One man went to sow ......my diary

[iann]

Just catching up ...

You have (at least) two different Titanopsis species. The flat ones are T. calcarea and the tall ones are T. primosii/schwantesii. The tall ones are more summer-dormant, meaning more likely to die if you give them water when it is hot.

The Nananthus is extremely cold-hardy and quite resistant to lots of water, but I find that mites quickly make a meal of them.

I don't think your new Faucaria will turn out like the old one. The old one is at least a selected form of F. tuberculosa. likely a hybrid.cultivar. The smooth one might be F. bosscheana although F. felina is extremely variable.

[Wilk]

Mike
The Astrophytum were sown 28/4/15 but they are the runts of the litter. The biggest are much bigger (circa 1.5cm diameter) and in a separate pot.

Ian
The Faucaria is probably Albidens, the other type I have being aff Tigrina which I think is more toothy.
Thanks for the tips re the others.

[Wilk]

Here's the more toothy Faucaria which is probably Tigrina:


Not much else flowering, though this rather unspectacular succulent is trying its best:


I found a small green caterpillar munching one of my Faucaria seedlings. Earlier this year the same type of caterpillar munched the growing tips of a couple of Lobivia seedlings and buried itself inside. Does anyone know what they might be?

[Wilk]

It's that time of year. Nothing new in my process this year as it worked a treat last year. The usual mix of one third each of cat litter, loam and grit dampened with boiled water and microwaved for 6 minutes but still dry enough that it will still go into the pots. I nearly messed up and got it too wet.


Here are the pots finished. The top dressing, now levelled, is a mixture of crushed grit and brick microwaved for 3 minute


The pots are then soaked in boiled water before sowing:


I then count the seeds before sowing. This year I just scattered the seeds rather than using tweezers. It still took hours!

Lastly 2 pots go into each re-sealable bag . No picture. I sowed mainly Coryphantha, Escobaria, Mammillaria and Parodia. 38 pots so far. For the next batch of more choice species, Echinomastus, Pediocactus and Gymnocactus I will omit the loam and use something mineral instead such as crushed brick or even perlite.

[Wilk]

Germination after 2 weeks is low at just over 30%, a long way to go to the 60% target. Coryphanthas were the first to start with excellent germination apart from the one species, Hendricksonii, that I was most keen to see do well. Escobarias and Mammillarias were next to show signs of life and Parodias and Sulcos slowest of all. Germination of the Sulcorebutias is very poor so far. Does anyone else have similar experience? I bought a packet of mixed seed last year and I think only one seed germinated! This year is not much better. Maybe they are just slow or is there a trick I don't know?

[mdpillet]

Germination after 2 weeks is low at just over 30%, a long way to go to the 60% target. Coryphanthas were the first to start with excellent germination apart from the one species, Hendricksonii, that I was most keen to see do well. Escobarias and Mammillarias were next to show signs of life and Parodias and Sulcos slowest of all. Germination of the Sulcorebutias is very poor so far. Does anyone else have similar experience? I bought a packet of mixed seed last year and I think only one seed germinated! This year is not much better. Maybe they are just slow or is there a trick I don't know?

I've heard that Rebutia seed doesn't stay viable for very long. That's been my experience as well.

[greenknight]

I've had terrible luck with Rebutia germination.

[Bosenoge]

Sulcos are hard to germinate, thats also my experience. I sowed 11 field numbers from 4 seed supliers and germination is 34% after 6 weeks. The method is the same as with all my seedlings, and Sulcos have the smallest germination numbers. Pity, since they are my favourite plants for now. Ive been contacting alot of Sulco growers and all of them dont recommend acquiring plants that way. They say that they are hard to pollinate and extract seeds from them, and some filed numbers have NEVER been succesfully propagated in greenhouses. Not to mention unwanted pollination because they are all similar plants.
Anyway, I have some 15 field numbers to sow in spring, but I already accepted the fact that Sulcos have to be bought from dedicated growers if you want a serious collection.

Cheers

[Wilk]

It's 6 weeks since my first sowing of the year and germination is just over 44% which is okay I suppose given the species shown. 2 complete no shows, Gymno Marquezi and a Parodia species. I put this down to dud seeds. The sulco's made a late surge and were not too bad in the end. As usual the Lobivias and Parodias let the side down.

I have sown another 38 pots this weekend. Some more tricky species. Report to follow.

[Wilk]

Over the weekend I sowed the last of my MG seed and some new seed obtained from Jan Novak of Cactus Nursery-eu. The order form was easy to fill in, the acknowledgement and payment request done with a fortnight, payment possible by Paypal and delivery swift. I hope germination will be as good.

I ordered a few species that were a lot cheaper than MG such as Copiapoas as well as a few that would have required special documentation to get from the States

I have sown 3 packets each of Sclerocactus, Pediocactus and Echinomastus in an entirely mineral mix. A helpful video on Youtube gave guidance as to chitting the seed which I did with the Scleros and Pediocacti but not the Echinomastus seed which is smaller. My reading suggested the Pediocactus seed did not need chitting, advice I ignored. Here's my vice like grip:



The seed was soaked first for 24 hours. Then I attacked it with a large needle, a fiddly process. The results will be interesting.

I also sowed one or two interesting mesembs such as Imitaria Muirii, 2 Monilaria species and Nananthus Margaretiferus. Happy days.

[Wilk]

4 days in and 4 mesembs have started to germinate including both Monilaria species, 7 out of 10 Copiapoa species have begun to germinate and (after 3 days) I Pediocactus Paradinei has a big fat root.

[jfabiao]

I have tried sowing Echinomastus unguispinus and E. intertextus and they both germinated pretty well without chipping. Keeping the seedlings going is a whole different matter, though (and even more so the adults).

[Wilk]

jfabiao, you are right that the seed does not need chipping as all 3 have germinated now, 1 x intertextus and 2 x dasyacanthus with different SB collection numbers. I know what you mean about keeping them alive. I bought a small plant on ebay a couple of years ago. It looked lovely. It was bare-root so I had to pot it up. I decided that I did not want to kill it with too much water, especially as it was late in the season, so I put it in a dry mineral mix with barely any water. It was dead in about 2 weeks.

Do you know what the secret is? I am planning to keep them in a very mineral mix and water very sparingly. I sowed E. Johnsonii v lutescens last year and have 6 very healthy looking seedlings which I am hoping will grow away this year. So far so good.

[Wilk]

Some of my 2-3 year old children are now beginning to flower;

Escobaria Missouriensis


Mammillaria Candida


Echinocereus Fendleri (the only one to germinate)


Gymno Bruchii

[Armen Tsirunyan]

Wow, I thought M.candida flowers much later than 2-3 years. Is it grafted or something? I have a 2 yr-old seedling(only one to germinate) but it's barely an inch across. The echinocereus photo is amazing - the bud seems to tear the cactus's flesh apart!