Goings on down under

[Mark]

Those Mammillaria are looking good, Mike!

What kind of seeds do you have going?


Mark

[mikethecactusguy]

That is one impressive amount of sowing. how many seeds per bag?
Mike M

[MikeInOz]

Those Mammillaria are looking good, Mike!

What kind of seeds do you have going?


Mark

Many mamms, feros, astros, arios, lots of echinocereus, and assorted stuff...

[MikeInOz]

That is one impressive amount of sowing. how many seeds per bag?
Mike M

Depends on the amount of seed in the packet. Anywhere from 5 to 50 but mainly about 10-20.

[MikeInOz]

Mamm. gulezowiana...

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Mamm guelzowiana var robustior. (I don't know the botanical difference)

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Rebutia donaldiana...

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[MikeInOz]

This season has been the best ever as far as seedling growth is concerned.
These where kept over bottom heat (about 20C) all summer. They were sown in late November 2020 which makes them less than 7 months old.
They are now in a heated area where I will keep them growing all winter. If possible, you want to keep seedlings growing for 2 years - at least -without any rest to get them booming! Heat and more heat, plenty of air, plenty of light, plenty of food and plenty of water..(that is...not totally dry for more than a day or so.) I'm sure if I had extra artificial light over winter they would do even better. (those Aztekuim are kept between 20 and 30 degrees C and under grow lights for 16 hours a day but I only have the room for them. No doubt they are close to the slowest growing plant in the world.





Some close ups....

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Aztekuim valdezzii (ebay seed) About 30% germination.

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Epi bokei

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Mamm. spin. ''Red sp.''

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caput-medusae

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T. pseudopectinatus

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Mamm humboldtii

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Mamm. albiflora

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Onzuka

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Mamm lenta

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[keith]

They look good very good for 7 months. Mine all go dormant during Winter cant be helped they are in cold frames so they grow about 1/2 speed.

Summer here now so grow cactus grow

[Traveller]

Mike,
Where did you locate your Pelecyphora aseliformis and Geohintonia mexicana seed from? In the last 4 years, I lost all my mature plants of those species except for 1 ratty Geohintonia. I'm chomping at the bit to get new ones growing again.
By the way, beautiful greenhouse, do you have any update pics on what you are growing?

Cheers,
Alex

[MikeInOz]

Mike,
Where did you locate your Pelecyphora aseliformis and Geohintonia mexicana seed from? In the last 4 years, I lost all my mature plants of those species except for 1 ratty Geohintonia. I'm chomping at the bit to get new ones growing again.
By the way, beautiful greenhouse, do you have any update pics on what you are growing?

Cheers,
Alex

Hi Alex
I got the aselliformis seeds from Koehres. The Geos I can't remember but probably from the same place. I have 2 different clones of aselliformis that should both flower this year. I will attempt to cross-pollinate both of them to get seed.
I will update soon.

[MikeInOz]

Mamm gasseriana is almost first to flower in spring. I like this species.

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Bocasana rosea..

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Turbinicarpus..I forgot the species.

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And 2 Mamm bertholdii seedlings. 1 year old.
The other seeds did not germinate but I saved them and will try again. The other seedling at the back was mixed in with the seeds. I have no idea what it is.

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[abhikjha]

Hi Mike, awesome setup and seedlings. Can you please share the tricks and tips such as soil mix, watering schedule, when do you keep them out of the bag, fertilization technique etc. I am impressed with Pelecyphora germination rate given its from Koehres

[MikeInOz]

Hi abhikjha

Here is a sequence of what I do regarding sowing seeds...

First start off with a good biologically active but well matured compost. I make my own and it takes about a year before it's ready....
Although you can recognize bits of wood etc, they are completely consumed and you can pulverize them in your fingers. This is mature compost.

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It's important to have a range of sieves. This one is about 1.5mm to take out anything finer than that....

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The pH of the final mix is extremely important. It should be about 5.5
You use a product like this....

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My particular compost finishes at about neutral to slightly acidic. Not quite enough....

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To bring the pH down, we use sphagnum peat. This is Canadian and is also put through the sieve...

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It's pH is typically around 4...

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Then we add a mineral component. Here I'm using unexpanded perlite but you can use pumice or quartz sand or whatever,
but you need to know it's pH also.

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The unexpanded pumice is usually quite alkaline. Definitely no good!....

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The 3 ingredients mixed in certain proportions gives me a pH of around 5.5 more or less....

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To the bottom of the pot I use large grade perlite....

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Followed by some finer material....

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Then I add my mix and firm it down flat with a piece of wood...

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On top of that I add about 2 or 3mm of a mineral. Here I'm using pumice just because I have some. I have used scoria or sand with good results...

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Then I soak it in plain water from the bottom and let it drain...

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Then I sow the seeds and wash them into the mix with a hand sprayer and bag them. They are then sat on bottom heat of about 25C and remain there all summer. They are shaded by about 75%. When the first few spines appear I crack open the bags to let some air in to start hardening them up - just a little. After they are about 3mm or so I open the bag completely but leave it on. At the end of the season I remove the bags and transfer them to a heated glasshouse (min 14C) without bottom heat but with strong sunlight and feed them now and then. They grow slowly over winter there and by the next spring most are large enough to separate into community pots ready to put on fast growth. It always depends on the species. The Pelecyphora are still in the pot they were sown in and will probably remain there for another year or two.

[MikeInOz]

I forgot to add that I sprinkle gypsum on top of the mix together with the pumice. I obtain this by sieving a bag of mined gypsum with a very fine sieve. Only about 10% of the bag contains particle sizes that I can use. It also contains a little Calcium carbonate from impurities but this does not seem to cause problems as the peat has a very high buffer capacity. The rest goes in the garden. It provides enough calcium for many months...

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[keith]

Hi Mike, you could make a youtube video with all this detail you posted. Question do you like a acid soil for all cactus or just seedlings ?

[abhikjha]

Hi Mike

This is one of the best explanations of seed sowing method on this forum. Definitely a go to guide for anyone who is thinking to sow seeds. Thanks again. I agree with Keith to make YouTube videos, it will help wider community out there.

One question - I didn't know that acidic soil, requirements of calcium is so important for seed germination and sustenance. What advice you give if someone already sown seeds but didn't acidify the soil or put gypsum in the mix? Is it ok if in next watering cycle, I bottom water them with acidic water with a bit of Calmag?

Cheers
Abhik