Well I have decided to add another Opuntia to my collection that is not readily available. After hours of searching I did find some seeds.
I've read so many variables for propagating cactus seeds it's unbelieveable
If anyone has some good advice, experience or whatever please let me know as this is an area I'm not familar with.
Oh, this thread and questions to proceed are John's fault for posting July's Cactus of the month
I just asked a similar question for San Pedro, but I grow a lot of Opuntia by seed. I find in North Carolina, the ones that will grow here need to tolerate some degree of frost, and that's how I select my plants. I start my seeds in sterilized peat moss(400 degrees for 15 minutes) for the first few months. I use peat because it can holds a lot of water, and you don't want your seedlings drying out. I grow them in a sealed bag for the first month. Once they start to sprout, I remove the bag, and water them at regular intervals. I water with a low grade dilutable fertilizer and a very minute amount of rubbing alcohol(this is very important that it's not too much). Just enough to kill certain bacteria, but not harm your plants. Once they get a year old, I transfer the cactus into regular cactus soil and water them every 3 weeks or so. Hope this helps. P.S. Do not keep your seedlings in direct sunlight.
Thanks for the advice. Just want to get my seeds off to a good start. I've read so many varations and styles of propagating it's unbelieveable. I ordered a 100 pack to allow for this being my first try a propagating.
I find in North Carolina, the ones that will grow here need to tolerate some degree of frost, and that's how I select my plants.
Know what ya mean. My opuntia and cylindropuntia are all hardy as we get cold winters in Kansas.
Last month for our monthly local cactus club meeting our event/learning discussion and hands on experience was planting cactus and succulent seeds. Our club is blessed with intelligent professionals in the field, and they shared their wisdom and methods with us. One of our members is a college horticulture proffessor at a local university, and another is an owner of a large succulent/cacti nursery. They teamed up to demonstrate how to do the following.
We used a soiless based mix made of coir, which is finely ground coconut hulls, perlite, and pumus. We filled small plastic pots with the mix, and gently spread the seeds on top of the soil. There were two methods demonstrated for topping the seeds. One was with what's called chicken grit, available at farm type stores. It's a fine ground light weight rock, that changes color when it's wet, which helps you monitor moisture. Sprinkle it very gently over the soil mix until it totally covers the mix. The other method was to sprinkle more of the potting mix over the seeds, using your fingers to sort of grind it almost to dust, very fine particles and gently cover the seeds.
We did pachypodiums, Leuchtenbergia principis, ariocarpus and one other succulent that I can't recall at the moment. I have many babies now after three weeks. I kept them outside, on a plant shelf that is shaded until very late in the evenings, and just used a water misting bottle to keep them damp. I checked the moisture levels three times per day, morning, noon, and supper time. The chicken grit made that part very easy, and also just picking up the pots I began to tell by weight of the pot if it needed to be watered, or was moist. The only thing at this time that hasn't sprouted was the pachys, and I don't think that's due to an incorrect potting method, I think the seeds were beyond viability.
So, yeah, there are different methods of achieving the same goal. Experiment, see what works for you and what doesn't. Prior to this experience I just used my normal cactus potting soil to plant seeds in, although I did realize I need to screen out large pieces of material in the soil so the seedlings didn't have to push against something to heavy which might prevent them from rising from the soil. Seedlings are tender tho, and I'm sold on this new method, as it's very easy for the roots to get down into the mix versus just my normal potting soil.
Two years ago, I'd have never attempted to try ariocarpus from seeds...but I did and had great luck. Out of ten seeds I used, I have seven ariocarpus seedlings now, and I'm anxious to try other cactus, agaves, and yuccas with this method. This weekend I'm going to pot up some Yucca brefifolia seeds from Mesa Gardens.
Almost forgot, we used the plastic pots because they do not dry out as fast as terra cotta.
Thanks JuanKilo, great info. I'll definitely give it a try. I was just a little confused and worried since I've never tried propagating before but with info like yours I'm sure I can get a few to grow.
ebaycactus wrote: Once they get a year old, I transfer the cactus into regular cactus soil and water them every 3 weeks or so.
I have sown some seeds in the end of May and the seedlings will be around 6 months old when winter comes. I have them outside now (no direct sunlight) and they seem to be growing well. My doubt is what should I do with them in the winter. Should I bring them inside and use artificial light to keep them growing through the winter? Or should I give them a resting period like adult plants?
It is common practice to keep seedlings growing in their first year if at all possible. They just need to be kept at a moderate temperature (60f-65f) with as good a light as you can provide, a south facing window is adequate, but if you are likely to have cold nights bring them into the room before closing the curtains or blinds, otherwise they will be trapped in a cold area, which they will not like.
Normal house lights are virtually useless for the growth of plants anyway and I think the light they get during the day from the window will be all they need.
They will not need the amount of water that they get in summer, but a light spray on a warm day would be beneficial.
Hope this helps,
PS: I am not really acquainted with Portuguese names, are you male or female? (or is it none of my business).
Thanks for the tips, John!
As for Portuguese names, as a general rule, names ending with an "A" are for girls and names ending with an "O" are for boys. Some names don't end with a vowel, like Manuel, Emanuel, Miguel, Rui for boys, or Isabel for girls. These may be a little tricky, but that's not my case.
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