Hello. Thanks for letting me join.
I need some advice on growing cactus from seed. I’ve planted four seeds and so far I’ve only got one tiny plant. It’s about the size of a small bit of fluff. They are in the window and get sun. How often should I water them. At the moment I spray them lightly twice a day when the soil gets dry.
Any general advice would be appreciated.
Thanks.
Growing cactus from seeds.
The Central Arizona Cactus & Succulent Society maintains an online repository for helpful hints about propagation, including growing from seed.
https://centralarizonacactus.org/plant-info/#1483909501900-29681172-25a3
Quote from Minime8484 :
The Central Arizona Cactus & Succulent Society maintains an online repository for helpful hints about propagation, including growing from seed.
https://centralarizonacactus.org/plant-info/#1483909501900-29681172-25a3
Many of those links are dead.
Cacti are among the easiest of all plants to grow from seed, with few exceptions.
I have grown them for over 20 years by sprinkling the seeds on soil mix in containers and watering with a spray bottle. I feed them immediately and with nearly every watering and I give them as much light as possible without the temperature going over 90* F / 32*C. I give them up to 16 hours of light a day (indoors) with about 65W of LED lighting per square foot. A columnar cactus grown this way can be over a meter tall in about two years.
There are slow methods that do not work well, which avoid fertilizing, avoid bright light and use sterilized soil in closed containers or bags. Those methods work poorly but have been used for decades. There is bad information out there saying that cactus seedlings do not need to be fed or do not like bright light.
It is little wonder than so many people report cacti to be difficult from seed given such mythology. Raising plants with very little food or light is as absurd as raising a human child without feeding them.
Quote from Isanara :
[quote="Isanara"]
Many of those links are dead.
I just checked the site, and the only two links that are broken are:
Cactus from Seed – Leo Martin
Winter-Growing Succulents from Seed – Leo Martin
All others in the Propagation Section work fine and contain very valuable recommendations, including 5 on growing from seed.
This message was edited Jun 14, 2022 9:40 AM
Quote from Minime8484 :
I just checked the site, and the only two links that are broken are:
Cactus from Seed – Leo Martin
Winter-Growing Succulents from Seed – Leo Martin
All others in the Propagation Section work fine and contain very valuable recommendations, including 5 on growing from seed.
This message was edited Jun 14, 2022 9:40 AM
I did not find any good information in those links and the 5 have have little to nothing to do with cacti from seed but are for other plants. Those that mention cacti have very little information and much of it is severely outdated.
With decades of experience growing cacti from seed I can accurately inform people that the methods that are there are poor.
Here is an example:
https://centralarizonacactus.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Growing-Cacti-and-Succulents-from-Seed-LuitenK.pdf
None of these methods are good and most contain actually very little information about the care and conditions required for growing cacti from seed.
Ha! We'll just have to agree to disagree. :)
As someone that's grown seeds for over 20 years, administers the Propagation Education Group of the CACSS, manages a international Rare Cacti of Brazil Propagation Project, and personally interacted with numerous seed growers for over 20 years, I think the one thing I can certainly guarantee is that one person doesn't know it all.
The example document you provided is an extremely helpful and valuable resource for anyone that is interested in growing cacti from seed. His results are proven.
There are almost as many ways of growing cacti from seed successfully as there are stars in the sky. Believing in the Mantra "My Way or the Highway" is always suspicious in my book.
But, certainly, you do you.
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