I forgot to mention that if you are new to growing cactus from seed, pick a genus/species that tends to be "easier". It makes the initial experience positive and encouraging. Astrophytum myriostigma or ornatum is a great place to start - as long as the seeds are not terribly old, they can have great germination rate and are quite hardy to a wide range of growing conditions and are resilient to transplanting. Mesa Garden recommends these plants for beginners: "Some of the easiest cactus plants to grow are: Notocactus (Parodia), Trichocereus, Neoporteria, Opuntia, Echinopsis, and Rebutia. These plants germinate well, grow fast, do not rot very easily and, best of all, have amazing flowers!" The first seeds I ever haphazardly sowed were Astrophytum myriostigma seeds from my own plant. I had no intentions to ever grow from seed, but one day I noticed some seed pods burst on my plant so I threw them in pure cactus soil in little plastic sauce cups with no drainage holes. I put the cups in zip-lock bags and they stayed in there for 4 months before I nervously repotted them. They didn't grow very fast but they stayed alive and I still have them 1.5 years later. Little did I know that these little Astros were my gateway into a full blown obsession. Happy growing, my cactus friends!
So I took some seed and followed your instructions I took my container to work and left the light on with my container on this electric transformer that gets the seed 80 degrees, They are already coming up and doing great . It’s only been about 2 weeks . I’m a cactus Ninja 🥷
Finally a video that is easy to follow and not to overwhelming with scientific terminologies and methodologies to do something which should be fun and pleasureful for beginners or enthusiasts who are "too lazy" like me to do everthing an "expert" deem necessary. If a hobby becomes a chore then it is not a hobby anymore. Keep up the good work and look forward to more of your videos.
i enjoyed this video. this is more than just germination tips and tricks; this is an inspiration to anyone who wants to get into growing from seed cookie break! ❤️
Cookie break! LOL! This is the best comment ever, Vincent. You really made my night. I'll try to do a follow-up video if things work out. Sometimes I feel like sowing and germination is the easy part, the rest of the growing journey can be very... well... interesting.
I absolutely enjoyed this video! Thorough, easy to follow, loads of information, practical. You have a very nice speaking voice. I am going to check out your channel. Thanks!
Awwww thank you so much for the lovely comment! I still feel awkward when I hear my voice play back but I'm slowly starting to get used to it. I'm so glad you enjoyed the video!
So much info in this video! 👍🏼 Wow, Jenny, your seed sowing has really taken off! I think you can open your own shop in a year or 2. 😉 Your seedlings are growing well. I like how neatly they are planted all lined up in square pots and all having the same top dressing. You just reminded me of my heat mat! I haven’t used mine yet and it’s in its box for a year now. 🤭
Ana! You are one of my inspirations and role models on growing cactus and growing from seed! I can't count the number of times I watched your seed sowing videos (amongst all your other videos). My dream is to have so many seedlings that I don't know what to do with them. A table full of Copiapoa.... What do you do with all your seedlings? I never think that far, just grow for the sake of growing!
I started by putting seeds from my cacti in a wet paper towel then sealed it in a tub for 3 months and they grew! They don’t have there spikes yet but today I gently moved them into a proper mini pot you should try the damp paper towel method!
That's so cool! I love that there are so many ways to grow cactus from seed. I've been growing so many that I try to minimize the amount of repotting as much as possible, hence starting them in soil and nursery pots. I have several hundred seedlings that are overdue for repotting 😪
Nice video, along with a lot of useful information.Thanks for all your videos. I collect a lot of wild cactus seeds on my hikes in Southern New Mexico and love growing them out and replanting them in my landscape.
Thank you, Dean! I feel like I'm stumbling along this cactus growing journey, having some success (sometimes by luck) and making lots of mistakes at the same time. New Mexico has so many cool native plants, that's so cool that you're growing them from seed and then planting them in your landscape!
Thank you for the feedback, Manuel! I hope this round of seedlings turn out okay. I still don't have a solid growing process down. I'll post more update videos, good or bad, as time goes on.
I joined my local cactus and succulent society, and they do not have a seed bank like you mentioned. It's very cool yours does. I sowed my first batch 01/13/24 😊 Your videos have been very helpful.
Woohoo! I'm so glad you're growing cactus from seed! They're over a month old now, how's it going? Which cactus club do you belong to? I bet it just takes one person to want to start a seed bank to get it going. And if enough members have seeds to contribute, you'll instantly have a club seen bank ☺️
@cookiescacti Michigan cactus and succulent society. They're doing pretty good! Some issues, but it's been a learning experience. Second batch cacti are much larger than my first and my third batch has barley germinated. I believe it's the method I used.
36 pots of seedlings!! Wowwwww! Same here, tweezers are a life saver! Also thick rubber gloves like common household cleaning gloves are SUPER helpful. Aaron at Mesa Garden recommended it to me a while ago and it has completely saved my hands.
Absolutely loved this video, just had time to watch it before heading out, the thumbnail on seed sowing got me 😁 Loved to see your seedlings, so many fantastic cactus on the go! Absolutely great information, really informative. I'm definitely going to use larger pots for seed sowing, usually use tiny 5cm pots, just because of space, but think my seeds deserve a bit more room now, long term, seeing as I can too be lazy 😄 I think the potting substrate will hold moisture longer when young. Yes, Garland trays are very good quality and from the UK. I use those, sturdy too. I must get on with my seed sowing 😄 Brilliant video, always a pleasure to watch, and Cookie the cat always has great timing! 🌵 Festive greetings to you 🎄
Thank you so much, Claire! Oh gosh, those pots and seeds had been sitting on my table since August and I FINALLY got around to taking care of them! My sowing method has many, many flaws LOL. The real challenge for me comes after germination happens, and then the growing journey becomes super interesting and stressful. The space/density challenge is never-ending. I hope enough of my seedlings survive so that I have to worry about running out of space :) By the way, you are one of the channels I watch on repeat for all things cactus. I love your videos! Thanks to you and all the other plant content creators for inspiring us newbies to grow, grow, grow!
@@cookiescacti Ahh thank you 😁 We learn so much from each other and watching everyone's many methods of growing definitely helps with our cactus journey 😊 I'm trying new ways just from seeing your success, our different climates helps me adapt what I'm doing, my biggest issue is getting seedlings to grow bigger faster 😆 I just love seeing your seedlings, especially those Copiapoa, just amazing 👌🏻 Your channel is great 👍🏻🌵
@@CactusCove I love our online cactus community, both here and on Instagram. I have learned so much from other growers and plant lovers. It's so much fun to exchange information and grab tips here and there that enhance our own growing procedure! You know, my completely uneducated guess is that climate is making the big difference in growth rate. My brother fell in love with the Saguaro when he came to visit so I sent him home with one of my Saguaro seedlings. My brother lives in Oregon where it's cold and wet most of the year. His little Saguaro is still alive but is growing much slower than its siblings here in Arizona. It must be the dry heat that does the trick!
Trays are so important! I use trays with holes for my outdoor growing space since pouring water all over the ground is okay. Without them, my pots would be knocked all over the place. Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a comment, Anders!
It really is that easy when it comes to sowing seeds, Tatiana! Then just check on them regularly to see if anyone is rotting or if there's mold overgrowth. I spray the top dressing to make sure the seeds are nice and wet. High humidity and warmth gets the seeds going. The Saguaro in Arizona mostly seed just before the monsoon so they can germinate with all the rain water and high humidity. Kind of a similar concept in cultivation - only we pamper the heck out of them 😁.
I just realized by "washing" you might have been referring to when I say that I sift and wash the decomposed granite. The reason is because it's super dusty out of the bag. Is it necessary to wash it? Probably not. Now that I think of it, my super laziness is kicking in and I may start skipping the washing part LOL 😁
Funny you should ask - I only have a few Copiapoa mature enough to flower, one esmeraldana, one laui, and one tenuissima. The rest of my poas are all seedlings. My mature plants haven't synced up their flowering so I haven't had a chance to try pollinating them yet. I heard from another plant enthusiast that they have also struggled with successful pollination, so it must be difficult!
I am your fan in Taiwan! like your video very much, there are many valuable experience sharing in it. The copiapoa seedlings you planted grow really super fast! Your planting technique is really amazing! I feel that copiapoa is very afraid of heat. The copiapoa seedlings I sowed last summer were all killed when the temperature was 35℃(95°F). Will you keep them indoors when the temperature is high in summer?
Hello from Arizona! My parents are from Taiwan! I also heard that Copiapoa hate the heat but I've seen them grown outside here in Arizona both at the botanical garden and in people's backyard gardens, so it's definitely doable. I heard that slow acclimation should work but I'm nervous. That is devastating that your seedlings died! How did they die? Was it rot? Or too much sun? I have so many Copiapoa seedlings that I feel I will have to move them outside at some point - I just don't have the space indoors to keep them all. I'll probably keep my favorites indoors and the rest will go outside next spring as soon as the night time temperatures are above 50F. I'll put them somewhere well protected from the sun and see if they will acclimate. I wish us all luck! Thank you so much for the supportive comment! I really, really appreciate it!
Wow, what an interesting coincidence! If you come to Taiwan, you can visit Taiwan's aesthetic preference for cactus breeding. I think it is very different from the United States. I think the copiapoa seedlings that have died should be from the heat and not the strong light, because I put them with the ariocarpus seedlings, and the copiapoa seedlings were too hot to rot when the ariocarpus seedlings were still emerald green. So I think their tolerance to high temperature is very low when they are a few months old. looking forward to your recording videos of the seedlings going out to meet the world. I hope they can adapt well and live a long life.
@@HiTaiTai It's so much fun to see different preferences and focus points for growers around the world. How long have you been growing cactus, Hsuan? Do you have a local cactus society? Oh gosh your comment about the Copiapoa seedlings and heat makes me really nervous. Maybe next spring I'll try moving a few of the older seedlings outside to test it out. Ariocarpus on the other hand absolutely love the heat, I agree! I'll definitely be making update videos in the future. Thank you so much for watching and taking the time to comment!
Can I ask can I grow the seeds in those multi trays that Amazon sells with for example 30 trays they come with an over head light on top of the plastic container, if you can how long would you use the led light for a day can they be kept in a room with minimal direct light? I know you don’t put them in full sun. Many thx for any replies
I don't see why not. Granted I haven't used those trays before, but really there are so many options on setups to grow from seed. Humidity, light, reasonable temperature and room for the plants and roots to grow are about all you need. They would need a source of light, whether artificial or natural. I only have limited experience in different setups, so I do recommend doing some research or asking folks in your local cactus society (if you have one) on their recommendations as well. I keep my grow lights on for 13 hours a day, but I just happened to pick that number, I don't know if more or less light is optimal. There are also several videos on RU-vid where other growers show their setups - definitely recommend watching those and picking the method that speaks to you the most.
Darn, I can't answer this because I've never used vermiculite before and I'm not familiar with the material. I've heard other growers use it in their soil mix. My top dressing in this video is decomposed granite, which I believe is quite different from vermiculite. Definitely recommend running a search on the internet to check.
It's from IKEA. It was originally used to house some crafting supplies and display some stuff that I made, but as you can see the plants have taken over!
75-ish should be good for germination. I have a feeling that as long as it's warm and humid, it should get the seeds going. I've heard some folks like the soil in the 80s, some in the 70s. Last winter I used a heat mat, this winter I just used room temp with the added warmth of the grow lights and both seemed fine. I just think about monsoon conditions when the seeds germ in nature. Warm and humid.
They can last for a while. Some seeds can germinate after a decade or perhaps more if stored properly. Of course usually the fresher the seeds the better germination you get. Seed viability may depend on the genus/species too, I don't know the specifics on this though.
I use different sizes of hardware cloth to screen my soil. Airiates and sizes it. I Microwave my soil to kill bugs and fungus, etc. Copiapoa Humilis I grow those. I find that if graft the top and roots, they offset really fast. A lot faster than seed.
I've heard the same about grafting - much faster growth rate. It's something I hope to try in the future but haven't gotten to yet. What do you use for root stock?
Dear Jenny, very nice and informative video (as usual, also, a pleasure to watch). The method you are using for growing cacti from seed seems to be a dominant one lately, and also quite successful. Just as an interesting alternative, try and watch this video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-NvPPawMPQlM.html It was made by the very experienced grower from Netherlands, and I followed his "recipe" for the past several years with great results. Might be worth trying, especially for the more challenging species. Best regards, Nino P.S. I almost forgot, please switch on the subtitles on that video 😀
Thank you for sending the link, Nino! I can't believe I haven't seen this video before. When I was just starting I was devouring every video I could find on RU-vid on growing from seed. This is very interesting to start the seeds in vermiculite and then transplant them. I may need to try this with the plants that I have been struggling with. Do you battle fungus in your growing experience? Have you found a good way to deal with it? I've been having a wave of what looks like rust infect some of my seedlings starting this summer. I use a fungicide with mixed results.
@@cookiescacti By using vermiculite (which is sterile) and deionized/demineralized water (which is best sterilized by boiling) and by using air-tight containers, I have experienced very little problems with fungi. Of course, spores of harmful fungi can always be introduced by air during sowing, or by contaminated seeds. Therefore it is advisable to give seeds 20-30 minutes bath in 3% hydrogen peroxide or, perhaps more effective, 50% solution of household bleach before sowing. It is, however, almost impossible to sterilize some very small seeds (e.g. Aztekium, Strombocactus, Blossfeldia, etc.) in such way. In the case of fungi appearing anyway (usually the "fuzzy" white formations) I treat them locally by applying 3% hydrogen peroxide with an eye-dropper, with pretty good results. I abstain from using commercial fungicides, because they appear to be rather harmful to the seedlings - in my past experiments I have had more casualties from fungicides than fungi themselves. I hope that helps. Best regards, Nino
@@Nino_G Thank you for the information, Nino! I am going to try the eye dropper technique with 3% hydrogen peroxide - I will have plenty of mold to experiment on... i know it already
@@markdale278 I've been using the same method for everything but it doesn't mean it works well for everything (I'm just so lazy). Yes, I use the same method for Euphorbia but I have grown very few Euphorbia from seed so I can't say for sure how well this works. It should be a similar method though.
Great video, thanks for taking us on your beginner's journey! I bought my first packet of seeds 7 months ago and just love my little babies, I now need more LOL Heading to check out your repotting videos. Thank you!
This is so awesome that you're also growing from seed! Which genus/species are you growing? I'm not sure if you've been watching my series on these seeds that I sowed in this video, I've been doing monthly updates and we just passed 7 months. Some doing great, some doing terrible, all part of the game!
@@cookiescacti thank you and I did start going through your library - lots for me to learn! The cactus seeds were a mixed blend but unlabeled from Baker's Creek. When they get older, I hope to ID them. Agree on the some do great or not so great - trying to propagate succulents from a friend's stash proved to be a bust! LOL But still very fun. Thanks!
