Opuntia by seed

There is a beautiful prickly pear in town here that I must have. Rather than damage the plant by "pruning" for them, I'd rather grab some of the apples and try it by seed.

So, this morning I got an apple off of it, broke it open and took the seeds out. I washed the seeds and threw out the floating ones (only a few) and I have about 25 seeds left laying on a paper towel and drying in the kitchen.

Do these need to be stratified or rested over winter before I sow them? Does anyone who has grown these from seed have any tips for me?

Dave

Seed: Dave were they fully ripe. Did you wait for them to dry in the fruit, was the fruit cracked. Would it have been possible for them to have ripened on the plant? What color are the flowers, I looking for a pink flowering opuntia. We usally wait until they are fully ripe. You may want to refrigerate them in a jar over the winter and plant in the Spring. I don't believe it would be necessary to stratch them before planting, why not try half and half. Some species are very cold hardy. You may want to try a batch under lights now, and see what happens. Watch the watering, don't rot them out, do you have a spray or rinse, for fungus,mold, that might be of some help? But the soil in a micro wave for 5 minutes. Use your native soil, that the mother plants is growing in,if she likes it so will the kids. Use a fine #5 white gravel on top of the seeds, and slightly press the seed in with another pot bottom. The gravel keeps the green moss? algae? mold? from forming and it will also keep the seeds from washing out. Mind you, use a very fine layer of this gravel, Dave I hope I've explained my self well enough for you to follow what I'm trying to say. If not, you know that I don't mind any questiions. Once they start to grow then you must keep them slightly damp until they are big enough to transplant. Use a tiny pot(3") for that few seeds. We plant 50 seeds to a 4" pot. If I left anything out, email me please, or the rest of you post it to the thread for Dave, I will not get my nose out of joint. Norma

Yes, they need dormancy.
But they might germinate well with out dormancy, if you sow them now when they are still fresh.
Try it.

Hey Dave...that looks like the cactus I keep trying to get rid of. Ya want some??

Thanks for the offer, Ginger_H - I'll decline. If I --really-- wanted this I'd just snap off a pad for myself. :) I think the challenge of growing it by seed is what I was looking for here. :)

Incidentally, I think that the seeds were not ripe when I took them. They are still growing on the plant, so I will wait until they completely fall off and then snag them.

dave

That is what I am planning to do today, I got some seeds in a trade and doing research on it, Diane