Pompoms first seeds

[Pompom]

So my mammillaria karwinskiana surprisingly made one fruit. I hope there are more fruits coming out and the one growing has seeds inside.
I'm completely novice with growing anything from seeds and this will be my first time ever sowing. I want to be ready to sow when time is right so I need advises what to do. I have already watched videos from youtube and read this forum.

Here is my plan what I'm going to do when the fruit is ripe and if it has seeds:
First I'm going to wait for the fruit to get little wrinkles, that's when the fruit is definitely ripe. (It will be an interesting task since the fruit is growing in a tight place between plant and pot, hopefully it gets out from the pot by itself) Then I take the fruit out and split it in half with a sterile knife, scoop the insides out and wipe it to paper towel. I'll let it dry out over a night or two and after that collect the seeds on paper.

I'm going to use commercial cactus and succulent soil and add these little ball things, the bag says "burned clay". In my language, they call it light gravel/grit. The bag says the soil has from most to least: different kinds of peat, sand, coarse and fine silt and clay. I'm not sure about the ratio but here in Finland the table of contents must be in order from the most to the least. The soil is screened by 60x12 mm. In 6 kg/m3 of soil, there is 1.2 kg/m3 limestone powder. Limestone powder has 5% of added magnesium. There is also "common potting soil fertilizer": the bag says NPK 6-12-24 + micronutrients, I have no idea how much but it's last ingredient so just little bit.
Is the soil OK if I add some ball things? How much ball things and should I screen the soil?
The soil I'm going to sterilize in a microwave (wet soil, 3-5 mins at full power) in a clean microwaveable plastic pot. I think I'm going to get water by melting and boiling snow.

When the soil has cooled down, I put it in clean pot(s) with drainage holes. I don't know yet how many seeds I'm going to get, but I think it would be safer to use two separate pots, just in case. I moisten the soil well through drainage holes and then sprinkle the seeds on the top. After that the pots should be putted in a ziplocked baggie, air out and closed. Bags under bright light (not under full sun). Then the waiting starts.

Does this sound like a plan? Do you have any advises, tips or tricks or would you do something completely different? When the time of sowing comes, I try to remember to take some pictures for you!

[Pompom]

So here is the fruit today. I believe it will grow bigger, and the pictures show how tight place there is to grow. If the fruit decides to stay in pot, collecting can be kinda interesting operation.

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[ElieEstephane]

You seem to have the hang of it. A few points if i may.
Limestone is not a good idea. It's a growth retardant for some species, growth inhibitor for others and some are tolerant of it. If you absolutely must use it, look up the habitat of your mammillaria tonsee if it's tolerant of limestone (although it's not that much limestone so it could be okay)
Baked/fired clay is good. Use it in a 1:1 ratio to your sterile poting mix. However, a strictly mineral mix is much better to avoid many problems (that may or may not occur). You can use sharp sand, perlite, vermiculite, baked clay, zeolite cat litter, or simply crushed rocks (not limestone or dolomite).
When you remove the seeds, wash them very very well. Damp pulp could introduce some fungal diseases. To wash pulp away i speead the pulp and seeds on an a4 paper to try to separate as much pulp as i can. Next, i put them in a small bottle (medication bottle or similar) and shake vigorously several times. Repeat a couple of times and spread seeds again on paper to remove excess moisture. Give them a couple of sprays of hydrogen peroxide (5-10%). You can sow them as soon as you clean them and they will germinate very fast (my record is 2 days) or you can dry them out and sow them whenever you want but germination will be slower.
Happy growing pompom!

[ElieEstephane]

By the way pompom, does that pot have a drainage hole?

[Pompom]

ElieEstephane: The cleaning process sounds FUN! My mind can chance when I start it because the seeds are so tiny.
There is no limestone where this plant originally grows (based on quick research from internet), but this particular plant doesn't mind being it the commercial soil. I have good amount of time left, so maybe I get other soil or more stuff to mix in for the seeds, we'll see.
Where do you get Hydrogen peroxide? I tried to search from google where I can buy it, and only result I got, I can get it from drug store 100ml and only 3%. Is it necessary? What does it do for the seeds, more hygienic perhaps? Thanks for the advises, I can't wait to get started!

By the way pompom, does that pot have a drainage hole?

Yeap, the drainage hole is there!

[ElieEstephane]

About the limestone pompom, you can use this mix and lean it out with the clay pebbles. No need to buy new soil.
And for the hydrogen peroxide it's not necessary at all. I just do it as a precaution. If you were passing by a drugstore get a small bottle. It's very cheap and it's very good algae control.

[Pompom]

About the limestone pompom, you can use this mix and lean it out with the clay pebbles. No need to buy new soil.
And for the hydrogen peroxide it's not necessary at all. I just do it as a precaution. If you were passing by a drugstore get a small bottle. It's very cheap and it's very good algae control.

I'll buy it, if I remember!!
This thing just crossed my mind: When talking about the fungi spores of other spores in the air, is there differences in amounts of spores depending of the humidity of air? It's spring-winter here now and next month is usually the coldest one, and at some point temperatures will usually drop very low (normally -20 to -30c), humidity inside gets super low, last winter we only got 10% for over a week because it was -30c outside (oh god my nose and throat felt like sandpaper, I got nosebleeds, skin cracked, not pleasant at all ). I was wondering if amounts of fungi spores in air increase of decrease when humidity drops. If it decreases, I can easily time the sowing for the driest time, if it increases I can wait for it to get up (depending of if I get more fruits and more seeds to try again).

[ElieEstephane]

Wow that's cold! Usually here if the temperature drop below -6 or -7 in the mountains we think it's a cold winter we hiked once in snow from 10pm to 3am at -4 degrees in training and i could barely breath. I can't even imagine -30! Thats like the opposite of the desert!
As for the spores, i would assume they decrease on the coldest month.

[Pompom]

Wow that's cold! Usually here if the temperature drop below -6 or -7 in the mountains we think it's a cold winter we hiked once in snow from 10pm to 3am at -4 degrees in training and i could barely breath. I can't even imagine -30! Thats like the opposite of the desert!
As for the spores, i would assume they decrease on the coldest month.

Yeah, -30 is way too cold even for me. I think after -25 it's just too cold, there's no difference in feeling coldness after that. When temperatures get down to the -30, breathing gets really, really hard. Every breath hurts. I remember once when younger, when it was under -20, I made a terrible mistake: I took a super minty gum before stepping outside. The mintiness of gum is breathtaking even without cold air, and I was immediately coughing, watering from eyes and spitted the gum out. These are things parents don't teach to their children, children must learn it by themselves. And even if it was taught, I think every Finnish kid try it anyways... Just like licking a metal pole... I was stupid enough to do it twice...
However, I have been living here all of my life. I'm used to the cold. If it feels too cold when being outside, it's because I'm not wearing enough clothes. I like spring-winter, the sun comes out after being away for months, it's cold, bright, wintery. I love when it's really cold, clear blue sky, sunny. Because then some of the humidity of air freezes too and the air and snow glitters beautifully! I can try to get a shot of that phenomena if it happens some day

[ElieEstephane]

Just like licking a metal pole... I was stupid enough to do it twice...

I fell for that one too
We have have a very different concept of cold i live on the coast and now night temperatures are around 8 deg C and people are starting to complain about the cold. I guess that must be beach season for you.
About not wearing enough layers, in mountain search and rescue training we were taught by norwegian trainers to wear only 3 layers no matter how cold it is: a wool shirt, a fleece and a thermal jacket. Is that not enough in Finland?

I don't know of it's the same thing but i once watched a video of somewhwere in russia where they throw boiling water in the air and it comes down immediately as snow.

[Pompom]

We have have a very different concept of cold i live on the coast and now night temperatures are around 8 deg C and people are starting to complain about the cold. I guess that must be beach season for you.
About not wearing enough layers, in mountain search and rescue training we were taught by norwegian trainers to wear only 3 layers no matter how cold it is: a wool shirt, a fleece and a thermal jacket. Is that not enough in Finland?

8 degrees.. Hmm it depends of the season. In summer nights are usually around 10 degrees and when it's raining a little bit higher. If it's spring or autumn, 8 degrees is the worst, too cold but too warm, spring is more bad since we have just got used to wear more clothes. Finland is a long country so climate depends of the latitude. In summer here in north, day temperatures are around 15-20 degrees whilst in south around 20-25. Some summers are colder, some warmer. Few years ago, there were like 3 !!!THREE!!! days when the sun came out. Worst summer ever.
Norway has about same climate as northern Finland. In here we don't have wind from the sea tough. Wearing clothes is about the same. It's like wearing clothes smartly. Winter jacket is good to be one size bigger, so more clothes fit under. Shoes has to be slightly too big, so woolen socks fit in. The trick is to trap in as much air as possible to stay warm. Too tightly packed clothes won't keep anyone warm. Combination of wool shirt, a fleece and a thermal jacket sounds reasonable and with those you easily survive the coldest temperatures. Fortunately I live in a city, so mostly there is no need of survival, I just use fleece or other thick shirt under thick jacket and warm winter pants. And of course thick scarf and a couple of mittens, smaller and larger on top of each other. If that's not enough, I just suffer (but I don't complain cause it's all my fault), layer clothing is too annoying For example when you go shopping, wearing too much clothes is a bad idea, you'll get hot and sweaty and when you step outside next time, the sweat cools the body down. Wearing clothes depends on where are you going: only outside, full armor but going outside then inside, half of that.

By the way, beach season is when the sun comes out in summer. Without it, it's too cold and too many mosquitos and other human eating bugs everywhere

[ElieEstephane]

That's just crazy!! Thank goodness for our weather! (though it hasn't snowed enough yet in the mountains to ski ). Did you by any chance see the northern lights?
As for the mosquitoes, i never knew the darn things survived that far north! I sympathize with you

[Pompom]

Did you by any chance see the northern lights?
As for the mosquitoes, i never knew the darn things survived that far north! I sympathize with you

Well, I can see the northern lights almost every night when there is a clear sky. Mostly the sky isn't clear, so I can't see them even if they were there. And usually I'm sleeping at nights. In city they are not that visible because of the artificial lights, but slightly visible.
The mosquitoes lay eggs on water or swamps or forestfloors. Only top of everything freezes, snow isolates the ground from the freezing air. Mosquito larvaes and eggs live happily till temperatures rise

[Pompom]

Definitely the fruit is not coming out from the pot. You have any ideas how it would be easiest to get off and out when ready?

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[ElieEstephane]

You can use tweezers or hold the cactus with thick gloves or a piece of cloth and lift it a few cms to pick the pod. I'd go with option 1