MrXeric's seedlings 2021 (and beyond...)

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MrXeric
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Re: MrXeric's seedlings 2021

Post by MrXeric »

Hanazono wrote: Sun May 01, 2022 10:11 pm G'morning MrXeric,

I sowed seeds of T. valdezianus v albiflourus before and the germination rate was very good.
Seeds were harvested from my cacti.
I assume your seeds were too old.

My seedlings have reached to the flowering age.
T. valdezianus is a small cactus. They are in 5 cm square tubes.
Those are great looking plants, Frank. I certainly will try to sow these again.
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MrXeric
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Re: MrXeric's seedlings 2021

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It's been about 13 months since I sowed this next group. This was the most disappointing group because of all the seeds that refused to germinate.

Ariocarpus trigonus 'elongatus' [MG43]. I think these are getting overexposed to the light, so I have put them under some parchment paper (the kind bakers use) to help them go green again.
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Echinocereus fitchii ‘reichenbachii’ subs. bergmannii L 1061 Las Crucitas 100m, Zaragoza, Tamaulipas, Mexico [MG247.75]. I wasn't sure what to label this, since it seems there is some contention on whether "fitchii" is a good species or if it should be brought down to subspecies? The Lau number returns "E. reichenbachii fma." and E. fitchii subs. bergmannii doesn't show up much and isn't listed as a synonym in Lodé's index of taxa, so I went with Echinocereus reichenbachii subs. fitchii 'bergmannii'.
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Anyway, I noticed these guys have stayed somewhat wrinkly despite watering a week ago, and stayed sun-stressed despite being put under shade longer than that, so I pulled them out to see what was going on. Sure enough, all of them had root rot.
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I cut off the rotted end and left them to dry for a week. I don't have much hope for these since there isn't much stem left to root, but we'll see. I'm not so sure why they rotted, but they did get rained on a couple weeks ago when the weather was cooler, so I'm hoping it was that rather than overwatering by me! :lol:

Geohintonia mexicana. Slow, but at least not Aztekium slow. :D
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Gymnocalycium spegazzinii 'recii' JO 820 Quilmes, Tucuman, Argentina [MG489.75]. Mesa has kept the varietal name as 'Gymnocalycium spegazzinii var. recii'. These guys aren't in a hurry either, but they are coming along nicely.
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Mammillaria lasiacantha SB 1063 Hipolito, Coahuila, Mexico [MG725.1]. The seedlings, very feathery, almost like M. plumosa, are dwarfed (can you see all 4?) by the very obvious hitchhikers.
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The one in the back may be M. spinosissima? There's another, smaller seedling on the right that may be the same, but could be something else. Not sure what the other 2 mystery Mammillaria seedlings are, but one has two heads! :D Recent picture below, some time after I put them in their own pot and in probably too much sun.
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Sclerocactus mesae-verdae SB 1010 South-West of San Juan County, New Mexico, USA [MG1220.1]. The only two seedlings that germinated, joined by two P. knowltonii seedlings. I really like this cactus. Claimed to be difficult on it own roots so it will be a test for me to keep alive long enough for it to grow into its mature stem.
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Kadenicarpus pseudomacrochele subs. minimus FO 259 Santa Teresa Devoxtha, Ixmiquilpan, Hidalgo, Mexico [MG1288.8]. Mesa still has it under Turbinicarpus as 'Turbinicarpus pseudomacrochele subs. krainzianus var. minimus'. This one also leans to show thirst.
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I failed to keep the following alive (or on their own roots) up to this point:

Ariocarpus scaphirostris SB 829 Rayones, Nuevo Leon [MG39.3]. No germination :(

Copiapoa longistaminea KK 194 Cifuncho 200m [MG85.7124]. No germination :(

Copiapoa uhligiana KK 1398 Esmeraldana [MG85.95]. No germination :(

Lophophora diffusa [MG548]. No germination :(

Pyrrhocactus villicumensis DJF 362 La Laja, San Juan, Argentina [MG1187.82]. Yes germination :) but I killed them by overheating :(

Gymnocalycium mix, a free gift that came with the Geohintonia seeds. Only a couple germinated, but they soon damped off.
keith
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Re: MrXeric's seedlings 2021

Post by keith »

Nice looking seedlings . I never had great germination from Mesa seeds always kind of hit and miss compared to my own seeds. I ordered a bunch of Echinocereus seeds from Mesa a few years ago have a couple small plants to show for it. Popular cactus probably much better germination because of high turn over I don't know how long they let seeds store until they sell them ?

Except Echinocactus horizonthalonius my seeds have poor germination. And I do have many mature cactus grown from Mesa seeds so its not too bad.
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Re: MrXeric's seedlings 2021

Post by Hanazono »

G'morning keith,
Except Echinocactus horizonthalonius my seeds have poor germination.
Since the germination rate was poor, I tried some methods e.g. washing by acid, rubbing with sand etc. but all of them did not work well.
I found old seeds showed a reasnable germination rate.
If you could keep seeds in a fridge for more than 2 years, seeds will show a reasnable germination rate.

Frank
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Re: MrXeric's seedlings 2021

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It's been 13 months since I sowed the next group, all from ADBLPS.

Frailea atrobella VoS 08-322 east of Chochis 354m, Santa Cruz, Bolivia. Other than Kew, Llifle, and Volker Schädlich's website, there are no mentions of F. atrobella. Kew has it in synonymity with F. mammifera, but I found no other sources for this? I kept it labeled as F. atrobella. Anway, I believe "atrobella" roughly translates to "dark beauty"? Certainly an apt name. :)
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These were difficult to photograph while preserving their natural color, a very pretty, deep emerald green with violet blush. The above pictures were taken in natural light. This one below was taken inside a makeshift light box with a black backdrop. It looks almost black. :)
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If you noticed, there are remnants of flowers! These are the first of my sowing from 2021 to reach flowering size: the largest seedling is about 1/2in or 13mm in diameter. The buds started forming in March while inside my warm prop box (they were just shy of 1 year old!). The flowers never opened (fiercely cleistogamous I guess :lol: ) but they formed pods. Here they are, ready to harvest about a month and half from when the buds first started to be noticeable.
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I have plenty of seeds for the next generation, 10 to 25 seeds per pod.
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Gymnocalycium bruchii 'niveum' WR 727 Cordoba, Argentina. Of the 3 species of Gymnocalycium I've sowed, these are the fastest growing.
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Leuchtenbergia principis 'trachythele' [ADBLPS 6586].
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Mammillaria sanchez-mejoradae [ADBLPS 8821]. This is growing faster than I expected. I almost regret grafting 2 other seedlings. :wink:
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Aylostera pygmaea 'albidula' RH 1098 Yunchara 3700m, Tarija, Bolivia. Like the Frailea, I didn't find much on Rebutia albidula (what this is listed as), but both Kew and SuccSeed have it as a just another form of Rebutia pygmaea (now Aylostera). These really like strong light and didn't start growing denser spines until I put them in direct sun.
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Weingartia kargliana M 48 Cieneguillas, Tarija, Bolivia. Some seem to consider this a synonym of W. neumanniana? Lodé seems to think W. kargliana is a good species, but to make matters more confusing, ADBLPS has this listed annotated together with (=W. pygmaea), and Lodé has W. pygmaea as synonymous with W. neumanniana. :-k Not quite sure what the difference between W. kargliana and W. neumanniana is, other than geographic provenance (Bolivia for the former, and Argentina for the latter), but I decided to keep the kargliana on the label for now. Anyway, this seems to be another sun loving species and now that it takes it directly, it is growing rounder rather than taller. I unfortunately lost the two-headed seedling last summer. :(
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I failed to keep the following alive (or on their own roots) up to this point:

Epithelantha bokei SB 416 Brewster County, Texas, USA. Only 2 seeds germinated and I tried grafting both seedlings. Only one scion took.

Sulcorebutia heliosoides LH 1544 Tarabucillo, Chuquisaca, Bolivia. I kept failing to graft these and I eventually ran out of seedlings. :lol:
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Re: MrXeric's seedlings 2021

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This next (small) group of seedlings turned 1 year old a few days ago. I harvested these seeds myself.

Mammillaria bocasana. These came from a plant with cream colored flowers. I sowed two pots, but only kept the pot that germinated outdoors. They took a dry winter pretty well. I like the way the clump looks, but I should probably separate these. :lol:
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Mammillaria mystax. I also (over-)sowed two pots of these. I selected a few of the better looking seedlings. They're a bit stressed, but otherwise are taking the direct sun pretty well.
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Mammillaria hernandezii. Same story with these: I selected only a few of the better looking seedlings. I had these in direct sun too, but they complained (turned red and wrinkly), so I now keep them behind window screen.
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Re: MrXeric's seedlings 2021

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I am not sure if I made a mistake, but I woke up the cono seedlings.

Conophytum bilobum 'brevisectum' RR 1136
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Conophytum herreanthus subs. herreanthus(?) DH 637
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Conophytum mix [MG1474.3]. Seems to be various forms of C. pellucidum.
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Some time around March (I think) these sheathed over and stopped responding to water, so I kept them dry. On the first day of June I decided to lightly spray the pots, fearing the seedlings would dry out. Within a couple days some seedlings expanded and broke through their sheathes. I've watered them twice more since and more seedlings have woken up. The hottest days of the summer are yet to come, but I think maybe waking these up wasn't so bad? Maybe getting them plump before being blasted by the heat (as much as they will get inside a garage, anyway) will help them survive being kept dry until the fall?
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Re: MrXeric's seedlings 2021

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Conophytums seedlings ? IDK I guess I would let them grow but only light water maybe spray them. Mine are all dormant but some I can see green under the sheaths. Conophytums they seem to go dormant early and wake up early compared to other native Winter growers in S CA.

I'm also suspecting most lithops are winter growers and summer dormant in my collection. Argyroderma I also water like Summer dormant -Winter growers. Cheiridopsis planted in my yard defiantly summer dormant but in pots I think they grow when they get watered.

Dinteranthus ? not sure water when sheaths go away I guess.
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MrXeric
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Re: MrXeric's seedlings 2021

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keith wrote: Wed Jun 22, 2022 5:16 pm Conophytums seedlings ? IDK I guess I would let them grow but only light water maybe spray them. Mine are all dormant but some I can see green under the sheaths. Conophytums they seem to go dormant early and wake up early compared to other native Winter growers in S CA.

I'm also suspecting most lithops are winter growers and summer dormant in my collection. Argyroderma I also water like Summer dormant -Winter growers. Cheiridopsis planted in my yard defiantly summer dormant but in pots I think they grow when they get watered.

Dinteranthus ? not sure water when sheaths go away I guess.
Thanks keith, I'll monitor these seedlings and stop watering if they stop responding to it.

And yeah, my Lithops also go dormant in the summer. They take up water spring and fall.
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Re: MrXeric's seedlings 2021

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I have the same doubts, all my seedlings grow outside in an old aquarium tank with a shade cloth above it. I would imagine they get really hot while they're receiving sun. I've been sprinkling my haworthia and conophytum seedlings but I have worries of rot. At the same time I'm worried they'll dry out.
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Re: MrXeric's seedlings 2021

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Here's an update on these 1 year old seedlings, all but one species was harvested from my plants.

Mammillaria karwinskiana subs. nejapensis
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Parodia haselbergii, kept dry for the winter.
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Eriosyce villicumensis DJF 362 La Laja, San Juan, Argentina [MG1187.82], from Mesa Garden seed
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Frailea castanea 'asterioides'
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This next group was sown a month after the above seedlings, so they're not quite 1 year old yet.

Frailea castanea 'asterioides', much smaller than the above seedlings. Other than being sowed a month later, these had a 3 month dry winter, while the others were watered and kept warm.
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Parodia schlosseri, also kept dry for the winter. I'll need to thin these out soon!
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Around March I decided to cut off the taproots on some Astrophytum seedlings. These are A. asterias with roots intact:
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and with roots cut
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Here are the seedlings now. The pot on the left are the cut seedlings; they took about 2 months to root. On the right are seedlings with roots intact. These were actually kept dry over the winter and have since surpassed the cut seedlings (intact were smaller).
Astrophytum asterias
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these hybrids, Astrophytum hybrid (asterias x capricorne?) x A. asterias, received the same treatment: left cut, right intact and had dry winter rest.
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Re: MrXeric's seedlings 2021

Post by LateBloomer »

Your Frailea atrobella from older post flower at 13 months is very cool to see.
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MrXeric
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Re: MrXeric's seedlings 2021

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LateBloomer wrote: Fri Jul 08, 2022 1:06 pm Your Frailea atrobella from older post flower at 13 months is very cool to see.
And they haven't stopped! They are on their third flush of flowers right now.
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Re: MrXeric's seedlings 2021

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Here are the last of the seedlings i sowed in 2021, most being 1 year old, some a bit younger. Most were harvested by me from my plants.

These are 1 year old:
Astrophytum capricorne.
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Astrophytum myriostigma hybrid x A. capricorne. The myriostigma hybrid mother looks like a normal myriostigma but with spines.
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Drosera spatulata. I am glad these have been growing well because the mother plant didn't survive the winter! I think I kept it too dry :oops:
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Euphorbia aff meloformis. Not sure on the identity of the mother plant (which is self-fertile), but I really love this chubby little guy. Fast grower too; it's currently in a 3in./7.6cm pot and has reached the size of my 2 year old E. obesa seedling.
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Mammillaria bocasana 'roseiflora'.A bit bronzed from being in the sun all day.
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The parents. The small one didn't flower last year, so no seeds this year. It also aborted its flowers this year after a repot, so no seeds next year either. I'm not liking the sparse hairs and bloated appearance, so I probably won't be sowing anymore seeds from this pair anyway. :lol:
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Mammillaria candida 'caespitosa' "SB 326". I'm not sure if I should keep the field number on the label for these because the seed pods were already there when I bought the parent plant from Mesa Garden last year. It might be be safe to assume this was pollinated by other plants of the same field number at the nursery? Or perhaps even self-pollinated..
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Here is the parent, not yet caespitose.
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The next two are from seed from Mesa Garden.
Astrophytum capricorne var. crassispinum 'Taiho' [MG53.2]. After some research, I am not quite sure on the true identity of these, since 'Taiho' may refer to "Astrophytum taiho gyoku" (アストロフィツム大鳳玉), which is the Japanese name for the normal A. capricorne var. crassispinum, or 'Taiho' may refer to "Astrophytum suigyu taiho gyoku" (アストロフィツム水牛大鳳玉), which is a Japanese cultivar of crassispinum with much thicker spines with very distinct banding, reminiscent of the horns of the water buffalo, the cultivar's namesake. Since Mesa describes this as a Japanese cultivar, I am hoping for the latter. The seedlings here are 11 months old.
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In an any case, one of the seedlings is a lighter shade of green and is developing tuberculate ribs, so it'll be interesting to see what becomes of that.
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Tephrocactus alexanderi 'bruchii' Poman, La Rioja, Argentina [MG1250.27]. Sown at the same time as the Astrophytum 'Taiho', but germination didn't occur until several wet/dry cycles, so these are 9 months old. 4 of 10 seeds germinated, but 2 were albinos and died soon after.
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Not from Mesa, these are also 9 months old. Harvested from a plant I bought over the winter, but ended up killing after repotting while it was still winter. :oops: The seed pods were already formed, so these may be hybrids.
Mammillaria zeilmanniana.
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Re: MrXeric's seedlings 2021

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These Frailea atrobella have been quite prolific. This is the third flush of seed pods they have produced. I may need to consider sharing some seed next year :) .
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Here are some seedlings still in the bag:
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The Frailea cataphracta subsp. duchii are following along in the same steps, this being their second flush of fruit (no open blooms!), and the second of my 2021 sowing to reach flowering size.
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and seedlings from the first flush:
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