Germination

This forum is for discussion about small Opuntias, open to all.
User avatar
Phil_SK
Moderator
Posts: 5442
https://www.behance.net/kuchnie-warszawa
Joined: 11 Jan 2007
Branch: MACCLESFIELD & EAST CHESHIRE
Country: UK
Role within the BCSS: Forum Moderator
Location: Stockport, UK

Re: Germination

Post by Phil_SK »

I spent a while yesterday trying to find a photo online of a ripe Tephrocactus fruit but failed.
Phil Crewe, BCSS 38143. Mostly S. American cacti, esp. Lobivia, Sulcorebutia and little Opuntia
User avatar
el48tel
BCSS Member
Posts: 5281
Joined: 04 Aug 2018
Branch: LEEDS
Country: UK
Role within the BCSS: Member
Location: Leeds

Re: Germination

Post by el48tel »

How old does a Tunilla have to be before it will flower?
Endeavouring to grow Aylostera, Echinocereus, Echinopsis, Gymnocalycium, Matucana, Rebutia, and Sulcorebutia. Fallen out of love with Lithops and aggravated by Aeoniums.
Currently being wooed by Haworthia, attempting hybridisation, and enticed by Mesembs.
User avatar
Pattock
BCSS Member
Posts: 1069
Joined: 07 Nov 2020
Branch: None
Country: United Kingdom

Re: Germination

Post by Pattock »

Phil_SK wrote: Sat Mar 20, 2021 10:47 am I spent a while yesterday trying to find a photo online of a ripe Tephrocactus fruit but failed.
Me too.

I am now very intrigued to know how the seeds get distributed.

They have floats attached to the seed so may be spread by floods? Do they get concentrated sulphuric acid floods regularly in South America? The recalcitrant inhibitors and woodiness must need a lot of weathering before they are removed sufficiently for germination. Does light destroy the inhibitors?
Asclepiomaniac. Armchair ethnobotanist.
Occasional, eclectic blogger:
http://pattheplants.blogspot.com/
User avatar
Mike P
BCSS Member
Posts: 2794
Joined: 26 Nov 2007
Branch: BROMLEY
Country: UK
Role within the BCSS: Branch Secretary
Location: Forest Hill

Re: Germination

Post by Mike P »

el48tel wrote: Sat Mar 20, 2021 11:29 am How old does a Tunilla have to be before it will flower?
Well it all depends where and how they are grown I find. Maybe 5 years if given good light and a cool dry winter rest. Like a lot of clumping plants they grow exponentially so the first few years they seem slow but once they get to fill a 5” /6” pot they speed up and should be large enough to flower. Except there is a lot of variance between different clones and I have a few which hardly ever flower and one or two not at all....seed grown ones take a good bit longer.
Mike
Secretary Bromley Branch
User avatar
Tony R
Moderator
Posts: 4011
Joined: 20 Apr 2009
Branch: BROMLEY
Country: UK
Role within the BCSS: Member
Location: Hartley, LONGFIELD, Kent

Re: Germination

Post by Tony R »

Mike P wrote: Sat Mar 20, 2021 2:00 pm
el48tel wrote: Sat Mar 20, 2021 11:29 am How old does a Tunilla have to be before it will flower?
Well it all depends where and how they are grown I find. Maybe 5 years if given good light and a cool dry winter rest. Like a lot of clumping plants they grow exponentially so the first few years they seem slow but once they get to fill a 5” /6” pot they speed up and should be large enough to flower. Except there is a lot of variance between different clones and I have a few which hardly ever flower and one or two not at all....seed grown ones take a good bit longer.
Here are some Tunilla corrugata in 6cm pots in flower - lots of sunshine and being pot-bound encourage flowering, I find.
Tunilla corrugata.jpg
Tony Roberts
Treasurer, Haworthia Society
Chairman, Tephrocactus Study Group
Moderator, BCSS Forum
Kent
(Gasteria, Mammillaria, small Opuntia, Cleistocactus and Sempervivum are my current special interests)
Darren S
BCSS Member
Posts: 458
Joined: 14 Aug 2009
Branch: None
Country: UK
Role within the BCSS: Member
Location: Lancaster UK

Re: Germination

Post by Darren S »

That is lovely Tony! My only tunilla is very floriferous but a pillar-box red flower. I must try to get more.
Darren nr Lancaster UK. Growing Conophytum, Lobivia, Sulcorebutia, bulbs etc.
User avatar
el48tel
BCSS Member
Posts: 5281
Joined: 04 Aug 2018
Branch: LEEDS
Country: UK
Role within the BCSS: Member
Location: Leeds

Re: Germination

Post by el48tel »

Great looking plant Tony
Pot bound ..... easy to achieve
Sunshine in Leeds ..... less easy to achieve
Time ..... err ... difficult
Endeavouring to grow Aylostera, Echinocereus, Echinopsis, Gymnocalycium, Matucana, Rebutia, and Sulcorebutia. Fallen out of love with Lithops and aggravated by Aeoniums.
Currently being wooed by Haworthia, attempting hybridisation, and enticed by Mesembs.
User avatar
Mike P
BCSS Member
Posts: 2794
Joined: 26 Nov 2007
Branch: BROMLEY
Country: UK
Role within the BCSS: Branch Secretary
Location: Forest Hill

Re: Germination

Post by Mike P »

Cheating Tony they are not ‘in’ 6cm pots they just start out in one.......but you are right treating them mean gets them flowering. Mine are currently pleading for a little water but I tend to hold off until April as I find this encourages a display like this...
2C68AFF3-E6B8-4A82-876F-966AF1C1A9DD.jpeg
2C68AFF3-E6B8-4A82-876F-966AF1C1A9DD.jpeg (141.6 KiB) Viewed 1192 times
Mike
Secretary Bromley Branch
User avatar
RAYWOODBRIDGE
BCSS Member
Posts: 1134
Joined: 10 Mar 2012
Branch: None
Country: United Kingdom
Role within the BCSS: Member
Location: North West England
Contact:

Re: Germination

Post by RAYWOODBRIDGE »

Airampoa/Tunilla flower like dandelions if you get the sunshine, see all the posts on this sub forum from last year when we had a very sunny April/ May. ( but no fruit )
Ray

BCSS member 50155
DKG member 311605
Echinocereenfreund member 100

Cactus only collection mainly from seed.
User avatar
Mike P
BCSS Member
Posts: 2794
Joined: 26 Nov 2007
Branch: BROMLEY
Country: UK
Role within the BCSS: Branch Secretary
Location: Forest Hill

Re: Germination

Post by Mike P »

D3299F75-E4E4-40EB-B6DD-4F45FE5D22B2.jpeg
D3299F75-E4E4-40EB-B6DD-4F45FE5D22B2.jpeg (118.37 KiB) Viewed 1135 times
Mike
Secretary Bromley Branch
Post Reply