HELP QUICK!!! Mammillaria seed collecting

[Cacti77]

I got some fruits from this Mamm, I am wanting to collect seeds from them. My question is when should I pull the fruits from the Mamms? In the past week two more have popped up so maybe more will show, it seems like the fruits pop out overnight its amazing how fast they form.

[Cacti77]

So you let the fruits dry out while attached to the plant and then pick them off and open them up to reveal the seed correct?

I am just making sure I am doing this correctly, I have recently started to collect Mammillaria species so am new to this genus.

[iann]

No rush. This big expansion is a sign that the fruit is ripening but it isn't quite ripe when they first pop out. Wait for the fruit to start to dry up before you harvest. Mammillaria fruit isn't going to drop off and disappear so there is no panic. Colour isn't a good guide, with some species bright red long before they're ripe and others staying green or almost colourless. I've left the fruit for a whole extra year and then harvested little dry pods, that was on M. mathildae. Some Mammillaria fruit can be difficult to extract but the common species are easy.

[Cacti77]

Some Mammillaria fruit can be difficult to extract but the common species are easy.

Yes I was reading about one that stores the seeds inside the cactus until it dies, cryptocarpic fruits are insane!!!

So basically this is just the same as harvesting seed from tobacco plants, just let the pod (fruit) dry out and then remove the seeds, sounds easy

Thanks for the reply

[Cacti77]

Well there have been a great number of fruits appearing, should be a good harvest of seeds.

[Cacti77]

I had a fan on this one when it was in flower, since it is producing fruits does that mean it is self fertile?

I do not know the species of Mamm but a recent post showing what species are self fertile and which ones are not peaked my interest in the subject.

I am assuming it is self fertile, and this is probably a dumb question

I was just reading about a person that had a ton of Mamm fruits and they produced no seed. I think this might be Mammillaria columbiana, the fruits look identical to the pics of this species on this site.

[daiv]

Not a dumb question at all. Some cactus produce fruits without seeds if they aren't fertilized. See Ian's recent Eriosyce posts under "General" section.

I think with Mamms, they won't put out fruit unless they were pollinated. At least that is how all of the Mamms I have operate.

[DannabisAx]

I've plucked fat fresh ripe looking fruits and squeezed them on to soil and had like fifty or so seedlings pop up soon after, so you probably need not wait till they're dry. (IMO)

[Cacti77]

Not a dumb question at all. Some cactus produce fruits without seeds if they aren't fertilized. See Ian's recent Eriosyce posts under "General" section.

I think with Mamms, they won't put out fruit unless they were pollinated. At least that is how all of the Mamms I have operate.

This is the post I was talking about, its very interesting.

http://www.cactiguide.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7212

I agree with you daiv about if the Mamm is putting out fruit then it has been pollinated. I just second guess myself all the time because I am trying to get seed for my companies stock so its very important to me.

[Cacti77]

Well I saw a fruit that was starting to shrivel up near the base, I pulled it off and held it up to the light and saw tons of seeds inside. I am excited about the first harvest! I am going to let the other fruits shrivel up even more before removing just to make sure I get viable seed.

My Mamm that was outside had dropped its seeds into the pot and they already started to grow. I was able to get 10 or more that were laying on a big chunk of perlite. I guess I am going to leave the ones in the pot that are already growing since they look so good.

[Peterthecactusguy]

cool good luck with the seeds. I need to sow my seeds soon. I have some saguaro, E. engelmannii, Fero seeds cant remember which one lol, and some M. grahamii seeds that I have collected. Some are easy and some(like saguaro) are a pain in the you know where!

[PapaBearJay]

The post office here in Minneapolis, seems to have recieved my MG order today in the afternoon. I should be getting it tomorrow at work, and I will spend all day being excited to get home and plant some seeds, and yet I realize that I've done nothing to get ready for them, oh the procrastination begins!

[Cacti777]

Some pics of some seedlings that germinated recently, and a fruit full of seed.

These fell into the pot and germinated amongst the perlite, I hope they do well.



In this pic you can see the shriveled up fruit with a seed still attached to it and a seedling growing close to it.



and a fruit that was almost dry, full of seeds

[TimN]

The only Mamm that I've seen make empty fruit is M. huitzilopoctlii. It makes tons of fruit but no discernible seed. I got seed from MG a while ago and they were extremely tiny, but I'm pretty sure the fruit on my only plant are empty.

All the other Mamms make seedy fruit, if they make fruit.

Disclaimer: I only have ~75 species of Mamms so my comments should not be construed a universally correct.

L. williamsii is self-fertile but the fruit from the first few flowers on young plants is often empty. (In my experience)