Escobaria minima etc.

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keith
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Escobaria minima etc.

Post by keith »

I didn't know this species had 100% germination rate on seeds? for some reason I thought it would be less. Looks like I planted a few too many !
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greenknight
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Re: Escobaria minima

Post by greenknight »

Oh, well - they're small. :D

Anyway, you won't know if you planted too many until you see how many survive. Looking good so far, but getting them to sprout is the easy part.
Spence :mrgreen:
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hoteidoc
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Re: Escobaria minima

Post by hoteidoc »

My thought, when I saw your pic (After having a few solitary plants in-ground, praying they'd survive another upstate Winter, & to hold me over until cold-hardy seedlings I started growing the last couple of years finally have gotten large enough to put out this year) -- you have an entire cactus bed just waiting to get big! :wink: This has become my whole strategy now -- forget the 5 yr wait for offsets, self-plants, etc., just grow a whole bed of them! :D. I am SO looking forward to this Summer & the new cold-hardy/boulder beds! As GK said, germination is the easy part -- but even recently I've had several batches of No Shows, so obviously 1 important step crossed!
Once bitten by the cactus collecting/growing bug, there is no known cure!
There's no 12 step programme for Cactaholics...so I shall just have to get some more!!
keith
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Re: Escobaria minima

Post by keith »

Yes how many will be left in 5 years when they start looking like real cactus ?? 10 years when I can sell the extras ??

Past experience would say about 15 ~20 plants out of hundreds but we will see.
keith
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Re: Escobaria minima

Post by keith »

Starting to dry them out I have removed the plastic covering. Its been 18 days I think all of the seeds have germinated. 100% it looks like I don't remember that many seeds !!

I will still water almost every day but only a piece of window screen will be over the pot this way I hope to prevent fungus growing and messing up my pot. They are inside the house now in a South facing window that gets maybe an hour of sunlight a day. Probably in a month or so I will put them outside with the other seedlings from last year.
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keith
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Re: Escobaria minima

Post by keith »

This is a little better seed sowing there is room around the seedlings. These are Mammillaria herrerea v. albiflora seed from my own plants. Looks like 100% germination yea!!

Also started April 1st and am starting to expose them to dryer air. I had another pot of Turbinicarpus but it went bad with a hairlike fungus so I threw it out. I have 2 more pots I sowed a week later and am just starting to see germination in the M. Plumosa pot. And another pot of Ariocarpus but no sprouts yet.

Next 3 months are the tricky months for tiny seedlings balancing water with dryness with shade and sunlight.
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LophoFan
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Re: Escobaria minima

Post by LophoFan »

What kind of a mix is that? It looks like aquarium gravel almost.
promethean_spark
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Re: Escobaria minima

Post by promethean_spark »

Escobaria minima doesn't grow all that fast, so you won't have issues with crowding for a year or two. If you had ferocacti coming up that close together you'd be potting up in a month!
keith
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Re: Escobaria minima

Post by keith »

Just the top is fine sand particles I shifted out from larger gravel found on the side of the road out in the Mojave. They do look kind of Aquarium up close.

My Ariocarpus are up and so is the second try of turbinicarpus alonsii which are very small and tricky to keep the wet dry balance of cactus seedlings. The fine gravel I'm using which you can see in the pictures is not fine enough for such small seeds I think.

Maybe I'll germinate some more stuff this weekend ..
keith
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Re: Escobaria minima

Post by keith »

Some recent cactus seed germination - lets see if I figure this out posting multiple pictures..
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Ariocarpus fissuratus, kotschebeyanaus, retusus
Ariocarpus fissuratus, kotschebeyanaus, retusus
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Turbinicarpus alonsii
Turbinicarpus alonsii
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Escobaria minima getting spines now
Escobaria minima getting spines now
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Mammillaria herrerea v. albiflora
Mammillaria herrerea v. albiflora
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Echinocereus rigidimuss 1 year old
Echinocereus rigidimuss 1 year old
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keith
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Re: Escobaria minima

Post by keith »

The set-up Outside in California. They all stay in here for many years until I add them to my larger cactus collection. 70% shade cloth plus they are under a Ginko tree.

:D
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keith
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Re: Escobaria minima

Post by keith »

Finally germination on Echinocactus horizonthalonius and some other stuff mostly epithelanthas. This time I used sandpaper on the seed coat of the Echinocactus.

I think I have some echinocereus in there too? I guess I'll find out in a few years. I usually get poor germination on the Echinocactus so I mix other stuff in there so I don't waste space.

The big chubby ones are the Echinocactus
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adetheproducer
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Re: Escobaria minima

Post by adetheproducer »

Thats some set up you got there, propper seedling factory.
And as the walls come down and as I look in your eyes
My fear begins to fade recalling all of the times
I have died and will die.
It's all right.
I dont mind
I dont mind.
I DONT MIND
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CactusFanDan
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Re: Escobaria minima

Post by CactusFanDan »

Are you sure the big chubby ones aren't the Echinocactus? :P
-Dan
Happy growing!

There is always one more glochid. Somewhere.
My C&S blog
keith
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Re: Escobaria minima

Post by keith »

Echinocactus horizonthalonius


Thanks Dan
Last edited by keith on Sun Feb 06, 2022 3:03 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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