This is the most troublesome and most interesting way cacti reproduce. It is from the seeds that the strongest and most beautiful specimens grow .
When to sow cacti
Theoretically, you can sow cacti all year round, it all depends on what ways and how fully you can provide the seedlings with the necessary conditions - light and heat. Therefore, from a technical point of view, it is most convenient to sow cacti in late winter, early spring: days increase, more sun, heating is still on, which means that the room is warm and you can use batteries to heat crops.
Where to get cactus seeds
1. A regular flower shop sells mixtures of seeds from various types of cacti, for example, the firm Gavrish "cactus Fidget." Suitable for novice cacti, because cheaply and angrily - in the mixture the most unpretentious species (mammilaria, rebucia, echinocactus, parodies).
2. Online stores sell seeds in mixes and various types separately. From the appearance of the seeds, it is usually impossible to determine their authenticity or freshness. And since many suppliers have rather big prices for seeds, you need to purchase them only in online stores with an impeccable reputation (read reviews about stores on the forum). When ordering, pay attention to the minimum order amount (if you cooperate with friends, you can save on delivery).
3. Get the seeds yourself if you already have flowering cacti of the same species.
How to get seeds from your cacti
To carry out pollination, you need to have two cacti unrelated to each other, i.e. those that were themselves grown from cuttings or from seeds of different plants. The flowers from which the pollen will be taken should be completely blooming, the pollen should be very easily separated, so that it could be collected on a cotton ball or brush. Pollen from one flowering cactus is transferred to the flower of another, as a result, a berry forms in place of the flower after a while.
To obtain high-quality seeds, the berry must ripen. Then it is carefully broken up and the seeds are taken out, which can be stored in a paper bag, not forgetting to sign the name of the cactus and the date of receipt of the seeds.
How to germinate cactus seeds
Conditions for cactus seed germination
For successful germination of cactus seeds of many species, a daytime temperature of about + 26 ° -30 ° С is needed, at night it is 7-10 ° С lower. Moderate soil humidity (not damp, not dry, but slightly humid) and high air humidity.
But as soon as the seeds germinate, there is an urgent need for the third and main growth factor - lighting. And the lighting should be very good!
Growth stimulants, which have proven themselves very well in rooting cuttings and germinating seeds of other houseplants, are rarely used for cacti, since their effect on these plants is not fully understood. If you want to try such a tool, then it is better to apply it to one cactus, and not to the entire collection.
What and where to sow seeds
For germination and growing seeds, it is better to use a special greenhouse, which can be purchased in the store or made yourself. But if there is no way to make or buy a greenhouse, then the seeds are simply sown in a bowl.
Drainage, approximately 7-10 mm high, is poured onto the bottom of the plate (wide tray, low box). Then a layer of loose sheet earth about 2 cm high and a layer of well-washed river sand, about 1.5-2 cm high. Previously, the drainage is poured with boiling water, and the soil and sand are fried in the oven or heated in the microwave for disinfection. Sand for sowing is suitable only for river, not from a sandbox and necessarily sifted from dust. Particle sizes are desirably 1-3 mm. Unwashed and/or very fine sand after wetting coalesces, sticks together and forms a dense crust. This does not allow the leaves of the seedlings to breathe, they quickly die .
Cactus seeds need to be disinfected before sowing. To do this, the easiest way is to use 3% hydrogen peroxide, just soak the seeds for 5-10 minutes.
Seeds are sown to the depth recommended for a particular species. Seeds up to 3 mm in size, especially small ones, dust-like ones are not sprinkled with sand, sown directly on the surface. Seeds are larger, you can sow in grooves no more than 3 mm deep. You have to sow cacti either manually, choosing each seed separately, or sprinkle very small seeds on the surface of the sand with a pinch. It is advisable to sow seeds with a pinch, of which there are a lot and when germinating it is not a pity to thin out the seedlings. If seeds are rare or limited, plant each separately.
Here it is necessary to warn: the seeds of most cacti are small, if they fall, they are lost irretrievably. Therefore, open the seeds that came in the parcel carefully, over a table lined with white paper and, trying not to scatter.
By the way, the most experienced cactus artists of our forum have already shared their secrets of growing cacti from seeds.
Cactus crop care
Here are the seeds sown, now they need to be sprayed from the sprayer. It should be tuned so that no water jet is formed, but only the smallest droplets. When moistened from the sprayer, the seeds naturally deepen into the sand, and there is no erosion of the soil.
In the literature, there are often recommendations to water crops or seedlings by immersion in water, this recommendation is usually reprinted from old books published at a time when spray sprayers for flowers were not yet on the shelves of flower shops, and watering from watering can threatened to wash away all work and hopes. Therefore, forget about ordinary watering - it is best to spray cacti once or twice a day.
The plate or box with crops must be covered with glass or cling film so that the air humidity remains high enough. Ventilate at least twice a day. Regular ventilation is a prerequisite for normal germination and growth of seedlings. During airing, the condensate must be removed from the film or glass. The fact is that humidity is needed high, but not 100%, and condensate can lead to a short circuit if the lamp is inside the greenhouse.
By the way, with high humidity, which is created in a greenhouse or covered with glass, blue-green algae inevitably appear. It looks like greening sand or walls of the plate. Blue-green algae themselves are not harmful, but they can form a dense crust on the surface of the substrate, blocking oxygen, and are simply annoying. To reduce the formation of greenery (it is almost impossible to get rid of completely), you need systematic ventilation. You can loosen sand between rows of crops. If a lot of greenery has formed, it is easier to peel cacti into fresh soil.
The time it takes to germinate depends on the species of cactus. Some need several days, others will germinate for a month or even several months. The germination time also depends on the shelf life of the seeds. Usually fresh seeds germinate faster than those stored for more than a year. After the seeds have risen, they are seedlings with two well-defined cotyledons characteristic of all cacti, so it is very difficult to immediately determine which cactus it is from the seedlings.
If you know that the seeds should have already risen, but this does not happen, the seeds are strong and healthy in appearance, then you can use the method that many cactusists practice. The seed plate is rearranged to a cooler place and not watered until the soil is dry. In two weeks or more, the seeds are again taken to a warm place and watered. This procedure stimulates seed germination. In some cases, you should forget about the seeds in the bowl for six months or a year, put them in a dry place with a moderate temperature. Try again next spring. Some of the seeds can grow, however, less strong plants will grow from this batch.
For growing cacti from seeds, bottom heating (soil heating) is needed; for germination, most require a temperature of about 30 ° C. The easiest way is to put a plate with seeds on an electric heater. You can also use the battery if the sowing is carried out during the heating season. But as soon as the seeds germinate, install lighting above them. There is another option - a thermowell for a terrarium, or a thermowell. There are thermal hoses for completely land terrariums, 3 or more meters long. This is convenient if the plantations of crops are large. The only note: you should play it safe and regularly check the ground temperature with a thermometer.
Lighting cactus seedlings is a very important point. Without exception, seedlings are very demanding on light. If it is not enough, the kids stretch out, cheat, get sick, die. Even on the southern windowsill, in most cases, light is not enough for seedlings. Think ahead and stock up on lamps or lights. It is necessary to place them so that the distance from crops to the fluorescent lamp (s) is no more than 10 cm. It is better to use tube lamps - the lighting is more uniform with them. Lighting duration is 8-12 hours.
For the first two years, young seedlings are grown in ordinary indoor conditions, if necessary, they are illuminated, ventilated, exposed to the balcony or veranda (with protection from wind and scorching sun). But in the third year of life, cactus must have a dormant period in winter with a cool temperature, in order for them to successfully bloom in summer. See the article Cacti - brief requirements for soil, temperature, lighting
Possible difficulties with crops
Sometimes the seedling that appears seems to lie on its side, and the young roots stick out to the side. It is necessary with a thin stick, you can make a hole under the roots with a pencil, and lift the seedling so that the roots are in this hole, you do not need to press it with the ground, it will be fixed in the soil or sand itself.
The seedling has appeared, but the adhered seed shell does not want to separate from the sprout - this happens quite often - it is imperative to carefully remove the remains of the shell, if it holds too tightly, then perhaps the seedling will have to be removed from the soil to remove the shell.
One of the seedlings rotted - urgently check all the remaining seedlings, and remove the deceased along with a lump of earth or sand that surrounded him. If another seedling dies, then it is necessary to immediately dive all the remaining seedlings into the new disinfected soil.
Picking cactus seedlings
The question of when to conduct the first dive is quite controversial among cactusists. Some advise to dive after the appearance of the first spines, others determine the time - in a year or two. The fact is that cactus seedlings grow in different ways - some species are very slow, others are yeast. In addition, the growth rate depends on the conditions - those grown in a greenhouse in heat, with good light and high humidity grow much faster than without heating and additional light. Well, hand skill (delicate work) is also an important factor. Babies are easy to injure, more likely to lose part of the crops. Therefore, sometimes it is more correct to endure slow growing up, but keep crops intact.
I follow the advice of experienced cactus practitioners, picking my seedlings for the first time after something appears between the cotyledons that looks like spines or even hairs. Frequent pickings, on average in one and a half to two months, significantly accelerate the growth of cacti. Thus, I dived my cacti 6 times in the first year of my life, and the next year they were almost adult plants, and no longer a dive was carried out, but rather transshipment into fresh soil in spring and mid-summer. But sometimes, due to the violent growth of blue-green algae, it was necessary to dive unscheduled.
Rules for picking cactus seedlings
- You cannot tear seedlings out of the soil by the crown. They are carefully dug up, but it is better to hold the seedling with your fingers, and not with metal tweezers. You can use tweezers if you put rubber tubes from the dropper on the ends. It is necessary to handle seedlings extremely carefully, each, even a microscopic wound can be fatal for him.
- Before picking, the soil is moistened and depressions are made in it. The removed seedling is transferred to a new place along with a lump of soil. The soil is not watered, but only sprayed. The plate is covered with glass and is in the same conditions, i.e. under heating and light, as before.
- If you want to remove the seedlings from the heating, then this should be done no earlier than two weeks after the dive.