How to repot Mamm. grahamii?

Discuss repotting, soil, lighting, fertilizing, watering, etc. in this category.
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jerrytheplater
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How to repot Mamm. grahamii?

Post by jerrytheplater »

A friend of mine moved out near Carefree, AZ over 6 years ago. He sent me seeds of M. grahamii and Ferocactus wislizenii from about the same time from rescues as they were building his home. I sowed the Mamm's and came out with two of them, but both died as they could not survive winter in my unheated garage. I will store these new plants at a heated greenhouse

I just started a pot of both of these seeds and have germination on both.

My question is/will be: How do you separate cacti seedlings with fishhook shaped spines? Even with just two plants they got twisted together and were very hard to transplant. My seedlings are really close together.
Jerry Smith
Bloomingdale, NJ
45 inches (114 cm) rain equivalent per year, approx. evenly spread per month
2012 USDA Hardiness Zone 6b: -5F to OF (-20C to -18C) min.
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MikeInOz
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Re: How to repot Mamm. grahamii?

Post by MikeInOz »

Shouldn't be that hard Jerry. Use 2 sharpened chopsticks and ease them apart. When I repot these hook-spined seedlings I use a pair of tweezers and grab each by one of the spines at the top of the plant and hold it on a full pot of dry mix with the roots resting on the surface. Then using a chopstick, stab it into the mix under the seedling while applying downward pressure on the plant. Move the stick in circular and up and down motions and the seedling's roots will make their way down into the mix as the seedling sinks. Harder to explain than to actually do. Just yesterday I potted up a bunch of guelzowiana seedlings. Every one of them was stuck to the next. If I went anywhere near the planted seedlings with my hand I would end up planting one and pulling up 3! :lol: Using fingers was out of the question!
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Re: How to repot Mamm. grahamii?

Post by jerrytheplater »

MikeInOz wrote: Tue Nov 08, 2022 5:26 am Shouldn't be that hard Jerry. Use 2 sharpened chopsticks and ease them apart. When I repot these hook-spined seedlings I use a pair of tweezers and grab each by one of the spines at the top of the plant and hold it on a full pot of dry mix with the roots resting on the surface. Then using a chopstick, stab it into the mix under the seedling while applying downward pressure on the plant. Move the stick in circular and up and down motions and the seedling's roots will make their way down into the mix as the seedling sinks. Harder to explain than to actually do. Just yesterday I potted up a bunch of guelzowiana seedlings. Every one of them was stuck to the next. If I went anywhere near the planted seedlings with my hand I would end up planting one and pulling up 3! :lol: Using fingers was out of the question!
Thanks Mike. I can picture the procedure. Sometime next year I'll try it out!
Jerry Smith
Bloomingdale, NJ
45 inches (114 cm) rain equivalent per year, approx. evenly spread per month
2012 USDA Hardiness Zone 6b: -5F to OF (-20C to -18C) min.
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jerrytheplater
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Re: How to repot Mamm. grahamii?

Post by jerrytheplater »

Related question: How do you repot very fine spined cacti like Parodia haselbergii without destroying the looks of the plant? What if you really have a show quality plant (I don't)?
Jerry Smith
Bloomingdale, NJ
45 inches (114 cm) rain equivalent per year, approx. evenly spread per month
2012 USDA Hardiness Zone 6b: -5F to OF (-20C to -18C) min.
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MikeInOz
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Re: How to repot Mamm. grahamii?

Post by MikeInOz »

Depending on the size of the plant I try to knock it out of it's pot on the side of the bench and have the tips of your fingers just over the pot rim so as to catch it as it comes out. Then take hold of it by the root ball and work on it (if you need to) without touching the body of the plant then ease it into the new pot and use sticks to lever it up to the correct level while pouring the mix around the sides. Once they are too big for that you might have to put it on it's side on a patch of lawn or other soft material and lever it out. You still should be able to handle it without touching the actual plant's body.
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Re: How to repot Mamm. grahamii?

Post by jerrytheplater »

Thanks Mike. Especially previously since I too had the problem of the hooked spines grabbing me.
Jerry Smith
Bloomingdale, NJ
45 inches (114 cm) rain equivalent per year, approx. evenly spread per month
2012 USDA Hardiness Zone 6b: -5F to OF (-20C to -18C) min.
Download
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Re: How to repot Mamm. grahamii?

Post by Download »

I use large surgical tweezers for handling small, prickly cacti. The type with a 30deg bend in them.

As for hooked spines and untangling, I do my best to untangle them, but otherwise just pull them apart. Some will get damaged, but in small plants it becomes unnoticeable pretty quickly.
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7george
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Re: How to repot Mamm. grahamii?

Post by 7george »

Download wrote: Fri Nov 11, 2022 5:33 am I use large surgical tweezers for handling small, prickly cacti. The type with a 30deg bend in them.

As for hooked spines and untangling, I do my best to untangle them, but otherwise just pull them apart. Some will get damaged, but in small plants it becomes unnoticeable pretty quickly.
I use fine tweezers for untangling hooks, also problematic hooks can be cut off, these will recover with growth of the plant. Do next plantings way apart. Don't throw away unsuccessful seeds -- they will/may germinate after years possibly.
Image
This is the point seedlings have to be transplanted already. Sorting by size groups also helps.
M. grahamii, seeds from Phoenix area.
If your cacti mess in your job just forget about the job.
°C = (°F - 32)/1.8
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Re: How to repot Mamm. grahamii?

Post by jerrytheplater »

7george wrote: Fri Nov 11, 2022 6:20 pm
Image
This is the point seedlings have to be transplanted already. Sorting by size groups also helps.
M. grahamii, seeds from Phoenix area.
Are all of those seedlings from the same sowing? Did they vary in germination times or did some just grow more slowly? Can you estimate how old these seedlings are?

I have bent tip forceps, along with straight tip ones. I'll have to put them in use.

Two years ago when I first transplanted M. grahamii they were sticking to my fingers big time. It was a mess. Thank you all for your tips.
Jerry Smith
Bloomingdale, NJ
45 inches (114 cm) rain equivalent per year, approx. evenly spread per month
2012 USDA Hardiness Zone 6b: -5F to OF (-20C to -18C) min.
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mmcavall
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Re: How to repot Mamm. grahamii?

Post by mmcavall »

When repoting little hooked Mammillarias I usually cut the tip of the spines. This make everything easier. If not, they tend to grab my finger and everything and it is a mess. For some weeks after repotng they dont have roots well rooted and keep coming out of the substrate if you touch them. So I cut the spines. They will grow new spines and will look normal in a few months.
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Re: How to repot Mamm. grahamii?

Post by jerrytheplater »

mmcavall wrote: Sat Nov 12, 2022 8:45 am When repoting little hooked Mammillarias I usually cut the tip of the spines. This make everything easier. If not, they tend to grab my finger and everything and it is a mess. For some weeks after repotng they dont have roots well rooted and keep coming out of the substrate if you touch them. So I cut the spines. They will grow new spines and will look normal in a few months.
An interesting plan. But pretty labor intensive. I'll keep it in mind.
Jerry Smith
Bloomingdale, NJ
45 inches (114 cm) rain equivalent per year, approx. evenly spread per month
2012 USDA Hardiness Zone 6b: -5F to OF (-20C to -18C) min.
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Re: How to repot Mamm. grahamii?

Post by 7george »

jerrytheplater wrote: Fri Nov 11, 2022 7:27 pm
Are all of those seedlings from the same sowing? Did they vary in germination times or did some just grow more slowly? Can you estimate how old these seedlings are?
Yes, they are all from the same sowing. And they vary a lot with their germination (sometimes several years apart). If I remember, these are 2 - 2.5 y/old when shot but growth rate depends on conditions been held. Also keep in mind that seedlings are moisture/rot sensitive, most of smaller ones on the photo perished, just large ones survived further. Winter is critical time about this because they are too small to be left dry for months and long standing moisture can kill them at cooler temps even held indoors. They like heat : at least 30 - 35°C daytimes to grow and survive in active stage.

But I liked the way these invade rocks in Phoenix parks so I took some fruits from there.
Image
If your cacti mess in your job just forget about the job.
°C = (°F - 32)/1.8
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Re: How to repot Mamm. grahamii?

Post by jerrytheplater »

7george wrote: Sat Nov 12, 2022 3:38 pm
jerrytheplater wrote: Fri Nov 11, 2022 7:27 pm
Are all of those seedlings from the same sowing? Did they vary in germination times or did some just grow more slowly? Can you estimate how old these seedlings are?
Yes, they are all from the same sowing. And they vary a lot with their germination (sometimes several years apart). If I remember, these are 2 - 2.5 y/old when shot but growth rate depends on conditions been held. Also keep in mind that seedlings are moisture/rot sensitive, most of smaller ones on the photo perished, just large ones survived further. Winter is critical time about this because they are too small to be left dry for months and long standing moisture can kill them at cooler temps even held indoors. They like heat : at least 30 - 35°C daytimes to grow and survive in active stage.
If I remember when I sowed these seeds two years ago, I'm pretty sure I had a lot that looked like your smaller ones too. I only ended up having two plants to transplant. These seeds are now 6 years old and still viable. Same for Ferocactus wislizeni. These seeds came from a friend of mine that lives in Scottsdale, AZ. He moved out there from NJ about 6 or so years ago. He is a real gardener. We met in the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club. He is very talented as an Aquatic Gardener too.

Regarding heat and starting these seeds in fall. I bought a heat mat for seed starting: https://www.hydrofarm.com/p/seedling-heat-mat/mt10006 Then I bought an Inkbird Temp. Controller https://inkbird.com/products/temperatur ... er-itc-308 Now I am expecting delivery of a Vipar XS1500 light on Tuesday: https://www.viparspectra.com/products/xs-series-xs1500 Amazon gave me a $10.00 off coupon when I was looking at it. Better deal than buying directly from Vipar.

Then I was able to buy a damaged sheet of plywood siding at Home Depot for a 70% off price- I had them cut it to 4'x4', which is the size I wanted anyway. $15.00 or so. Now I have to make a bracket to hold the light over my plants. Has to be done by 11/22/22 as we leave to visit my sons family and new granddaughter out in Seattle, WA.
Jerry Smith
Bloomingdale, NJ
45 inches (114 cm) rain equivalent per year, approx. evenly spread per month
2012 USDA Hardiness Zone 6b: -5F to OF (-20C to -18C) min.
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Re: How to repot Mamm. grahamii?

Post by 7george »

Jerry, those seedling above are seen after once being transplanted. When they first germinated in this glass most looked cramped and needed thinning. Maybe I tossed too many seeds there.
Image

And last: some of the my largest seedlings in ~5 cm pots seen today.
Image
If your cacti mess in your job just forget about the job.
°C = (°F - 32)/1.8
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Re: How to repot Mamm. grahamii?

Post by jerrytheplater »

I'll take a photo of my seedlings later today. I have to go help a friend plant his garlic. He had back surgery and can't do it himself this year.
Jerry Smith
Bloomingdale, NJ
45 inches (114 cm) rain equivalent per year, approx. evenly spread per month
2012 USDA Hardiness Zone 6b: -5F to OF (-20C to -18C) min.
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