Seed Propagation Of Cacti. Part 1

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

Growing cacti from seeds is the best way to get well-developed, flowering plants in our conditions. This requires benign, non-hybrid seeds with good germination. Damaged seeds covered with mold, unripe (shriveled) are discarded

The germination rate of cactus seeds does not depend on the season and therefore you can sow at any time. If there is a greenhouse equipped with fluorescent lamps, it is better to do this in the fall, then in a year the grown seedlings will successfully overwinter. In the absence of a greenhouse, they sow in spring, but the results will be noticeably worse.

Sowing preparation

First you need to prepare the dishes. Convenient are plastic bowls or small children's cubes 3-4 cm high with a drainage hole at the bottom, which can be put into one box. On the eve they are thoroughly washed and disinfected. Crops of different types are marked with numbers. After that, the dishes are covered with a plexiglass plate. For the substrate, sifted sheet soil, coarse washed sand, crushed peat, brick chips (3: 3: 1: 1) are used. They are thoroughly mixed, moistened and sterilized at high temperature. For drainage, take well-washed and boiled small pebbles.

Before sowing, the seeds are soaked for 12-20 hours in a pink solution of potassium permanganate. Previously, each species is individually wrapped in a piece of filter paper, on which its number is written. So much solution is poured into a plate so that the bags do not drown in it, but only get wet. Small dusty seeds do not need to be soaked. After processing, the seed is dried and sprayed to prevent fungal diseases with 4% hydrogen peroxide solution or 7% calcium chloride. After 10 minutes, rinse thoroughly and dry again.

Sowing

Drainage is arranged at the bottom of the dishes, its main volume is filled with a substrate, which is compacted, tapping the bottom on the table, and leveled. A thin layer of fine sand is poured on top, better than white (the seeds will be clearly visible on it). Its surface should be 5-7 mm below the edge of the container. Then the substrate is thoroughly moistened from below. To do this, take distilled, boiled or soft water.

The seeds are laid out on the surface of the substrate with the help of a pointed wet end of a pencil or stick, to which they adhere well and are easily separated when in contact with wet sand. The seeds of astrophytums are laid with the convex side (back) down, in other species there should be a scar at the bottom. Large seeds are slightly buried, small ones are left on the surface. From above they are not covered with anything. In a common bowl, seeds of one type are laid in a straight line and separated from another type by a partition made of thin plastic. Sowed dishes are placed in a greenhouse or in another bright and warm place and tightly covered with a transparent plexiglass plate.

Germination

Most seeds germinate within the first two weeks. High germination with simultaneous sowing of various species is observed in a temperature regime of 25-27 ° C during the day and 10-27 ° at night. If seeds of the same type are sown, the optimum temperature for them can be found from tables in specialized literature. During the germination period, there is enough illumination of 1200 lux for 12-14 hours a day, that is, one of the five fluorescent lamps available in the greenhouse is turned on. This reduces the likelihood of green algae appearing. The substrate must be constantly moist; overdrying of the seeds is unacceptable. The plate should not be removed unnecessarily and for a long time, so as not to accidentally infect the crop. If the substrate was well moistened and tightly covered, the need for water is provided for the entire germination period.

To be continued.