BCSS - Forum

This year. 9 out of 11 packets up, mostly Tephrocactus from Succseed but also the sole Opuntia on this year's BCSS list. 60-70% germination across the board.

That's excellent. Did you do anything to the seeds before sowing? What temperatures have you been keeping them?

Hi Nick. Found a scientific paper comparing treatments of opuntia seed. They found that scarifying followed by a 24 hour soak in 3% hydrogen peroxide was the only reliable method. So tried this with them:

Scarified with sandpaper, soaked 24 hours 3% hydrogen peroxide ( this is easily available online as a sterilant). Then I put them in the same propagator in daylight as my austrocactus seeds - two weeks at 24C then temp increased to 32C.

Well done, Darren

Thank you Tony.

Well done. Pterocactus seedlings can grow really quickly...

That's impressive! I'd given up on Tephro seeds, but will keep you method in mind when I next see some offered. Have you tried hydrogen peroxide on your Austrocactus seed as well? I find them not quite so impossible to germinate, but germination rates for most species tend to be quite poor even with repeated attempts to germinate the same seeds.

Thank you Ralph. No pterocactus in this lot -seed seems hard to get.

Hi Christian.

I tried the Sarnes method with most of the Austros. No pretreatment. Sown end Jan under same temp regime as above. Everything (24 packets) has some germination - around 30-50% except bertinii -and is still ongoing.

I did as they suggest and kept back half the seeds from each pack of the hard-to-germinate A. Bertiniii. Then gave them 5 minutes in concentrated sulphuric acid (I am a lab chemist by profession) before washing and sowing at 32C daytime and 26C night time. Germination so far is about 20% but I only sowed them 10 days ago. Far better than the untreated seeds which have only popped up a couple of little ones.

Here is A. Nobilis:

Good work.

Darren; I think you may have tempted me back to sowing Tephrocactus again.