avonia, on the other hand, should germinate soon...perhaps I took the very final lot from MG and the seeds are not fresh...
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mmcavall
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Re: So I decided to sow

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A month has passed. Very bad germination rates, my worst batch until now. But it's ok, it's part of the game.

ZERO germination for:

Kedrostis africana
Ibervillea tenuisecta
Fockea edulis
Othonna macrocarpa
Avonia quinaria
Cyphostemma juttae
Aloe thraskii
Aloe vaombe

Maybe Cyphostemma and Othonna will show up later. But to the others I have no hope:

Avonia should sprout quickly if seeds are fresh, so I assume seeds are'nt fresh (maybe because I purchased from Mesa Garden in the end of the season, i.e., in December, so the seeds were there since the release of the list in January(?) . Do this make sense?)

The cucurbits (Kedrostis, Ibervillea) should germinate easily and quickly, at least according to my experience with other cucurbits.

Fockea also should germinate quickly, isnt' it? Or am I wrong?

The Aloes I had tryed before and I had a single seed (A. vaombe) that sprouted, so I have no expectation for those.

Regarding the succesful ones:


Hoodia gordoni 7 seedlings out of 10 seeds.

Pseudolithos cubiformis 2 seedlings out of 5 seeds. However a slug ate both. At least I learned that it is possible to grow them and I'll try again some day.

Pachycereus pringlei 10 seedlings out of 36, but a slug ate 5 seedlings.

Jatropha podagrica 2 seedlings out of 6 seeds.

At the moment I'm preparing to sow some cacti.
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mmcavall
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Re: So I decided to sow

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New batch of cacti (February 5th)

Mammillaria compressa f. bernalensis (thanks, David48!)
Mammillaria guillauminiana (thanks, David48!)
Mammillaria grahamii (thanks, Vipasana!)
Ferocactus wislizenii (thanks, Vipasana!)
F. herrerae (thanks, Vipasana!)
E. grusonii (thanks, Vipasana!)
Pachycereus pringlei (thanks, Vipasana!)
Astrophytum mix (thanks, Aiko!)
Mammillaria cf. louisae (my own seeds)
Melocactus sp (my own seeds)
Parodia ottonis (my own seeds)

This batch is a new experiment in which I'm trying adding vermiculite and/or dolomite to the sowing mix. Not all species were sowed in all treatments, but I made it in such a way I will know how good/bad vermiculite/dolomite is to some of the species.

I've sowed in seedling trays, so I can save lots of substrate. In each cell I've sowed from 5 to 20 seeds, according to the species. In total I've sowed about 500 seeds using very few space and substrate. I hope it works fine.

I've changed the sowing setting, using a plastic box to put the seed trays in; the funnel made it easier to put the seeds in the right cell.

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Mark
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Re: So I decided to sow

Post by Mark »

Good idea using the funnel. Good luck with the Cyphostemma. I can never get those to germinate. I've found the cucurbit and Fockea easy from seed.

Good luck.

Mark
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mmcavall
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Re: So I decided to sow

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Mark wrote:Good idea using the funnel. Good luck with the Cyphostemma. I can never get those to germinate. I've found the cucurbit and Fockea easy from seed.
Yes, Mark, the funnel helped a lot! And I'm still waitng the Chyphostemma, but had already gave up the cucurbits and Fockea, they should have sprouted by now for sure.

Of the last batch, the ones that already sprouted are : Astrophytum, Parodia ottonis, Pachycereus pringlei, M. grahamii and M. louisae. Waiting for the others.
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mmcavall
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Re: So I decided to sow

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End of summer review of my seedlings.
Cacti: most of cacti showed a visible growth this season. Most looks like sun stressed but they are growing. Some are kind of stopped. Here are some pictures:

Soehrensia formosa ( sown August 2016):
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Parodia magnifica (from Aiko, August 2016): finally grew a little and I’m confident that the four survivors will not perish.
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Astrophytum mix (idem):
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More Astros, but sowed in September, along with Ferocactus wislizenii (Vipassana): this seed tray showed to be a good way to grow cacti from seeds. I like the spination of Ferocactus…
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Lobivia (?)
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Astrophytum capricorne: another very slow growing that showed some growth and strength this summer. Cool seedling.
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Pachycereus pringleii (Vipassana, sowed in January): these are fast growing; one of the pots with seedlings is under full sun since their sprout, and they look fine!
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This came from the seed bank, I think it is an Opuntia potsii (Joe Shaw): after cold scarification in the fridge for 3 months, and some months more to sprout, here it is (I think)
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…to be continued
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