Cacti/succulents from seed

jpappy789

jpappy789

Plants need meat too
Feb 18, 2007
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Gainesville, FL
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Josh
Odd question, but has anyone done it before?

Starting a CP setup has got me interested in growing more indoor plants. I have a small pot with some small desert plants that I got like 10 years ago in Arizona but I think they were too close to my heater this winter and got fried. I didn't want to spend money on full grown plants so I decided to go with some seeds instead. I bought a plastic flat, some specialty soil, and a cover for less than 10 bucks.

There's not much out there on growing from seeds so I'm hoping someone has done it before. The info on the back of the seed packets aren't much help either...
 
jpappy789 said:
Odd question, but has anyone done it before?

Starting a CP setup has got me interested in growing more indoor plants. I have a small pot with some small desert plants that I got like 10 years ago in Arizona but I think they were too close to my heater this winter and got fried. I didn't want to spend money on full grown plants so I decided to go with some seeds instead. I bought a plastic flat, some specialty soil, and a cover for less than 10 bucks.

There's not much out there on growing from seeds so I'm hoping someone has done it before. The info on the back of the seed packets aren't much help either...
Click to expand...

Materials - play sand, regular soil (not potting soil), pumice, dixie cups, and clear plastic dome.

Punch holes in the bottom of the dixie cups using a big sewing needle. Mix regular soil and pumice. Fill the dixie cup 3/4 full of the mixture (pumice and regular soil). Pour play sand over the mixture, leaving about half inch space from the top. Soak the dixie cups 'pots' halfway or less in lukewarm water until the sand on top is moist. Remove the dixie cups from the soaking tub and allow to drain. Sprinkle the cacti seeds over the sand in the pots and barely cover the seeds with sand (just enough sand layer to almost cover the seeds). Cover the dixie cups with a clear plastic dome. You can get these plastic domes from 7/11 or Circle K convenience stores. I think they're used for shaved ice or yogurt ice cream cups. Place the pots in filtered light and the seeds germinate in 3 to 5 days. Tip the plastic dome when there's too much moisture inside to prevent mold. Remove the dome 3 days after germination. Keep the soil moist but not soggy or bone dry.

The seedlings are ready to transplant into more dixie cups after a year. Transplant 4 or more seedlings in each dixie cup. When the seedlings are pushing against each other, it's time to transplant again.

I've planted rare/expensive cacti this way. I'm also a member of Central Arizona Cactus and Succulent Society -

http://www.centralarizonacactus.org/.

Here's a good link for high quality cacti seeds or seedlings source -

http://www.mesagarden.com/
 
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Well, everything is setup already LOL but thanks for the info anyways! I'm using a special cacti/succulent "soil" (the brand is Hoffman) from the garden center and that's where I got the seeds from. Hopefully that's good enough but if not then I can always start from scratch again since it's not a huge investment. Right now they are in a shallow plant tray and are covered with a top.
 
I got some agave's ive got growing started by seed. It was harder then expected. But should be easier next time I take a wack at it. The thing with cacti is to be patient some seeds with germinate fast where as others could take weeks or even months to germinate.
 
Yeah, that is what the seed packages actually said. Doesn't matter for me...I waited all last summer for some strawberry seeds to germinate and when they finally did they stopped growing and withered away LOL. I'm willing to get this to work even if only a few end up germinating and get big enough to transplant.
 
This is my Aloe polyphylla. I got it to grow a nice size but the soil I transplanted it into later was to strong and it withered away. I planted it outside and forgot bout it thinking it would die. Well as I was clearing my garden I discovered it was growing again. I put it in a pot before I accidently tossed it out with the weeds and grass i pulled out.

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