This morning I found my little Astrophytum leaning over. It's approx. 6 months old, still in his small seedling tray (approx. 1" x 1" space).
I haven't been applying any extra heat and at night the temp can drop to ~50 degree F. I live in Northern California on the coast, so daytime temps reach 65 degrees outside and 75 degrees in his space (my mudroom with a lot of ambient light).
I've propped him up standing again with rocks. I am wondering if cold and wetness made him keel over. He really was growing so big compared to the other 2 astrophytum seedlings I had. Maybe his big head made him top heavy?
Well Dave the temps seem fine, fresh air never hurts, but consider moving to a larger container.. if its fallen and hasnt turned brownish/yellow it might just be its own weight.. Lets consider your soils,, are they well drained? and do you let it dry out fully before watering again?, and whats the humidity in its growing place? Can you post an image?
I am growing seedlings of the same plant right now. (I haven't told anybody yet because I'm convinced they're all going to die soon and I thought I'd save myself the embarassment.) I noticed some of them toppling over. Probably 20% or so. As I look at them, I think it must be that they weigh so little that when the roots try to work down through the soil and encounter an obsticle that it actually pushes the plant up and over.
I could be all washed up, but that is what it looks like to me.
I have grown Astrophytum's in the past from seed and the only thing I can think of is that they are being drawn towards the light. Seedlings have even more of a tendency to do this than larger plants. If the light is only coming from one direction, turn the plants every other day.
i am not saying this is your problem, but it is a possibility.
Wow, I really like the ideas coming out. It is a weird species because it is top heavy and I'm the roots are minimal.
I transplanted it and so far so good. I'll try to get a photo up real soon.
The soil is a sand, perlite, potting soil and volcanic pumice-stuff mix. So I'm sure there are some "obstacles" in there. Humidity shouldn't be a problem I presume. The mudroom has in and out traffic most of the day.
I'll try to the rotating trick as well. I'm thinking I'm going to start using a heating mat at night to help root growth. Does that sound sound?
You made a good point when you said that Astrophytums particularly myriostigma are quite a heavy plant. They have a thin neck where the plant goes into the soil and a heavy head (a bit like me come to think of it). The fact that they may be top heavy could be part of your problem. Also once the two seed leaves have died off some plants are a little further out of the compost than they need to be. But more seedlings are lost at the transplanting stage than for any other reason so please be careful. Seedlings do not like to be moved too quickly and seem to enjoy the company of the others plants close to them in the compost.
Your heating mat is a big plus for anyone who can afford one, or has the electric power (in greenhouses). They used to be extremely expensive, but have come down in recent years. With a heating mat, the whole 'ball game' changes regarding when you can sow your seed and how successful you will be and the root growth of your seedlings will be much better. If it is good enough for professional growers, it has got to be an advantage. That is not to say that many people are very successful at seed growing without any artificial assistance.
derf4three wrote:The soil is a sand, perlite, potting soil and volcanic pumice-stuff mix. So I'm sure there are some "obstacles" in there.
Again, I'm not one to talk on growing from seed. From the people I've talked to that are good at it, they tell me that they sift the soil medium so that it consists of fine particles that are smaller than the seedlings. I believe this eliminates gaps or air pockets that will quickly cause the seedling to dry out as well as provide more support for the tiny plants.
As far as growing from seed, allot depends on what your growing and of course the conditions your growing at. Most cactus seed are in pods (if not all) and what daiv said is correct.. think about it for a second... if you use a soil mix for a type of cacti that has partical mix of lets say 1/32" or 1/16th when its a growing spec. then it should stand to reason when you have a super small seedling thats 1/100th of the size the mix should be small in grain size to account for the size of the plant.. That Dosent Mean that you still dont have to have drainage/light/humis/...ect...ect...ect..
It responce to the topping over issue and reading what your mix is, you might want to change it a small amount, omit the perlite and replace it with small rocks to add weight, that wont stop the plant from being top heavy.. but it will help from falling over container and all!.. , One of the things we do here is add weight to the bottom of the containers so our stock wont keep falling over.. (mostly colums)
, One of the things we do here is add weight to the bottom of the containers so our stock wont keep falling over.. (mostly colums)