My list

[iann]

You must be losing your touch

I know. Four days for the first sprout! Echinocactus texensis, coming up like weeds after a week. I sowed them in an extra large pot to give them room, but 20 seedlings will run out of room pretty fast.

There's a Pediocactus up too, but who knows how long it will survive. -6C (20F) forecast tomorrow night, which shouldn't bother it at all, but at a couple of days old its tempting to bring it inside.

[*Barracuda_52*]

The rest I sowed today and no germination so far

You must be losing your touch

-R

LOL!!

Iann, looks great!! You do the same thing i do when sowing, use suranwrap to cover pots looks like?? Once my babies are up for 2 weeks i use a toothpick and poke many holes in the top to start them getting use to air flow and after they are use to that then i take the wrap completely off due to there in a tank grow chamber so there is still plenty of humidity.

[iann]

Here are the macho E. texensis seedlings, looking a little blurred through the plastic. That's an 11cm (4 1/3") pot.


And here is Epithelantha micromeris making an early start on covering itself in spines.


Eriosyce napina ssp aerocarpa "fulva" with a better covering of spines.


Eriosyce aurata in splendid isolation. I plant these in individual pots so I don't have to transplant for several years and there is no disturbance when I do pot them on.


Strombocactus disciformis (two big ones) and ssp esperanzae (all the rest).

[iann]

Most of the regular easy seeds are germinated now. Apart from collected seed, I bought from two main places this year: the BCSS seedlist; and Jaromir Dohnalik. That's just cacti, I also have Lithops and other mesembs, but their germination is consistently easy and good. And I just got more mesemb seeds from the MSG list, but I'm sure they will germinate quickly.

The BCSS gets seed from all over, some from big name suppliers and others from a variety of researchers and amateurs around the world. Germination is about as usual, something in most pots, some more than half, some less. Mammillaria senilis is the standout with 90% germination and perhaps Epithelantha micromeris SB1327 the most disappointing with only one seedling.

This is my first order from Jaromir in the Czech Republic. He offers a huge list which I think come mostly from various growers in Eastern Europe, but also some habitat seed. Excluding Pediocactus which are still ongoing, germination was OK but not excellent. Strombocactus disciformis came up well which is a sign of good fresh seed, but var jarmilae gave nothing. Mostly good germination, but an odd pot with nothing. Echinocactus texensis looks like the winner so far, as you've seen, and Pelecyphora the most disappointing with only four seedlings from over 30 seeds. Three Pediocactus pots have nothing yet, but that's not entirely unexpected after less than a month and not yet any real spring heat.

[peterb]

Sounds like maybe the SB1327 was bad seed. The self-seeded fresh seeds from my plant sprout like crazy under a very wide range of conditions. It's funny how seed quality can vary so much, even from reliable sellers.

peterb

[iann]

Yes, Epithelanthas seem like no-brainers to germinate. I've had decent germination from my own plants and from some bought E. bokei seed side by side with the SB1327. Still, it should be self-fertile so in a couple of years I'll sow some more seed