I have no greenhouse can I still grow cacti from seed could i have some information please Regards George
cactus from seed Solved
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Please respect all forum members opinions and if you can't make a civil reply, don't reply!
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David_L
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Re: cactus from seed
Hi George
Yes you certainly can but you'll need a heated propagator and a bright windowsill or artificial lights. Seeds need temperatures of 18-25C for good germination and seedlings lots of light, but not direct sunlight to stop them going thin and drawn. I used to have a propagator in the conservatory, but that gets too hot after May, so now I have a couple of propagators in the garage with fluorescent tubes on top. Works well!
Yes you certainly can but you'll need a heated propagator and a bright windowsill or artificial lights. Seeds need temperatures of 18-25C for good germination and seedlings lots of light, but not direct sunlight to stop them going thin and drawn. I used to have a propagator in the conservatory, but that gets too hot after May, so now I have a couple of propagators in the garage with fluorescent tubes on top. Works well!
David
Bromley Branch
Mainly small Cacti + a few Mesembs.
Bromley Branch
Mainly small Cacti + a few Mesembs.
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Roy
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Re: cactus from seed Solved
You most certainly can. If you have no means of heating a pot then it would be advisable to wait until the warmer weather comes before you attempt it then you could grow them on a sunny windiwsill. You need a sterile pot and compost and a plastic bag or clingfilm. The compost can be sterilized in the microwave for 10 minutes and left to cool down then sow your seed on the top then put the pot in some boiled water that has cooled. Leave the pot in until the surface of the compost is wet then remove the pot and let it drain for a while then put the pot in the plastic bag or cover the WHOLE LOT in clingfilm. Then put the pot on a warm windowsill and in about 28 days most of the common cacti will germinate, some a lot faster.
Idealy you should add Chinosol to the water but as this is your first attempt I don't think you will want to buy a bottle of that yet. 90% of cacti are easy to grow from seed but of course that means the other 10% may be difficult.
If you have a means of heating and giving extra light seed can be sown at any time of the year but no doubt you will want to try the easy cheap way before you start paying out for equipment.
At about six months old the seedlings will need pricking out then have further pottings on as they grow.
Picking up one of the older books you may see a lot of other methods and they worked to some degree but this is the broad outline of what most people do nowadays
Idealy you should add Chinosol to the water but as this is your first attempt I don't think you will want to buy a bottle of that yet. 90% of cacti are easy to grow from seed but of course that means the other 10% may be difficult.
If you have a means of heating and giving extra light seed can be sown at any time of the year but no doubt you will want to try the easy cheap way before you start paying out for equipment.
At about six months old the seedlings will need pricking out then have further pottings on as they grow.
Picking up one of the older books you may see a lot of other methods and they worked to some degree but this is the broad outline of what most people do nowadays
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