The windowsill adventure of my seeds

[MagiCarpus]

Hi all, first a little intro about myself... I am a complete novice when it comes to starting cacti from seeds. I live in a student dormitory with 3' x 6' window facing the South. My first ever batch of seeds were germinated with the baggy method. Here I'd like to share my journey and my concerns regarding these little guys. Hope all you experts out there can spill some wisdoms

A) M. matanzanus

sown June 23rd
germination rate: I'm guessing 95% (25+ seedlings) for this one, as I didn't count the number of seeds I sowed.


Growing well, but algae is spreading across the medium, should that be a concern?

B) L. williamsii var. Big Bend

sown July 8th
germination rate: 73% (8/11)


I've noticed few of the seedlings have toppled over, lying on their sides since germination. I hope that's normal and that they will correct their position after having grown larger. Also, based on the coloration, are they receiving too much sun?

C) O. macdougallii

sown July 8th
germination rate 82% (9/11)


They look great but appear to be growing much slower than the other species, barely showing their first areoles.

D) E. rigidissimus var rubrispinus

sown July 8th
germination rate: 100% (14/14)


The most robust of the 4 species, these guys are beautiful I wonder if the red coloration comes in much later, as these still look lush green.

[greenknight]

You're doing very well. The algae is not a problem, and the light level appears to be fine. Some seedlings tipping over is normal.

E. rigidissimus var rubrispinus will develop red spines when much larger, the plant body normally is green.

[MagiCarpus]

Thanks greenknight, a lot of worries relieved! Fingers crossed that they'll all make it to adulthood.

[MagiCarpus]

Good evening from Canada, here is a quick update on some of the seedlings. They are just 2 weeks shy of being 3-month-old. Next update will probably come after I've pulled them out of the bags. Pictures quality are poor due to the plastic.

L. williamsii var. Big Bend




O. macdougallii. I am beginning to feel old just by watching these guys grow. I guess I'll get a true taste of slow once I sow some Aztekium or Ariocarpus.

[greenknight]

They're looking good, progressing well for their age.

Ariocarpus seedlings aren't particularly slow, see Hana's thread - http://www.cactiguide.com/forum/viewtop ... 16&t=36913" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If you want a test of patience, try starting Strombocactus disciformis - not hard to sprout, but be prepared to keep them bagged for a couple years! I have some, planted July 20, the largest is maybe 2mm in diameter. I planted Ariocarpus kotschoubeyanus var. macdowellii at the same time - the smallest Ariocarpus - they're giants by comparison. I plan to post pictures soon, you'll be able to see for yourself.

[MagiCarpus]

I'm looking forward to seeing those pictures greenknight. I ordered some seeds from MG which contain the exact species you just described. However, They seem really busy at this time for some reason...(I mean it's not like January when catalogue is released). I ordered via email on September 18th but haven't heard a single word from them since.

[greenknight]

I got my seeds from MG, too (along with some from Aiko). MG was quite slow - I was actually aiming for an early July sowing...

[MagiCarpus]

Today I took my Ortegocactus macdougallii out of the bag, after a few days of acclimatization. I top dressed the surface with crushed brick and biochar to prevent gnats and algae. Normally I would have kept the seedlings in the bags for a minimum of six months, but with the advice of a few seasoned growers here (thanks greenknight and iann!), I decided to liberate them from their stagnant prison 3 months earlier than planned, seeing that one of them had shown possible signs of rot.






Hope it's all uphill from here

[iann]

Don't expect too much growth over winter, unless you have really strong lights. Leave them on the dry side and then let the sun do its work next spring.

[MagiCarpus]

thank you iann! I do have ample artificial light (3 x 24W T5HOs) to keep them actively growing.

One more thing, could you be more specific with regards to keeping them on the "dry side"?

Since these seedlings were used to damp medium from germination, letting it dry would, I presumed, shock them due to acute dehydration (or not?). Hence from this point on, how should I approach with watering to ensure safe transition to the "dry side" (again how dry?)?

[iann]

If they're still growing "strongly" then you can keep doing what you're doing, but Ortegocactus won't thank you for being kept continuously wet. Being dry, or at least drier, for short periods won't hurt them now, and then it can be longer periods later. Even with the lights, and even at this size, I would be transitioning them to periods of dry soil already. You can maybe wait a few weeks after already dropping the humidity levels. You'll have to completely re-calculate how much water the soil holds now that they're in the open but top-dressed.

I find these grow reasonably fast, for a plant that is never going to be huge, but they need bright light. I've accidentally grown them from this size in direct sun (in England, but in a greenhouse) when I sowed them in a pot with something else. They did great.

[Wilk]

Looks pretty good so far. Be prepared for sudden losses as it seems to happen for no good reason from time to time. Your compost seems to have a fairly high organic content which may be okay for many species but I have found that, for me, no more than one third organic is ideal and may suit some of the more tricky species better whilst doing no harm to more tolerant species. With my first attempts I lost a lot of Mammillaria, Escobaria and Copiapoa probably because my mix was just a bit too water retentive. I also top dress before sowing which keeps down mosses etc.

Each to his own, but I find species with good spines make far more interesting seedlings. Good growing! It will soon become an obsession.

[MagiCarpus]

Thank you for the feedbacks, I think by this point I am ready to accept losses. I am starting to comprehend one of the core attributes of this hobby, which is that one will suffer substantial losses that skewed towards the specimens cherished the most And the ones who couldn't face this should get out of this hobby ASAP

For now I will keep the Ortegocactus under strong artificial lights, and let it dry out as iann suggested. Yes, my mix is highly organic (it's my first sowing so yeah...bad move), hence I'm constantly wary of rot. I'll be adopting the squirt method as suggested by greenknight when the time comes for the next watering, from now on everything must be done gingerly.

*BONUS* Here are the Echinocereus rigidissimus "rubispinus" that I just unbagged and top-dressed (had to be done because they are touching the ceiling of the zip-loc enclosure). This is the same batch as shown earlier in the thread, these little monsters grow fast!

[MagiCarpus]

Looks like Christmas came early, from MG. Took more than a month for them to process this, as apparently they were flooded with orders, even during the off season



A) Ariocarpus
i) agavoides
ii) fissuratus
iii) kotschoubeyanus 'elephantidens'

B) Echinocereus
i) pulchellus var. amoenus

C) Matucana
i) aureiflora
ii) intertexta
iii) madisoniorum

D) Obregonia
i) denegrii

E) Strombocactus
i) disciformis

F) Turbinicarpus
i) alonsoi
ii) valdezianus

G) Epithelantha
i)micromeris

got some work to do

[MagiCarpus]

Also out of the bag today, Melocactus matanzanus , these are exactly 4 month old. How much longer should I let it stay in this pot until transplantation?