FRAILEA below 20 degrees germination?

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LateBloomer
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FRAILEA below 20 degrees germination?

Post by LateBloomer »

I’m not sure if these FRAILEA require different temps compared to other cacti like ariocarpus and Astrophytum which germinate best in hot temps.

Do I sow them with night temps of 10c and day temps of 20c?

I have seeds of FRAILEA PERBELLA and FRAILEA asterioides but koehres has below 20c with seed description and know some cacti do require special treatment for germination
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Aiko
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Re: FRAILEA below 20 degrees germination?

Post by Aiko »

About 10C (maybe even lower) at night and 20-30C during the day should be fine. They germinate well enough for me with these temperatures. But I sown them without any light or additional heath in a greenhouse, so spikes during the day can be higher on some days and when it is still spring the nights can be rather close to freezing still too. But on average I have the same temperatures.

I have been told these seeds need to be fresh. Frailea asterioides from my own plants of seeds from last summer germinated fine for me.
LateBloomer
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Re: FRAILEA below 20 degrees germination?

Post by LateBloomer »

Yea I am not using any additional lights or heat so wasn’t sure if these temps were fine. We are in winter here but they are mild... if I see temps will go under 8 I’ll bring the pot in.

Thanks
LateBloomer
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Re: FRAILEA below 20 degrees germination?

Post by LateBloomer »

Have 5/20 seeds germinated from asterioides and zero from PERBELLA which will likely have zero since they arrived crushed and I only planted those white ‘embryos’ inside that looked whole which will likely only bring mold to the pot. Night temps have been 8-10c and day temps 14-18c

No picture due to poor quality

Edit: 10/20 asteroides seedlings but perbella seems to be growing cobweb mold. I’ll leave it another day alone and air out more often but will likely remove those seeds.

Pretty upset I decided to support a national seller and they send seeds in envelope with zero protection
LateBloomer
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Re: FRAILEA below 20 degrees germination?

Post by LateBloomer »

Little red... I put in a bit more shade but staying pretty much same place...
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LateBloomer
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Re: FRAILEA below 20 degrees germination?

Post by LateBloomer »

Are asteroides winter growers as adults? Btw got 16/20 germination and will likely have close to 100% since they were fresh seeds. I have a east facing patio and temps have been 18-22c in the day and 7-10c at night. I’ll have a 3 day cold snap next week which will get to a low of 2-3c but patio is protected so I’ll just leave everything as is.

PERBELLA Will likely have zero germination since they arrived crushed.

I might buy more frailea seeds next year depending on how life goes. I like miniature cacti :)

EDIT: a quick search shows they are summer growers... I asked due to sowing recommendation of under 20c

EDIT2: 18/20 germinated... I'm already keeping the baggy open however still in bag as it still provides some extra humidity. The garden soil does a pretty good job at retaining moisture due to its clay content. As I water I expect most if not ALL the soil to eventually drain out of the pot leaving behind only the granite chips. Hopefully I don't run into trouble with the clay clumping at the bottom but since I water until it runs out the bottom I doubt that will be an issue. Sunlight does still seem to be a bit too much for some seedlings however I will not be reducing it any further. Some seedlings that germinated in nooks between rocks are looking nice and green. They don't receive full sunlight so the very bright shade shouldn't burn them. If the seedling becomes brown I'll considering covering the seedlings with some more gravel around it to protect it
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jerrytheplater
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Re: FRAILEA below 20 degrees germination?

Post by jerrytheplater »

I grew F. castanea (asteroides) in a small planter and just let the seeds produce new plants on their own. I never covered the planter. I kept them watered all year long. Indoors in winter in a western facing window at work so heat didn't get much below 66F/19C.
rsz 2013-7-24 Frailea castanea Length wise.jpg
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Jerry Smith
Bloomingdale, NJ
45 inches (114 cm) rain equivalent per year, approx. evenly spread per month
2012 USDA Hardiness Zone 6b: -5F to OF (-20C to -18C) min.
LateBloomer
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Re: FRAILEA below 20 degrees germination?

Post by LateBloomer »

jerrytheplater wrote: Thu Jul 29, 2021 2:40 am I grew F. castanea (asteroides) in a small planter and just let the seeds produce new plants on their own. I never covered the planter. I kept them watered all year long. Indoors in winter in a western facing window at work so heat didn't get much below 66F/19C.

rsz 2013-7-24 Frailea castanea Length wise.jpg
Beautiful planter. I ended up having great germination rate sowing under 20c max daily temps but fresh seeds are best explanation. My seedlings have been stressed more than needed already outside of humidity baggy and getting “full morning sun”. Day temps are not going above 12c and night temps are going as low as 3c.

These seedlings seem quite hardy even at only a month old and have not had any deaths. My seedlings are completely purple from cold drought and sunlight stress however I can notice growth so it’s all good.

I have noticed that the roots don’t seem to grow as deep as Astrophytum, ariocarpus or lopho. I’ve “lost” some seedlings from a heavy watering where they moved and were buried.
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7george
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Re: FRAILEA below 20 degrees germination?

Post by 7george »

Growing seedlings outdoors brings lot of uncertainties so many growers in temperate climate prefer doing it indoors with fully controlled temperature, humidity and light with lights, wires, enclosures and so on. I usually spread some Frailea seeds over the soil of cacti pots but my home atmosphere is very dry, temps do not go low now and germination is pure. In addition seeds lose germination ability quite fast.
If your cacti mess in your job just forget about the job.
°C = (°F - 32)/1.8
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