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Re: seed starting project
Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2015 2:19 am
by Ancientforest
community shot- the individual cacti in the following pictures were watered moments before
Cleistocactus smaragdiflorus
Carnegia gigantea
Echinocactus grusonii
Echinopsis thelegona
Re: seed starting project
Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2015 2:42 am
by Ancientforest
Echinocereus coccineus
Echinocereus enneacanthus v. brevispinus
Gymnocalycium stellatum v. occultum( hanging on by a thread-top center)
Re: seed starting project
Posted: Fri Nov 20, 2015 3:44 am
by Ancientforest
Hello again
I sowed batches of seed starting last Saturday. Of the single species we have:
Cylindropuntia spinosior
Echinopsis huascha
Gymnocalycium hossei
Gymnocalycium saglionis
Gymnocalycium stellatum v. occultum
Mammillaria armillata
Mammillaria pacifica
Parodia microsperma
Opuntia microdasys v alba
Next, I sowed single genus seed mixes.
Astrophytum, Cleistocactus,Echinocactus,Echinocereus,Echinopsis,Ferocactus, Lobivia,Mammillaria,Notocactus/Parodia and Rebutia
For the non-cactus
Agave mix
Aloe mix
Fouquieria diguetii
Fouquieria macdougalii
Fouquieria splendens
I will upload more by the weekend, but for now- some teaser pics
Fouqueiria macdougalii
Gymnocalycium hossei
Astrophytum mix
Re: seed starting project
Posted: Thu Dec 03, 2015 5:23 pm
by Ancientforest
First a summary of germination:
Astrophytums were the quickest by far, I saw radicle emergence in two days.
Fouiqueria were also up in 2-3 days except for splendens which still haven't emerged.
Mammillaria echinopsis and echinocereus were all up within a week, as were the gymnocalycium.
Echinocactus, cleistocactus, trichocereus were mostly up by day 10.I'm still getting a couple stragglers. One of the Cholla seeds germinated, but I'm expecting them to take a long time
I've got lobivia, notocactus and rebutia waiting in the wings.
I wasnt happy with the pictures too much glare and condensation to see anything but I did take some more good ones. Stay tuned
Re: seed starting project
Posted: Sun Dec 06, 2015 7:25 pm
by Ancientforest
The glare is real. Still I tried, but it was a compromise between not being able to see the seedlings and not being able to see the seedlings. Clockwise from top left:
mammillaria pacifica, echinocactus grusonii, echinocactus mix, echinocereus coccineus
Mammillaria mix, gymnocalycium stellatum occultum, melocactus conoideus , mammillaria mix
Rebutia mix, Parodia/notocactus mix, Opuntia mix, lobivia/echinopsis mix
Echinopsis ancistrophora, echinopsis lamprochlora, echinposis huascha, gymnocalycium hybopleurum
All cacti mix(I'm wagering mostly Barrels, Saguaros, Hedgehogs, etc, but there might be a hidden gem in there who knows)
Re: seed starting project
Posted: Wed Dec 09, 2015 7:55 pm
by iann
I also find Astrophytums to germinate very fast, although I've had some hybrids that took weeks.
Re: seed starting project
Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2015 1:19 am
by Ancientforest
Thanks for the input iann, these Astros are species only, but I would love to try the hybrids like Superkabuto, although I hear non-grafted Asterias are tough to keep alive after a few years. I fell in love with an Astrophytum (Coahuilense?) I saw near in a botanical garden greenhouse by me, so I wanted to try my hand putting both my cultivation and identification skills to the test.
Just placed an order with Mesagarden today. Mostly echinocereus ,but also some Ariocarpus and Turbinocarpus and a few other odds and ends. probably about 35 species total. I will post some pictures in the near future of the non-cacti I germinated . Most of which are fairly close to coming out of their bags.
Re: seed starting project
Posted: Sun Jan 03, 2016 8:44 pm
by Ancientforest
Well most of the non-cacti are out of the bags, except for the aloes which seem to be chugging along. I really haven't check on the cacti all that much, but they have really bulked up. Every time I check, I find a new Opuntia seedling. I also did start some Copiapoa and Ariocarpus, but they're too small for a clear picture. In the meantime, I present the following
Re: seed starting project
Posted: Sun Jan 03, 2016 9:10 pm
by Ancientforest
The non-cacti From Left to right column:
Fouqueiria diguetti and macdougalii, mixed Agave seed(poor germination-old seed), and adenium" Maroon Star', andAdenium Arabicum "Rachinee'
On to the cacti: From Top left clockwise:
Lobivia, Rebutia, Notocactus, and Opuntia mixes
Echinocactus grusonii, Mammillaria mix, Melocactus concinnus, Echinocereus coccineus
All cacti mix( Note opuntia in top right)
Top left clockwise: Cleistocactus, Ferocactus, Echinocereus, and Echinocactus mixes
Re: Ancientforest's seeds
Posted: Mon Jan 25, 2016 2:27 pm
by Ancientforest
I sowed my latest batch of seeds from mesagarden yesterday and last sunday.
these include
echinocereus enneacanthus, reichenbachii, coccineus and grands
Copiapoa cinera, atacamensis, and bridgesii
I've found that echinocereus pretty much germinates regularly in 7-14 days, with maybe one or two stragglers.
Copiapoa has the lowest germ rate of any of the cactus I have grown so far. Out of 10 seeds I have 2-3 of atacamensis and cinema but none of bridgesii. They also seem to be fairly quick at germinating 7-10 days
I'm still getting opuntia seeds germinating 2 months after they were sown which seems to be the norm
Re: Ancientforest's seeds
Posted: Tue Jan 26, 2016 1:56 am
by Ancientforest
Full germination report:
sown week of november 15"
Astyrophytum sp mix 28/30
Cylindropuntia spinosior 2/15
Echinocactus grusonii 12/15
Echinocactus sp mix 21/30
Echinocereus coccineus 24/30
Echinopsis ancistrophora 15/20
Echinopsis thelongona 2/15
Lobivia grandiflora var minuta 19/30
Lobivia sp mix 33/40
Gymnocalycium hossei 9/20
Gymnocalycium saglionis 17/30
Gymnocalycium stellatum v. occultum 4/20
Mammillaria mix 31/50
Melocactus conoideus 10/15
Notocactus sp. mix 11/30
Opuntia microdasys 7/20
Opuntia sp mix 4/15
Rebutia sp mix 14/30
Trichocereus lamprochlorus 9/20
Re: Ancientforest's seeds
Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2016 9:32 pm
by iann
Not a single no-show. That's pretty good going. I almost always find some pot or other ends up empty.
Re: Ancientforest's seeds
Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2016 10:33 pm
by Wilk
Just over 57%. I aim for 60% so that's pretty good. Now you've just got to keep them alive.
Re: Ancientforest's seeds
Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2016 2:31 pm
by Ancientforest
Thanks for the input guys
Iann- I agree I really can't complain with the germination. Compared to last year. I probably have almost twice as many seedlings. Last season I had seven pots out of the 25 that were complete duds
Wilk- keeping them alive definitely is tricky part. I only have 6 pots from last year with cacti in them. I've been following your thread closely btw. Beautiful cacti
With a day off finally this weekend I hope to have some pictures of the latest stuff, and some one year anniversary shots of last year's cacti
Re: Ancientforest's seeds
Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2016 11:45 pm
by Wilk
AF - What's your mix? It looks fairly organic in nature which is fine for germination but I think that it may not be so good for growing on. The very first batch I did had a bit too much sand and organic matter in it and they have not grown as well as later sowings. Keep going . You'll get there.
I am looking forward to this year. My 3 year olds will be getting quite big. I am glad I decided to go for it big style from the outset rather than just sowing a few pots, even though I could have lost them all if things went badly.