Ancientforest's seeds

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Ancientforest
Posts: 68
Joined: Sat Jan 31, 2015 6:19 pm
Location: Long Island, NY(Zone 7a)

Ancientforest's seeds

Post by Ancientforest »

Just receieved the order I got from cactusstore 25 random species. Here's what I got(Some of their names are dated)

Carnegia gigantea
Cereus peruviantus monstrosus
Cleistocactus smaragdiflorus
Echinocactus grusonii
Echinocereus coccineus
Echinocereus enneacanthus brevispinus
Echinocereus stramineus
Echinopsis ancistrophora kratochviliana
Echinopsis melanopotamica
Gymnocalycium castellanosii
Gymnocalcyium oenanthemum
Gymnocaclycium occultum
Gymnocaclycium rhodoanthemum
Gymnocalycium saglionis minus
Lobivia grandiflora
Mammillaria armillata
Mammillaria pacifica
Melocactus concinus
Melocactus conoideus
Myrtillocactus geometrizans
Opuntia engelmannii
Opuntia microdasys albaspina
Parodia malyana
Trichocereus lamprochlorus
Trichocereus thelegonus

I'll be using the baggie method, most of these are pretty diverse in care, and I've only sewn cactus seed once as a kid project. I'll probably only do a couple species at a time. Suggestions welcome, I'm still a novice
Last edited by Ancientforest on Mon Jan 25, 2016 2:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.
iann
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Joined: Mon Jul 24, 2006 11:10 pm
Location: England

Re: seed starting project

Post by iann »

Nothing too difficult or complicated in there. They'll be very different when they grow up but you can start them all the same way. Get the soil and temperature right, stick them in their bags, and leave them there for a few months. The Opuntias might be the hardest to germinate.
--ian
george76904
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Joined: Thu Jan 15, 2015 2:01 am
Location: Americus GA

Re: seed starting project

Post by george76904 »

I agree the opuntia can be kind of a pain, however my first try with opuntia started about 2 months ago. I have some very happy small seedlings, and some coming up nearly every day. I got over an 80% germ. Rate after a 24 hour soak in some GA3. It is very interesting stuff, it does not seed to make the seeds germinate much faster than normal but it appears to give a much higher germ rate as well as accelerating the growth rate of the seedlings. The cereus peruviantus monstrose is pretty cool. I have never ordered a seed mix from cactusstore, but I have done several seed and plant orders. Great people, and a nice selection. If you would like to try the GA3 method shoot me a pm and I could mail you a little of you would like.
Good luck,
Will
Ancientforest
Posts: 68
Joined: Sat Jan 31, 2015 6:19 pm
Location: Long Island, NY(Zone 7a)

Re: seed starting project

Post by Ancientforest »

Thanks for the advice guys, I have sown 8 species so far(and dropped a pot). I should have pictures of the set up tonight.
Ancientforest
Posts: 68
Joined: Sat Jan 31, 2015 6:19 pm
Location: Long Island, NY(Zone 7a)

Re: seed starting project

Post by Ancientforest »

sorry guys busy week, I hope to have them up by this weekend, but in the meantime The pot of Carnegia gigantea has already sprouted. and I'll sow some more later. I've only been doing 5-7 seed per 2" pot.
KittieKAT
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Re: seed starting project

Post by KittieKAT »

GA3 ...what is that stuff george76904? I'm interested on what it is and used for sounds really cool.
Ancient forest, i wish u luck and a great growing season can't wait to see some pictures of what you got going on! Goodluck
Ancientforest
Posts: 68
Joined: Sat Jan 31, 2015 6:19 pm
Location: Long Island, NY(Zone 7a)

Re: seed starting project

Post by Ancientforest »

@KittieKAT thanks!

Finally have a few pictures, nothing really exicting just my setup and seeds

Image

I'm using a cardboard box lined with newspaper and a spare dual T5 fixture I have for light. I'd like to get my 55 gallon tank out of storage and use it as a propagator, but alas.

Image

I sowed a bunch more seeds today, and you can see where I dropped the one bag up at the top. The Plants seem to have good moisture retention, and the box gets pretty warm, I have a heat mat, but I don't really need to use it.

Image

If you look closely, past the glare, the Carngegia has sprouted( reddish dots). I see one or two more sprouts in other pots, but they're almost too small to see let alone get a clear picture. My main concern is toning down the lighting a bit, but I'm pretty happy with the results so far.
george76904
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Location: Americus GA

Re: seed starting project

Post by george76904 »

If the seedlings start turning red it could be a sign that they are getting a little too much light. As long as they are not dead yet they will probably be fine with moving them just a little farther away or putting some shade cloth over the bag.
george76904
Posts: 487
Joined: Thu Jan 15, 2015 2:01 am
Location: Americus GA

Re: seed starting project

Post by george76904 »

KittieKAT wrote:GA3 ...what is that stuff george76904? I'm interested on what it is and used for sounds really cool.
Ancient forest, i wish u luck and a great growing season can't wait to see some pictures of what you got going on! Goodluck
GA# or gibberellic acid is a natural growth stimulant. It can be used to break dormancy in plants, or increase germination rates. for example I counted my opuntia seedlings today and GA3 soaked ones had exactly an 80% germination rate (I now have 60ish opuntia seedlings :D ) and the non soaked ones had far fewer (I didn't count them but less than a 25% germ. rate) when I get a chance I will try to post a picture because it is really quite the contrast. I have known people who use it on plants, but I decided I did not like too because I attempted it on one of my little coffee trees that I didn't think was going to make it. Since I applied it, the tree has grown 3 inches in a month (doubling its height) but its pretty weak growth. So I probably wont use it again. Or at least not in such a high concentration. but its interesting stuff I bought some fairly cheap from a guy on ebay, I have decided its awesome for increasing germination rates. Oh and the seedlings it produces grow much faster than those that have not been soaked. I've decided I love it!
Will
Ancientforest
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Joined: Sat Jan 31, 2015 6:19 pm
Location: Long Island, NY(Zone 7a)

Re: seed starting project

Post by Ancientforest »

My phone broke, and I don't have a camera, so unfortunately no pictures this week. But most of the seeds have germinated. I was able to move the light about 16" away from the top of the seedlings, and they are now a healthy green, also I started using a heat mat set to 85 F, due to the light being much further away. I think i'm pretty much done with cacti seeds for now, I do have some Ocotillo, creosote bush, argan,and jojoba seeds I'm going to try. i'll post pictures as soon as i'm able
george76904
Posts: 487
Joined: Thu Jan 15, 2015 2:01 am
Location: Americus GA

Re: seed starting project

Post by george76904 »

Here are the photos of the chart I promised. Sorry it took a while.
Thanks,
Will
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KittieKAT
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Joined: Fri Jun 20, 2014 6:49 pm

Re: seed starting project

Post by KittieKAT »

Awww, ancientforrest, don't worry we'll be patiently waiting for your camera to be fixed!!

George76904, that's pretty cool i must try this stuff wonder if it'll give some good Germination on my carnivorous plant seeds...hmmm wortha try on a few, their germination rate seems to fall as weeks ppass without planting so this would be deff worth a try on a few of the non rare species i have to sow then maybe if i like the result I'll try it on the rare ones, at the moment frost has pretty much killed more then half my carnivorous plant collection and pretty much all my cacti/succulents...grrrr sooo I'm interested in anything that will help get the seeds going in spring/summer for me and the kids in my nonprofit growing program, i gatta look this stuff up on eBay, any idea what u paid for it ? Or who sold it? Pm me. Since i may wanna try a few experiments of my own id prob better buy one myself instead of asking to mooch off yours hahahaa!
HP22B
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Re: seed starting project

Post by HP22B »

I've used GA3 from time to time but I don't like its effects on young plants; as you mentioned there is fast growth but it is often weak and too skinny for comfort. I like to soak some hard-to-germinate seeds in GA3 solution every now and then but the difference for me hasn't been drastic yet.
Ancientforest
Posts: 68
Joined: Sat Jan 31, 2015 6:19 pm
Location: Long Island, NY(Zone 7a)

Re: seed starting project

Post by Ancientforest »

wow, it's been a while. after the long waiting game, I ended up with seedlings from 7 species. I made some mistakes along the way, but I am sowing new batches of seed. Some important things I observed.

1) make sure the soil mixture is thoroughly moist before you put it into the bag. I opened bags up in May, that had were almost bone dry, which obviously means that no moisture no germination. This leads me two my second observation.

2) Don't give up on seed, especially in this scenario. Had I re-saturated the mixture and put them back, I probably would have ended up with a much better germination rate.

3) Make sure the lighting is correct. I had instances of seedlings turning red on one side of the makeshift propagator and on the other side, they were stretching across the substrate. Make sure you avoid overlapping too many of the baggies- it can block a surprising about of light.

4) Don;t put them into sunlight too soon- I had a decent amount of loss after I put them outside. I did acclimate them in full shade for a few weeks, but even at a couple hours a day, a good many simply desiccated.

5) Sterilizing the soil is a must, I don't think I had a single cacti seedling pot rot, whereas other plants I grew without sterilized soil had almost a 50% damp-off rate.

I'll upload some pics of the survivors in a bit- I moved them indoors in September, and they are now under T-8 instead of T-5 lighting. Some have turned a healthy shade of green again, but most are still red and recovering.
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7george
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Re: seed starting project

Post by 7george »

iann wrote:Nothing too difficult or complicated in there. They'll be very different when they grow up but you can start them all the same way. Get the soil and temperature right, stick them in their bags, and leave them there for a few months. The Opuntias might be the hardest to germinate.
6) Don't leave seedlings unattended for a long time. Rather check them every day and try to fix what seems to be wrong. 8)
If your cacti mess in your job just forget about the job.
°C = (°F - 32)/1.8
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