Ordering seeds

[stefan m.]

Ill be ordering seeds next spring(most likely from koehres, but feel free to suggest others from italy and central europe)
Ill be ordering
Mammilarias
Eriosyce
Trichocereus
Copiapoa(preferably large)
Aloe(preferably small and unusual)
Epiphyte cacti
Pilosocerei
Harrisia
Opuntiads

I would like your suggestions as to which species is either the easiest , best looking or most interesting to grow.

[mmcavall]

Mammillarias? But you said you tend to avoid them...
I discovered Mammillarias very recently. Until a few time ago I disliked Mammillarias, by simple prejudice. I used to see them as "artificial". But now I have some and I'm discovering they are very robust plants to be grown under full sun. Now I find them rewarding, always in bloom and with interesting spination. Among my preferred ones is M bombycina. You should try that.

[stefan m.]

I do avoid them as wholesale plants, because acclimation is hard.
Thanks for the input.
Awaiting other contributions.

[ElieEstephane]

You can try uhlig kakteen and succseed lots of option and rare species.

[stefan m.]

Thanks elieestephane
Also would appreciate opinion on species

[Aiko]

Ill be ordering seeds next spring(most likely from koehres, but feel free to suggest others from italy and central europe)

I would not wait for spring, if I were you. Most lists get updated in autumn or winter. Many have already been updated (most of the Czech lists), some others are about to be updated.

Expect some species to be sold out real soon after a list has been updated. Therefore it is best not to wait for spring, but act on it as soon as you can. See viewtopic.php?f=2&t=32102&hilit=updated ... 10#p336934 for a list of updated or to be updated lists for this year.

[stefan m.]

id like the seeds to be fresh and to have good weather conditions for germination(light and heat).

I also dont want seeds to be damaged during transport.
Again this topic was a species debate, the seed source was secondary.

[Aiko]

id like the seeds to be fresh and to have good weather conditions for germination(light and heat).

Seeds are harvested when they are ripe, not particularly in spring. Wether they are ripe in spring, summer or autumn, they will only be added to the next to-be-issued seed list. That could well be almost a year from harvesting time. So waiting for fresh seeds from a commercial list is basically non-existing. There are probably some months in between them harvesting and you receiving the seeds.

[Pricky]

I wouldn't order from Koehres. Usually the quality and the germination percentages are very bad.
This is a link from an italian forum where lots of people complain about Koehres.
http://forum.cactofili.org/viewtopic.php?t=37988

[stefan m.]

Ive also bought from samu.babyplant on ebay. Germination rates were equal.
Any other suggestions ?

[mmcavall]

Here are some species that are in my wish list, some may interest you:

(Names taken from Mesa Garden seed list, so you can find them there):
Mammillaria
dixanthocentron
huitzilopochtli
schumannii
microthele
parkinsonii
herrerae

Copiapoa
coquimbana v deminuta
humilis
lembckei
montana
tenuissima

Neoporteria
multicolor
subgibbosa v nigrihorrida
villosa
atrispinosa
cachytaensis
clavata v procera
curvispina v robusta
deherdtiana
dimorpha
eriosyzoides
islayensis
jussieui
krainziana
napina v mitis f. glabrescens
neohankeana
occulta
violaciflora
wagenknechtii

And some names taken from Cactus Moravia seed list:

Puna bonnieae ssp. inermis

Tephrocactus
alexanderii f. durispinus
aoracanthus ssp. paediophilus
geometricus
geometricus ssp. willy-smithii
weberii

TUNILLA
corrugata
soehrensii

[stefan m.]

Ill be ordering from europe(first time i ordered from USA was also last because shipment didnt arrive-went missing)
And ill avoid any sellers with the article number order thing(its just too annoying to wrap my head around it).
Thanks for most of these.

[stefan m.]

What about kakteen-piltz or cactus-aventures(kaktitos) or
Bercht-Cactus?

[Aiko]

The Bercht seed list is excellent, and a speedy service. Will be updated late November, very likely.

[stefan m.]

Ill probably order some stuff from there provied if it still has cintia seeds in spring.