Ha! That has been the only way I've been successful growing from seed! I love getting those little volunteers!iann wrote: Actually, this is an old seed that remainined ungerminated in some recycled compost
G-DAY . . . Germination Begins !
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Plantcelot
- Posts: 304
- Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2006 7:16 pm
Humm . . . I just got a great idea from you two! I will take out the seeds that did not germinate in a couple of weeks and I will place them in the soil of other cactus to be nursed. I will forget about them and perhaps some of them will volunteer to pop up for me too!That's a very nice and rare pic iann, I see lots of pictures of cactus but, extremely rarely I see pics of seedlings with adults or seedlings growing in nature. It will be very nice to see field pictures that could include very small seedlings. I guess the problem is that people are stupefied looking up to the big and tall ones and stepping on the seedlings
I also noticed that most of the cactus seedlings that I see, more or less resemble each other even though they will become completely different looking plants as adults.
This is a very good point Plantcelot. I started looking for small plants when I am in the desert as well as taking close up pictures of the stems of large ones, fruit, etc. I haven't found seedlings, but I really should start looking.Plantcelot wrote: That's a very nice and rare pic iann, I see lots of pictures of cactus but, extremely rarely I see pics of seedlings with adults or seedlings growing in nature. It will be very nice to see field pictures that could include very small seedlings. I guess the problem is that people are stupefied looking up to the big and tall ones and stepping on the seedlings
Looking for smaller up and comming trees is something I've done for years. There are so many pastures here in the US (and I'll bet elsewhere) that host beautiful large oaks or other hardwoods separated by grass. Although this is quite pleasing to look at, when you think about it, you realize that there are no young trees to take over for the old ones because the animals eat them before they get the chance.
All Cacti are succulents, but not all succulents are Cacti
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Plantcelot
- Posts: 304
- Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2006 7:16 pm
Thanks guys
Daiv, it is great that you´re taking close ups and looking for small plants and seedlings as well. Who knows, perhaps with time you could actually write the most interesting book yet to be available about cacti, and . . . don't discard the thought!
I was thinking that the problem with seedlings could somehow be similar to the ones with sea turtles, more or less one out of a thousand survives to adulthood. Probably what iann said about the nurse plants could be a key factor in the survival of seedlings out there. I´m guessing that probably a week or two after a rainy period should be good to find some of them popping out and the survivors could be hiding behind nursing plants! I suppose spring time and cooler summer periods specially after rain could be good for searching for seedlings. It is on my plans to do a fun exploration trip to the desert, perhaps if I get a new camera with macro I could try a week trip during my summer vacations.
Daiv, it is great that you´re taking close ups and looking for small plants and seedlings as well. Who knows, perhaps with time you could actually write the most interesting book yet to be available about cacti, and . . . don't discard the thought!
I was thinking that the problem with seedlings could somehow be similar to the ones with sea turtles, more or less one out of a thousand survives to adulthood. Probably what iann said about the nurse plants could be a key factor in the survival of seedlings out there. I´m guessing that probably a week or two after a rainy period should be good to find some of them popping out and the survivors could be hiding behind nursing plants! I suppose spring time and cooler summer periods specially after rain could be good for searching for seedlings. It is on my plans to do a fun exploration trip to the desert, perhaps if I get a new camera with macro I could try a week trip during my summer vacations.
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Plantcelot
- Posts: 304
- Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2006 7:16 pm
Dec 17 2006 - Seedlings Update:
NEWS:
Finally, the seedlings are a month old!
-During this week there was no new germination and I
actually don’t expect any others popping out soon.
Now the slow stage of growth begins.
-Out of the 26 seeds that germinated, 1 seedling died
and one C. forbesii seed stop germinating.
I currently have a TOTAL of 24 live seedlings out
of 33 seeds.
-I had to remove the two yellow wooden barriers
separating my C aethiops regular from the chalybaeus
and the P. pachycladus regular from my P.p HU254.
The barriers were starting to rot because of the
moisture.
-Remember the seedling that looked like a twin as it
was getting out of its seed? I forgot to tell you
that it just came out with two big ears! I don’t
know the proper name for this part but I wonder why
they come with those pointy things to their sides
that they loose as they get older. Anyway, I hope
that I will find out at which week they will loose
them. Perhaps baby nourishment baggies . . .
-My tallest seedling is the C.aethiops c. it is 5/8" tall.
The widest ones are the C.aethiops 3/8" wide so far!
The smallest ones are the hertlingianus v. viridis
one of them is like a pin head.
-I think that I will be updating this on a monthly
basis from this point on because I don´t expect too
much action at this stage. If something really
interesting occurs Ill let you know.
-Here I chose some pictures that show their spinney
progress. A couple of them are slow growers and have
no spines yet, they are the hertlingianus v. viridis
and the P. palmeri.
hertlingianus v. viridis - The smallest with no spines yet
C.aethiops - My widest one to the left!
C.aethiops c. - My tallest one to the left!
The one that looked like a twin coming out of its seed!
P. palmeri - No spines yet
HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL !!!
NEWS:
Finally, the seedlings are a month old!
-During this week there was no new germination and I
actually don’t expect any others popping out soon.
Now the slow stage of growth begins.
-Out of the 26 seeds that germinated, 1 seedling died
and one C. forbesii seed stop germinating.
I currently have a TOTAL of 24 live seedlings out
of 33 seeds.
-I had to remove the two yellow wooden barriers
separating my C aethiops regular from the chalybaeus
and the P. pachycladus regular from my P.p HU254.
The barriers were starting to rot because of the
moisture.
-Remember the seedling that looked like a twin as it
was getting out of its seed? I forgot to tell you
that it just came out with two big ears! I don’t
know the proper name for this part but I wonder why
they come with those pointy things to their sides
that they loose as they get older. Anyway, I hope
that I will find out at which week they will loose
them. Perhaps baby nourishment baggies . . .
-My tallest seedling is the C.aethiops c. it is 5/8" tall.
The widest ones are the C.aethiops 3/8" wide so far!
The smallest ones are the hertlingianus v. viridis
one of them is like a pin head.
-I think that I will be updating this on a monthly
basis from this point on because I don´t expect too
much action at this stage. If something really
interesting occurs Ill let you know.
-Here I chose some pictures that show their spinney
progress. A couple of them are slow growers and have
no spines yet, they are the hertlingianus v. viridis
and the P. palmeri.
hertlingianus v. viridis - The smallest with no spines yet
C.aethiops - My widest one to the left!
C.aethiops c. - My tallest one to the left!
The one that looked like a twin coming out of its seed!
P. palmeri - No spines yet
HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL !!!
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Christer Johansson
- Posts: 2452
- Joined: Wed Aug 09, 2006 11:57 am
- Location: Västerås, Sweden
- Contact:
Your experiment is very interesting and we may all learn from it somehow 
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Plantcelot
- Posts: 304
- Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2006 7:16 pm
Thanks Christer & Happy New Year to you and everybody else! 
UPDATE - 2 Months After - 01-20-2007
Howdy!
I've been pleasantly busy since my last update but I’m finally able to dedicate some time to my cactus. Yesterday my seedlings turned 2 months since they were sown and I took pics of the event. They had to be on their own for a couple of weeks but I used a timer for their lights. When I returned I found a lot of green algae on their soil and I quicky removed it and added some new top soil to the most affected. They are back to have their dome removed for parts of the day. I’m not sure if I should start fertilizing them now or just wait until spring...
QUICK UPDATES:
- One of the Azureocereus Vidris/ Browningia viridis totally disappeared, I guess it died very quickly.
- Two P. magnificus from the last seeds sown germinated!
- The last seed of the T. macrogonus germinated during my holiday absence as well.
- Some of my cactus are starting to grow some strange white spines. You will see them on some of my pics. You could notice them better on the Cereus aethiops because of their dark spines.
- Remember the “v” shaped “leaves” that I was talking about before? all of my seedlings had them in common. Well I still don’t know if they were to provide nourishment or not but they are starting to disappear as the new growth goes on top of them. Look at the tall Cereus aethiops chalybaeus and you will notice that.
-About their size; the tallest one I have is a Cereus aethiops chalybaeus at 1 3/8"(around 3.6 cm). My other seedlings are less than 1". The seedlings showing more growth are the Cereus aethiops, Cereus forbesii, P.pachycladus, P.lanuginosus and T. macrogonus. The ones that are alive, but have not shown much growth are the Azureus vidris, P. fulvinatus, and P. palmeri...
LATEST NEWS:
Today (Jan 20 2007) I started sowing 4 nice Melocactus connoideus seeds that were given to me. Also 3 seeds of Pilosocereus Pentaedrophorus. Let's see when my melocactus get to grow their tiny cephaliums and how they all do.
Pictures:
Cereus aethiops chalybaeus are the tall ones at the top and C. aethiops are the wide and spiny.
P. pachycladus (top HU254 and bottom regular) One is not growing at the top/right side...
P. pachycladus top views below
C. forbesii
T. (or E.) macrogonus (The lastest seedling at front)
Micranthocereus auri-azureus
P. lanuginosus were one of the first to germinate and are going strong.
Below are the slow growers. Azureus vidris
P. Palmeri
And P. Fulvinatus...
Below is the nice surprise that I got from the P. Magnificus!
The Melocactus connoideus seeds that are starting today!
And the P. pentaedrophorus as well
My next batch will be on Spring 2007!
& Happy New Year to you and everybody else! UPDATE - 2 Months After - 01-20-2007
Howdy!
I've been pleasantly busy since my last update but I’m finally able to dedicate some time to my cactus. Yesterday my seedlings turned 2 months since they were sown and I took pics of the event. They had to be on their own for a couple of weeks but I used a timer for their lights. When I returned I found a lot of green algae on their soil and I quicky removed it and added some new top soil to the most affected. They are back to have their dome removed for parts of the day. I’m not sure if I should start fertilizing them now or just wait until spring...
QUICK UPDATES:
- One of the Azureocereus Vidris/ Browningia viridis totally disappeared, I guess it died very quickly.
- Two P. magnificus from the last seeds sown germinated!
- The last seed of the T. macrogonus germinated during my holiday absence as well.
- Some of my cactus are starting to grow some strange white spines. You will see them on some of my pics. You could notice them better on the Cereus aethiops because of their dark spines.
- Remember the “v” shaped “leaves” that I was talking about before? all of my seedlings had them in common. Well I still don’t know if they were to provide nourishment or not but they are starting to disappear as the new growth goes on top of them. Look at the tall Cereus aethiops chalybaeus and you will notice that.
-About their size; the tallest one I have is a Cereus aethiops chalybaeus at 1 3/8"(around 3.6 cm). My other seedlings are less than 1". The seedlings showing more growth are the Cereus aethiops, Cereus forbesii, P.pachycladus, P.lanuginosus and T. macrogonus. The ones that are alive, but have not shown much growth are the Azureus vidris, P. fulvinatus, and P. palmeri...
LATEST NEWS:
Today (Jan 20 2007) I started sowing 4 nice Melocactus connoideus seeds that were given to me. Also 3 seeds of Pilosocereus Pentaedrophorus. Let's see when my melocactus get to grow their tiny cephaliums and how they all do.
Pictures:
Cereus aethiops chalybaeus are the tall ones at the top and C. aethiops are the wide and spiny.
P. pachycladus (top HU254 and bottom regular) One is not growing at the top/right side...
P. pachycladus top views below
C. forbesii
T. (or E.) macrogonus (The lastest seedling at front)
Micranthocereus auri-azureus
P. lanuginosus were one of the first to germinate and are going strong.
Below are the slow growers. Azureus vidris
P. Palmeri
And P. Fulvinatus...
Below is the nice surprise that I got from the P. Magnificus!
The Melocactus connoideus seeds that are starting today!
And the P. pentaedrophorus as well
My next batch will be on Spring 2007!
-
Plantcelot
- Posts: 304
- Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2006 7:16 pm
Thanks Daiv! Santa really surprised me this year. I'm still learning how to focus, use the macro and other features. The next update will be around February 20 unless something really exciting happens with them.
Thanks Mark! I'm really happy with the outcome but I have no idea if their growth rate is actually slow, fast or normal as it is the first time that I'm experimenting with it but, it is certainly fun!
Santa really surprised me this year. I'm still learning how to focus, use the macro and other features. The next update will be around February 20 unless something really exciting happens with them.Thanks Mark!
I'm really happy with the outcome but I have no idea if their growth rate is actually slow, fast or normal as it is the first time that I'm experimenting with it but, it is certainly fun!-
Plantcelot
- Posts: 304
- Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2006 7:16 pm
-
Plantcelot
- Posts: 304
- Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2006 7:16 pm
UPDATE - 6 Months After - 05-27-2007
Howdy!!!
Great idea to have a section just for seedlings!
Ok, six months already and so far so good, I can’t complain about the seedlings, nice little fellows!
here is the update:
NEWS:
- My last Browningia viridis did not make it. RIP
-Now I have 22 seedlings alive from the original 33 seeds (from November 2006).
- 26 cactus in Total with the few new seeds from January 2007 that germinated:
From the 2 new Cereus Aethiops only one survived.
The 2 P Magnificus and the P. Fulvinatus that germinated are growing fine.
From the 4 seeds of Melocactus connoideus only 2 germinated and are doing fine.
From the 3 Pilosocereus Pentaedrophorus seeds only one germinated but did not make it.
SIZE:
These had to be removed from the mini greenhouse because they grew to tall for the plastic dome. I planted them into smaller plastic pots:
Tallest: Cereus Forbesii around 4" (without the roots).
Cereus Aethiops Chalybaeus #1 - 3+-" the other 2 are just a little smaller.
I removed 2 of the Cereus Aethiops “regular” to a pot to give move space to the other 2 in the greenhouse.
The other seedlings will be removed as soon as they get too tall or wide for the container, very soon! I had to space out some of the greenhouse seedlings in order to avoid being injured by the other seedling’s spines.
PROBLEMS:
Change of environment shock: My first seedling out (2 months ago) was my tall C. Aethiops Chalybaeus #1 (the skinny one). The seedling soil mix that I prepared for the greenhouse was not working well with the outside pot because it was not retaining the humidity the seedling was used to and it’s fast growth stopped.
I mixed some general soil (Miracle-Gro potting soil) to my seedling mix in order to make it retain more water and used a plastic cup on top of its pot as a dome at night and it started to get better. I’m doing the same with the other seedlings that come out. Also I am weaning all of the seedlings by removing their dome during the day and only placing it on at night.
- Algae:
Every couple of weeks I get a thin layer of green algae on the top of the soil.
I decided to go the natural way and once a month I just quickly scrape off the algae layer using a dental pick and remove it with a plastic spoon. I add a thin layer of new potting soil to replace it and this is working very well. I haven’t added any fertilizer because the newer top soil layer is taking care of it.
Well, this is the way things look now:
I place plastic cups and the dome at night for humidity (with the lights off):
Today I transplanted my last C. Aethiops C. To its new little pot (big roots):
These are the little ones that got out:
1-3 Cereus aethiops chalybaeus.
4. Cereus forbesii
5. Cereus aethiops (regular)
This is very interesting, all of the following are Cereus aethiops chalybaeus but they all look quite different. The one in the middle looks like a possible “monstrous form”
Here are some pictures of the seedlings that still live inside their mini-greenhouse:
Cereus aethiops regular, I never thought that they will look like little ghosts as seedlings...weird looking
:
Micranthocereus auri-azureus HU 346 :
Pilosocereus lanuginosus MN 301:
Pilosocereus magnificus HU224:
Pilosocereus pachycladus regular and HU 254 - They look just the same to me:
Pilosocereus Fulvilanatus HU277:
Trichocereus Macrogonus:
Melocactus connoideus:
Next Update: When they get into their flowering stage !
Howdy!!!
Great idea to have a section just for seedlings!
Ok, six months already and so far so good, I can’t complain about the seedlings, nice little fellows!
here is the update:
NEWS:
- My last Browningia viridis did not make it. RIP
-Now I have 22 seedlings alive from the original 33 seeds (from November 2006).
- 26 cactus in Total with the few new seeds from January 2007 that germinated:
From the 2 new Cereus Aethiops only one survived.
The 2 P Magnificus and the P. Fulvinatus that germinated are growing fine.
From the 4 seeds of Melocactus connoideus only 2 germinated and are doing fine.
From the 3 Pilosocereus Pentaedrophorus seeds only one germinated but did not make it.
SIZE:
These had to be removed from the mini greenhouse because they grew to tall for the plastic dome. I planted them into smaller plastic pots:
Tallest: Cereus Forbesii around 4" (without the roots).
Cereus Aethiops Chalybaeus #1 - 3+-" the other 2 are just a little smaller.
I removed 2 of the Cereus Aethiops “regular” to a pot to give move space to the other 2 in the greenhouse.
The other seedlings will be removed as soon as they get too tall or wide for the container, very soon! I had to space out some of the greenhouse seedlings in order to avoid being injured by the other seedling’s spines.
PROBLEMS:
Change of environment shock: My first seedling out (2 months ago) was my tall C. Aethiops Chalybaeus #1 (the skinny one). The seedling soil mix that I prepared for the greenhouse was not working well with the outside pot because it was not retaining the humidity the seedling was used to and it’s fast growth stopped.
I mixed some general soil (Miracle-Gro potting soil) to my seedling mix in order to make it retain more water and used a plastic cup on top of its pot as a dome at night and it started to get better. I’m doing the same with the other seedlings that come out. Also I am weaning all of the seedlings by removing their dome during the day and only placing it on at night.
- Algae:
Every couple of weeks I get a thin layer of green algae on the top of the soil.
I decided to go the natural way and once a month I just quickly scrape off the algae layer using a dental pick and remove it with a plastic spoon. I add a thin layer of new potting soil to replace it and this is working very well. I haven’t added any fertilizer because the newer top soil layer is taking care of it.
Well, this is the way things look now:
I place plastic cups and the dome at night for humidity (with the lights off):
Today I transplanted my last C. Aethiops C. To its new little pot (big roots):
These are the little ones that got out:
1-3 Cereus aethiops chalybaeus.
4. Cereus forbesii
5. Cereus aethiops (regular)
This is very interesting, all of the following are Cereus aethiops chalybaeus but they all look quite different. The one in the middle looks like a possible “monstrous form”Here are some pictures of the seedlings that still live inside their mini-greenhouse:
Cereus aethiops regular, I never thought that they will look like little ghosts as seedlings...weird looking
: Micranthocereus auri-azureus HU 346 :
Pilosocereus lanuginosus MN 301:
Pilosocereus magnificus HU224:
Pilosocereus pachycladus regular and HU 254 - They look just the same to me:
Pilosocereus Fulvilanatus HU277:
Trichocereus Macrogonus:
Melocactus connoideus:
Next Update: When they get into their flowering stage !