E. polycephalus ssp xeranthemoides, stand back ...

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iann
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E. polycephalus ssp xeranthemoides, stand back ...

Post by iann »

... or you might lose an eye. I sowed seed last Thursday. I thought I'd just take a look in the propagator and about half of them have germinated! They are on the "top shelf" of the propagator, so warm but not hot. Maybe reaching 90F during the day, about 70F during the four hour night.
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peterb
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Post by peterb »

excellent! That's super fast, too.

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mendel
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Post by mendel »

Great news, I sowed some of those today, along with some others. I have some E. polycephalus, Inyo Co, Ca from Alplains that I sowed last month, they sprouted quickly for me as well. The seedlings are huge.
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daiv
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Post by daiv »

Ok, so those are fast, but stright up E. polycephalus is slow, correct?
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iann
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Post by iann »

I'm not sure that I'd call ssp polycephalus slow, just reluctant. I've had various people tell me that they are easy in the right conditions, but their descriptions of those conditions have never given the same results for me. I have a pot of ssp polycephalus seeds which produced nothing after a month in the propagator and is now on the top shelf of the greenhouse to receive some temperature abuse.

The three days is way faster than I would have believed. Astrophytum asterias and an occasional Copiapoa will show that fast but not most cacti.
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Post by daiv »

iann wrote: The three days is way faster than I would have believed. Astrophytum asterias and an occasional Copiapoa will show that fast but not most cacti.
Well I can imagine that in Death Valley this fast germination increases the odds of survival. I wonder how quickly C. echinocarpa germinates? I noticed that the two are often found together.
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CoronaCactus
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Post by CoronaCactus »

I can help with C. echinocarpa... got some seed last time i went to Joshua Tree Park.

Any guesses? :)

(with my luck growing Opuntiads, it may take awhile :roll:)
iann
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Post by iann »

They're so cute when they first germinate, even if not quite as big as their heat-loving cousins.Image
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mendel
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Post by mendel »

Heres a look at my E polycephalus, Inyo co, CA, from Alplains. I think nearly all the seeds sprouted. Sown 1/15/09.

Image

regards,

Jason
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peterb
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Post by peterb »

wow, getting that level of germination is great! The best percentage I've gotten is more like 30%. With xeranthemoides, I've gotten nearly all the seeds to sprout.

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mendel
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Post by mendel »

peterb, I just checked my notes and counted seedlings, I got 26 seedlings between the two pots, from 30 seeds sown. They were vigorous sprouters for me, lets hope I can keep them alive.

I just did the ziplock bit and put them on a heatmat. Monday I sowed the E polycephalus seed from meadview and the others you sent me, no signs of life in anything yet.

regards,

Jason
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peterb
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Post by peterb »

Jason, the Meadview seed is more accurately ssp. xeranthemoides, or at the very least an intermediate and not true polycephalus. The seeds are noticeably smaller and shiny and the plants have galbrous not canescent spines.

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iann
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Post by iann »

So I was peering at germinating seeds under a lens. As you do :) They have trichomes! Either that or there is a surprisingly sparse and uniform fungus covering every seed but nothing else. I'll try to get a picture when the lights come back on but it won't be easy through plastic.

I have been playing about seeing whether the seeds respond to a particular temperature. Without having done a double-blind trial, they seem to germinate with day temperatures around 32C (90F) but not below that. This is a very approximate temperature because the seeds on the side of the large pot closest to the lights and the three individual pots closest to the lights germinated, while two individual pots further away and the side of the large pot away from the lights didn't germinate. When I turned the main pot round, seeds germinated on that side. When I raised the temperature, seeds in the centre of the pot germinated. This could all be a coincidence of course.

Some people have suggested to me that ssp polycephalus have a rather high temperature which produces quick germination like this but I have never managed to achieve it.
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mendel
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Post by mendel »

We have lift off!

The E polycephalus ssp. xeranthemoides seed have begun to sprout. They were sown 2/15. Lots of little Echinomastus johnsonii tails sticking out of seeds as well, sown the same date.

thanks for the seeds peterb!
Last edited by mendel on Sun Feb 22, 2009 9:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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iann
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Post by iann »

They were sown 1/15.
January? They took over a month?
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