Sclerocactus - to freeze & thaw or not to freeze & thaw

[iann]

Makes sense. The outer seed coat is a very similar material to hair, and the reaction of the cream just weakens the material without completely destroying it.

[MaciejW]

There is a wonderful site that congregates the sowing experiments of several growers:
http://www.semeurs-de-cactus.fr/

If you can read french, there's a lot to be learned there. For Sclerocacti, the highest success rate has been achieved by soaking the seeds in depilatory cream for 10 minutes and then sowing them in bags. Beats handling concentrated acids every day.
http://www.semeurs-de-cactus.fr/public/ ... re/key/107

great website! many thanks!

[MaciejW]

thank you all for your thoughts and advices. I have decided to combine few methods - after all, I will try to freeze seeds in cycles, then 'soften' the seeds with potentially use of some chemical substance, prick tip off the seed and sow it using baggie method in around 25 C degrees propagator. I will start my freezing cycles soon,but it won't be until beginning of March the earliest when I will sow the seeds. I will keep you posted!

[jfabiao]

As far as I can think of, a thunderstorm causes a drop on atmospheric pressure. Since we usually sow in bags, perhaps deflating the bags a little would simulate this and trigger germination?

[CactusFanDan]

As far as I can think of, a thunderstorm causes a drop on atmospheric pressure. Since we usually sow in bags, perhaps deflating the bags a little would simulate this and trigger germination?

Or perhaps some effect due to the electric field that will be generated. Electric fields have been shown to encourage germination in some species of plants.