Needing some help

liisa8800 · Post by **liisa8800** » Wed Oct 12, 2011 4:35 am

Hello, im planing next year to start a cactus bed. So i bought some seeds ; maihuenia poeppigii,escobaia missourensis,echinocereus viridiflorus,-triglochidiatus
So i wanted to ask if tey need some extra care before germinating? especially maihuenia poeppigi.

vlani · Post by **vlani** » Wed Oct 12, 2011 4:56 am

No special pre-sowing care, but Maihuenia may take some time to germinate. Sometimes they all go out within couple days, sometimes they wait for something and pop a year later. If nothing pops out the first two weeks you will need to start two weeks wet - two weeks dry routine till you see first sprouts. Keep them wet once germinated.
Maihuenia must be started with no cover whatsoever, and needs strong light from the day one. Think tomatoes

You may want to start your seeds right away, winter with dim light is fine for the first months for all your (future) seedlings.

liisa8800 · Post by **liisa8800** » Wed Oct 12, 2011 12:59 pm

Thanks! But i have to but seeds (maihueia) in soli (on)onto windowsill and water them and no baggies?

iann · Post by **iann** » Wed Oct 12, 2011 1:11 pm

No cover, no shade. Especially not in Estonia in winter

This is one of the few cactus species that really seems to benefit from chilling or freezing of the seed, so you might just leave it out all winter if you don't get good germination before then.

promethean_spark · Post by **promethean_spark** » Wed Oct 12, 2011 10:13 pm

I've found it helps with mahuenia to sand the seed coat down a bit with fine sandpaper, until it goes from black to brown/white. In nature I think they need to go through a bird to germinate.

vlani · Post by **vlani** » Thu Oct 13, 2011 5:45 am

It all urban legend about Maihuenia.
I've seen 10 out of 10 germination within half a week from sowing, no tricks applied. It all depends on some sort of timing. They do grow better when it is warm, and germinate better when it is warm.

liisa8800 · Post by **liisa8800** » Sat Oct 15, 2011 3:01 pm

iann wrote:No cover, no shade. Especially not in Estonia in winter

This is one of the few cactus species that really seems to benefit from chilling or freezing of the seed, so you might just leave it out all winter if you don't get good germination before then.

What do you mean at no cover no shade? That just but on windowsill?