Echinocereus rubispinus SEEDS!

All about seed grown plants. How-to information, progress reports, show of your results.
derf4three
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Echinocereus rubispinus SEEDS!

Post by derf4three »

I call upon the community not in despair of a keeling over Bishop's Hat, nor rotting opuntia, but instead with 2 fruits from from my Echinocereus rubispinus (Texas, I believe) filled with seeds.
:o

I'd like to know if anyone has any advice as best to propagate said seeds. One fruit has opened (either an insect opened it or it was burst open) and the other is still contained within its flesh.

Any help? ie. do I need to heat them, dry them, scar them, etc???

Thanks again!

PS, I will try to get an image in shortly
daiv
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Post by daiv »

Congrats on the new seed collection. I would offer you some help, but I struggle with growing from seed. I think turtleman or Buck are going to be the guys to consult on this one. Although, John and Bill have been known to grow from seed successfully I know. :-k

Or perhaps there is some silent member who will jump in on this post with great seed planting advice! :P
All Cacti are succulents, but not all succulents are Cacti
templegatejohn
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Post by templegatejohn »

Hi,

There are many posts on the forum regarding seed growing and I am sure these will be of help to you.

Regarding your specific question of scarifying (nicking the shell with a knife), heating, drying etc. The seeds must be separated from the flesh of the fruit otherwise they will rot. Some of the major seed suppliers do this by putting the fruits in a blender, yes a blender. The pulp is then liquidised and the seeds sink to the bottom where they can be strained off. In your case a little patience is all that is required. Leave the seeds on some newspaper to dry and then sow them as quickly as possible.

Nothing will germinate faster than fresh seed, although cactus seed in general keep quite well for several years and are still viable after that time.

As I say the actually sowing of the seed is well documented throughout the Forum, but particularly in the Growing Help section.

John
Buck Hemenway
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Post by Buck Hemenway »

Just to add to John's note about the blender. Fill the blender jar with water, 1/2 to 2/3 full, put the fruit in then pulse the blender until everything is small pieces and floating. The seeds that are viable will sink to the bottom of the jar and everything else will float. Pour it all out and get the viable seeds on to a paper towel and dry as soon as possible.

There are as many ways to go about sewing them as there are growers. The main themes that seem to be constant are:

1. Heat. Cactus seeds in particular need soil temperature of at least 80 deg F, constant.
2. Moisture. In a zip lock bag, a pot covered with saran, a pot in a zip lock bag, any way to keep the soil and seeds moist.
3. If you're using a sealed up environment, As soon as most of the seeds have popped, unseal it. You are inviting a lot of unwanted other forms of life to grow.
4. Light Every grower has a different opinion. Full light to full dark, probably, shaded sun is the best.

Buck
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Mike
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Post by Mike »

Buck Hemenway wrote: 1. Heat. Cactus seeds in particular need soil temperature of at least 80 deg F, constant.
Buck
Thanks for the tips, since we have been unsuccessful so far, these should help.

Re the heat, any suggestions as to how for those of us without any special equipment. I am not sure it stays 80 her in LA at nite very oftern.

Mike
templegatejohn
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Post by templegatejohn »

Hi there,

Regarding the heat for seed[lings], no good for us in England because in the main we do not have them, but they say the top of a free-standing fridge/ice box is just the right temperature to germinate cactus seeds. Perhaps someone who has one could take a temperature reading for us?

John
daiv
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Post by daiv »

I know some people use heating pads below and others use heating lamps above. I think you have to be cautious not to get them too hot, however.

:arrow: I wonder what toasted cactus seed tastes like? :-k
All Cacti are succulents, but not all succulents are Cacti
Buck Hemenway
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Post by Buck Hemenway »

Re:Heat - Try your local pet store. I understand that they sell a heating pad for turtles/tortises. It is supposed to be just right for this purpose and is designed to take watering.

Buck
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Mike
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Post by Mike »

Thanks for the idea. I should have thought of it, since I have a lizard and heating lamp. I dowbut the lizard would affect the seeds, but the crickets and mealworms might.

In any case, we have about6 seedlings coming out of one pot. Unfortunetaly we used red ink to mark the label, and it washed off so we will have to wait to see if it is melocactus or echinocereus.

We also just put in a lot of seeds which obviously is not the way to go. I would assume the best approcah now is to let them grow abit before trying to separate them. Any other ideas.

Mike
templegatejohn
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Post by templegatejohn »

Hi Mike,

Many of the 'experts' advocate sowing seed quite thickly, which is the direct opposite of what you would do for most plants. It would seem to be a proven fact that cacti seedlings grow better when they are in close proximity to one another.

Cheers,
John
Buck Hemenway
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Post by Buck Hemenway »

John's right. Many plants give off phermones that actually poison new seedlings so they lessen the competition. In the case of cacti however, they do the exact opposite. They actually have chemical ways of encouraging each other. The only trick is to find a container/growing space small enough to plant them close together, but not allow the world's supply of one plant to germinate in your kitchen.

Ferocacti
Image



Aloes
Image
Buck Hemenway
Mike
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Post by Mike »

Thanks guys. It will be interesting to see what happens, or if they are even cactus. There are 5 seedlings that are 1 or 2 millimeters that are already touching or within an area less than 1 sq cm. Mike
templegatejohn
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Post by templegatejohn »

Hi Buck,

They say "every picture paints a story" and your two photographs certainly do that better than any description I could give on the subject. Thanks for sharing.

Cheers,
John
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ondy
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Post by ondy »

Buck,

I was told the same sort of thing by Miles Anderson. He said that seedings do something to the soil that's beneficial when they are grown tightly together. I can't remember what what he said it was, or maybe he didn't. Maybe you know something about that.

Andy
derf4three
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Post by derf4three »

Wow, I like where this topic ended up.

I tried the blender trick and it seemed to work out fairly well. I have so much seed now. I also tried to sift out the largest perlite and volcanic pumice pieces towards the top of the pot so as to not leave any gapping holes for the seeds/roots to dry up in.

After seeing the above photos, I packed/sowed my seeds fairly tightly. Thanks for the help all.
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