Normally I grow cacti seeds in 50% JI and cat litter in 2" pots in bags. I don't usually sterilise anything, just soak the pots in boiling water and leave to cool.
Has anyone got any tips for best success with the Blossfeldia please? I was thinking of sowing them in 2 3/4 inch pots and trying to space them out more. I know they are going to be in there for a long time - if they stay alive, so may need to think about sterilising things better.
I've got seeds for the species below. Blossfeldia liliputana 'fechseri' P 244 (Sierra Ambato, 1200m, Argentina)
Blossfeldia liliputana 'pedicillata' FR 749 (Tomina, Chuquisaca, Bolivia)
Blossfeldia liliputana fma HTH 177 C (Rio Icla - Tarabuco, Bolivia)
Blossfeldia minima
I think you'll need to sterilize to prevent algae/moss from forming.
I recently sowed Blossfeldia (HTH 177 C) seeds on pumice & some grit with a thin top layer of sand (all semi-sterilized in the microwave or roasted in a pan) and they germinated well. In the last few days I got some green tint on the pumice, but nothing as bad as when I use it unsterilized.
The seedlings aren't as small as I thought they would be (some are 1.5 to 2 mm already I'd guess), but I think a thick layer of algae/cyanobacteria could still easily smother them.
I did use water with quarter strength fertilizer to soak the substrate - thinking that they will need some food in the years they stay in the container. And I placed the seeds individually with a wetted toothpick (worked great).
I didn't sterilise the soil, but I did sprinkle some fine well washed sharp sand on the surface before sowing just to provide an even sowing surface. I didn't feed my seedlings until they were ready to come out of the propagator, but I had plenty of moss and algae forming in the interim. It didn't seem to harm them. The most important factor seemed to be the length of time they stayed in a warm environment with 100% humidity
How to sow Blossfeldia, Aztekium and Strombocactus has been discussed many times before, using the 'baggy method'. Search function will provide you with a lot of useful information.
Blossfeldia grow slower then algae. if you don;t use any special technique you seedling will sure out grow and kill by algae.
use glass jar to perform Fleischer Method
or use normal cactus pot and plastic zip bag to perform baggy Method.
in baggy Method you must use a high quality zip bag which can stand for 1 year +
Fleischer Method use glass jar so there is no durability problem .
but use glass jar the water condense on glass wall and flow down into medium.
so the rim of medium is getting more water but the center don;t get any condensed water.
thus becoming dryer then the rim.
in baggy Method water slow to bottom of bag and suck up from bottom of pot. no drying problem.
From taiwan. hot humid subtropical island.
Pachypodium grow like weed here.
(not really, but u get the idea hot sunny rainy)
kohinoor wrote:in baggy Method you must use a high quality zip bag which can stand for 1 year +
Indeed. I have used some bags before that still allowed moisture from inside to slowly dissipates over time. After one year the pots were bone dry. The seedslings were still fine, but without moist probably not growing much anymore, so I had to take them out.
I use rubber plug and a tissue culture bottle.
i find out it is okay to open it and add some water real quick.
these are 2 month old Blossfeldia,i open it once 1 month ago to add some water.
no contamination so far.
needless to say, i wash my and and everything and the water is pure distill water.
so i think it is fine to open bag and add some water if you do it quick.
From taiwan. hot humid subtropical island.
Pachypodium grow like weed here.
(not really, but u get the idea hot sunny rainy)
They look very good- I'm impressed, it will be interesting to see if you can spot any differences, they are so small even when adults.
After my first success many years ago I have never been able to repeat it but I still have 2 on own roots so not too worried.
Tina
varied collection of succulents and cacti but I especially like Euphorbia's, Ariocarpus and variegated agaves.
One of them was a little out of the soil and it had a root that was very short and thick. Didn't appear to have any fibrous roots to speak of. Almost like an newly rooting Echinopsis offset.
Is that normal? It looks like they are almost tadpole shaped.
