Germination begins

[ragamala]

I see things a little differently regarding seed-sowing, partly because I have always found it the most rewarding aspect of growing succulents. To see new life coming from seed, to experience the pleasure (and disappointments sometimes) of seeing continued growth, and to see for the first time your home-grown seedlings in bloom is an experience that for me far surpasses any pleasure I ever got from seeing a garden centre or cactus nursery bought plant blooming.

I think there is a good case for advising new growers on how to optimise their pleasure or success in growing from seed.

And I don't mean just the usual cultivation advice. This can home in on aspects such as where to buy seed with best germination prospect. From the last three years I personally have fairly good ideas about price/germination tradeoff. Secondly species - I love Lithops and have always found their seed (with one exception I noted in the forum a couple of years ago) come up like weeds, providing an excellent lesson in keeping seedlings going and building a collection. Fraileas can bloom - or at least set seed - within a year or so, and some Mammillarias (to name just one genus) will bloom in two years.

But even then I don't think that flowering should be the foremost desired result. Form, colour, spination are vital aspects of why we admire and want to grow cacti or other succulents. Flowering is a bonus, not a requisite for enjoyment.

[Mafate79]

Hello Iann,

My first BCSS seeds are coming up, less than a week after they were sown. Not what I would have expected, Stomatium pyrodorum. It might turn out to have been a mistake to sow these now, I suspect they're going to etiolate. Hopefully they won't get too far before the sun god returns.

So when would you suggest to sow Stomatium seeds?

[Aiko]

Flowering is a bonus, not a requisite for enjoyment.

I have the same idea. That is why it annoys me why a lot of succulent photos are primarly aimed at getting a flowering in the picture and nothing or hardly anything about the plant body. I am not interested in plant porn close ups.

[Aiko]

So when would you suggest to sow Stomatium seeds?

All mesembs (and bulbs) are okay to sow right after the last (severe) night frosts have passed, when sowing in a greenhouse without additional light and frost protection. For me this means sowing around 20-25 March. Nights are cold, an occasionaly -1 might still occur, day time it can get quite warm in the greenhouse already, and light levels are okay but not scorching yet.

Stomatium should even take severe frosts, although I am unsure if seedlings are okay with it too. So you might probably be safe to sow them early or in the middle of March already when frost is more present at night.

[Tina]

Anyone got any cultivation tips for pediocactus sileri ??.

[KarlR]

Anyone got any cultivation tips for pediocactus sileri ??.

Prepare for its demise?

I joke Although it is considered one of the most difficult cacti to grow. I know Lyman Benson wrote about how he (and maybe others - can't quite recall) tried to grow ex-habitat plants in soil also from the habitat, but with no luck. I also think Steven Brack considered it extremely difficult. It grows in a very peculiar soil on a small strip of land north of the Grand Canyon.

I have had no success myself, although I plan to sow a few seeds this year that I have left.

Probably best to graft seedlings on Opuntia compressa/fragilis or something similar and then keep it grafted.

[iann]

Anyone got any cultivation tips for pediocactus sileri ??.

Prepare for its demise?

I joke Although it is considered one of the most difficult cacti to grow. I know Lyman Benson wrote about how he (and maybe others - can't quite recall) tried to grow ex-habitat plants in soil also from the habitat, but with no luck. I also think Steven Brack considered it extremely difficult. It grows in a very peculiar soil on a small strip of land north of the Grand Canyon.

I have had no success myself, although I plan to sow a few seeds this year that I have left.

Probably best to graft seedlings on Opuntia compressa/fragilis or something similar and then keep it grafted.

Don't think I've ever killed one of these. Not to say it is easy, but an indication that the people killing them all are doing something fundamentally wrong.

All Pediocactus are weird compared to almost all other cacti. They are very allergic to water in hot conditions, where hot means just about any conditions where you'd consider watering a cactus. Good growing conditions are below freezing at night, and just moderately warm during the day. They are almost impossible to kill in winter, and if you do kill them it is probably by not freezing them enough. So they grow for a fairly short period in spring, sit out the summer looking more and more unhappy, or more and more authentic if you prefer, then will take up some water but not really grow in autumn and the dull parts of winter.

In spring, P. sileri will suck up water as fast as you pour it on. If you go too far, it will split its sides, although this has never been fatal for me. If you're more gentle but still persistent, you'll end up with a very fat plant at the end of spring, and my experience with similar species has been that these will then die.

P. sileri is a reasonably large Pediocactus, so it is easier to maintain than the real miniatures and easier to grow from seed. The tiny Pediocactus can be difficult to get through their first summer, but P. sileri not so much. Germination is erratic, sometimes good, sometimes not so good. I suspect very fresh seed is the main culprit. There is all sorts of talk about needing fluctuating temperatures, freezing and thawing, every trick in the book, but I've found it germinates just fine when it wants to, and otherwise it won't no matter what you do. Just go away and try again later.

[Aiko]

and otherwise it won't no matter what you do. Just go away and try again later.

So just retry and retry and retry, multiple years in a row. Works very well for mesembs and bulbs when at first (and second) they don't germinate.

I give my Pediocactus knowltonii water at or around 1 March, 1 April and 1 May. That's all. The remaining part of the year it just sits there being dry, soaking up sunlight, summer heat or winter frost without any protection. Goes very well for many years now, although I must confess it hasn't flowered very often for me, though.

[iann]

and otherwise it won't no matter what you do. Just go away and try again later.

So just retry and retry and retry, multiple years in a row. Works very well for mesembs and bulbs when at first (and second) they don't germinate.

I give my Pediocactus knowltonii water at or around 1 March, 1 April and 1 May. That's all. The remaining part of the year it just sits there being dry, soaking up sunlight, summer heat or winter frost without any protection. Goes very well for many years now, although I must confess it hasn't flowered very often for me, though.

Try water earlier. I know! Mine is in an unheated greenhouse and has been watered twice already. It is in a tiny pot, but still they are hard to kill at this time of year unless you heat them. I'm growing these from my own seed this year. Or rather not since nothing has germinated yet, possibly seed is too fresh.

Buds generally form in the middle of summer, but the flowers open the following spring. These buds formed in June!

[Aiko]

So if I stick to a plan (easier to remember next year), I would be wise to water at 1 January and 1 February too. No matter the freezing temperatures?