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Re: Escobaria minima
Posted: Mon Mar 09, 2020 10:25 am
by Edwindwianto
Hi Keith
Have just found out your blog
Wow...All are amazing
Could you please tell me your substrate?
I see that it is composed of silica sands
EDWIN
Re: Escobaria minima
Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2020 12:29 am
by keith
Thanks, its my fun hobby so I can de-stress from my PITA job.
Lots of silica sand in seedlings I've tried a course mix but I don't like it as much for tiny seedlings. Dries out too fast.
Its pumice and sand and soil from a sandy location the mix varies around allot depending on where I source the soil. best luck was soil from outside Las Vegas and Anza Borrego dessert really good germination. Phoenix was pretty good too. Local soil is too much clay.
I add organic for succulent seeds but not much and shifted thoroughly. I add diatomaceous earth for pest control . Mojave desert cactus are impossible to grow so I don't bother anymore. Sonoran desert I add organic just a little.
Best thing is the pumice. I would rather use dark sand to germinate seeds but I use what I can get. I need to source lava sand somewhere.
Re: Escobaria minima
Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2020 1:40 am
by Edwindwianto
keith wrote: ↑Tue Mar 10, 2020 12:29 am
Thanks, its my fun hobby so I can de-stress from my PITA job.
Lots of silica sand in seedlings I've tried a course mix but I don't like it as much for tiny seedlings. Dries out too fast.
Its pumice and sand and soil from a sandy location the mix varies around allot depending on where I source the soil. best luck was soil from outside Las Vegas and Anza Borrego dessert really good germination. Phoenix was pretty good too. Mojave desert Its Ok not great pretty crappy actually. Local soil is too much clay.
I add organic for succulent seeds but not much and shifted thoroughly. I add diatomaceous earth for Chihuahuan desert cactus . Mojave desert cactus are impossible to grow so I don't bother anymore. Sonoran desert I add organic just a little.
Best thing is the pumice. I would rather use dark sand to germinate seeds but I use what I can get. I need to source lava sand somewhere.
Good morning Keith
Thanks for the detail infos
It broadens my knowledge
In indonesia, people uses mainly black lava rock as aubstrate and are widely available
They never literary advice anything else as substrate
Only here (this forum), i could see and learn many substrate
And good luck with your PITA
EDWIN
Re: Escobaria minima
Posted: Fri Mar 20, 2020 12:43 am
by keith
Epithelantha unguispina a bunch came up but then started rotting right away I was able to save these 3 by exposure to dry air. One of them looks good the other 2 so-so.
Copiapoa tenuissima pot looks ok so far.
Re: Escobaria minima
Posted: Sun Apr 05, 2020 7:06 pm
by keith
I decided to plant more of my own collection's produced seeds. Much better germination than the ones I bought . They like heat to germinate so I put the pots under the clear plastic basket cover and shade it with a piece of white paper towel when the suns out. Stuck at home so have more time to calibrate the germination method. Going to be raining now for a week so they will have to go back inside on a heating mat. They really germinate well under the plastic in the sun it gets nice and hot. Don't know how hot I should measure I guess about 90F and cools of at night to maybe 75F. No plastic baggies too much mold when I try that.
Re: Escobaria minima
Posted: Thu Apr 09, 2020 9:09 pm
by keith
Got the plastic dome over the heat mat because its raining out and too cold for seedlings to sprout.
My own harvested Astrophytum coahuilense and various seeds all just came right up , maybe 1-2 year old seed.
Various is M. candida, A retusa , E micromeris, all the little ones in the bigger Astrophytum pot. I don't know if its a good practice to mix cactus seeds like this but I do it with extra seed . Do it right on top of store bought seeds that don't germinate in case they decide to sprout months later.
Re: Escobaria minima
Posted: Sat Jun 27, 2020 3:50 pm
by keith
Lithops sown in 2016. Mixed species so IDK what most of them are ? I lose a few each time I water them so replaced the top of the soil with sand to try and dry them out faster after they get watered. It's this new mix I have made a few years ago not working too great so I modified it but lack the energy to transplant everything again. One plant in a pot easy but you try to get 6 in a pot its tough to do . Found out I cant water Lithops in Summer they rot only a light spray now.
Re: Escobaria minima
Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2020 6:12 pm
by keith
More tiny seedlings Epithelanthas and Escobarias. I grow them under a plastic dome now. More quartz sand less of the red Turface stuff and no rot so far.
And I rotted a few Mammillaria aureilanata which seem very rot prone... I think its the seed shell it needs to get out of there right away.
Re: Escobaria minima
Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2020 7:56 pm
by CactiJim
keith wrote: ↑Mon Mar 25, 2019 4:18 pm
Is that crushed red brick your using in your mix?" Yes I think so it's called Turface here and is used on baseball infields to keep it dry. I mix it with pumice. Smaller sized than most pumice so its better for seedlings.
"Turface is a high fired calcined clay that is one of the best additives for bonsai soil mixes or any other soil mix that requires moisture retention as well as great drainage. Due to its rock like consistency, Turface will provide small air pockets in your soil which promotes strong root growth and water drainage."
Do you wash your turface before you use it? I just got some from a store over in Ontario, CA, called Ewing’s Irrigation. I think I saw that they had one in Anaheim or Orange. Great stuff. Very small too, great for seedlings. I used 3/16 pumice once to sow some seeds but it proved too big.
Re: Escobaria minima
Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2020 1:30 am
by keith
I transplanted the Lithops after more died, added way more sand. Had good germination on my second try of cactus seeds 4 pots 8 species only the Echinocereus is slow to come up.
Do you wash your turface before you use it? " Yes I do especially for seeds .
Re: Escobaria minima
Posted: Tue Feb 16, 2021 7:11 pm
by keith
Mammillaria sanchez mejorade blooming 6 years old from seed.
Re: Escobaria minima
Posted: Sat Apr 24, 2021 8:53 pm
by keith
Crossed a Rebutia heliosa x rebutia heliosa condorensis last year and planted the seeds a month ago. Took longer than usual about 1 month for germination. Next picture a 2 year old pot of mixed Mexican species, Epithelantha gregii, Mammillaria herrerea, Turbinicarpus puesdopectinitus and Astrophytum coahuilense . All slow growers. Have another pot of seeds but its just starting to show life not worth a picture yet.
Astrophytum coahuilense are very rot prone in my experience. Expose to drier air after germination.
Re: Escobaria minima
Posted: Mon Apr 26, 2021 5:47 am
by 7george
Mexican cactus
Let me guess: 4 Epithelanthas, 3 Astrophytum myriostigma, 3 - Mammillaria humboldtii, Turb. valdezianus (pseudopectinatus)...
Re: Escobaria minima
Posted: Mon Apr 26, 2021 7:18 pm
by keith
Hi George very close
I wrote what they are at the top.
Re: Escobaria minima
Posted: Thu Jun 24, 2021 7:26 pm
by keith
Flowers . Not the easiest cactus to grow . Started out with a ~100 seedlings and have maybe half that now. They don't transplant well . I've cross pollinated them hope for seeds by next year.