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[happyconcacti]

I found it interesting that both sources (previous two posts in this thread) have day time temperatures and night time temperatures.

Does anyone here do that?

[New Wisdom]

I keep it at a constant warm temp. I never thought to do any different at night. That's an interesting thouht though. I could turn off the heat mat at night or something. 

As for soil mixes the very best one I found was 80% washed fine sand 20% pure worm castings.  This gave great germination rates and also the seedlings are very fat and happy in it. And 1000 ppm at 18 hours has been working great for my seed. Every batch is different though.

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[nobody]

I use the same mix as wiz with one exception, on top there is a thin layer of coarse sand. It seems to help a bit with root stability. My seedlings usually have a 10 - 15 degree Fahrenheit  difference between day and night, 85-90f daytime and 75-80f at night.

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[Khaedin]

Germing is substantially easier than people make it out to be. Just use standard 6 cell inserts, fill with any seed starting mix, then pop one seed per cell. Water ONCE, cover, and set under Cfls or flouro tubes. If money is no issue, stick with some good flouro tubes for the seedlings. Cfls can burn them very easily from too much light without spread,  not heat. If your seedlings are red, they're sunburnt. For the first three to four months you'll see basically no growth at all. Continue to bottom water with a 1020 holeless tray, let the mix wick the water then dump the extra so they're not sitting in it. Once you transplant, your growing medium is much more important and should be incredibly fast draining. Perlite, sand, stones etc. Do not water the seedlings from the top. Germ rate is highly dependent on freshness of the seeds, nearly 100% Germ rate if sown within two weeks of fruiting, IME.

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[New Wisdom]

I don't think it's the germination that people claim to be hard.  It's getting nice fat healthy seedlings and keeping them alive to maturity that's tricky. You can germinate the seeds on just about anything.  That part is easy.

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[Khaedin]

Well that's even easier to answer; don't over water. I had about 30 seedlings going under two 3' t5ho flouros. Being a "prohibited" species, I have no pictures to accompany my post, but these little guys are so easy to take care of that I actually got bored of them and gifted them all away.

[New Wisdom]

Yeah. I had quite a few of them growing myself. I stopped sowing more of them though because of their legality.  I'm mostly growing lophophora alberto-vojtechii and a few other species now.  I find that if you don't have a good soil mixture then the growth rate really sucks. It's a lot more involved than just the amount of water you give them.  But I do agree. They aren't as hard as people make it sound. That is if you get the soil, light, water and nutrients down. 

[Khaedin]

I haven't had one individual for more than a year, so I can't speak entirely from experience on growth rate, but I never noticed a difference between basic miracle grow seed starter vs a pro mix just in the seedling stage.

[isaak]

Thanks for the info everyone. I too have struggled to generate healthy growth in my Trich. and Loph. seedlings. It seems like a major gap in my efforts has been the use of a nitrogen-rich fertilizer (I haven't been using any nutrients, aside from the occasional misting with a kelp solution). I will also try the bottom-watering approach mentioned by Khaedin.

[Sherman]

Khaedin,

Miracle Grow is what I am using to start my loph seeds right now. They are looking fine! When do you usually repot them to a different soil? When would you recommend feeding them while still in the miracle grow soil?

[New Wisdom]

UPDATE!!

I do not use that soil mix anymore since it hasn't been working well for me with seeds.  I may have been doing something wrong with it since I know the person who made the soil mix has very good results with it. 

Anyways this is my method.

I make a soil mixture of 1/1/1 Happy Frog soil (screened bark out with 1/8th inch wire mesh)/pumice/washed sand.  I get 2" plastic square pots and put some gravel in the bottom portion. Just a small layer to cover the bottom holes.  I then fill the pot with my soil mix leaving about 1/2" of space on the top.  I put the seeds on top of the soil. Usually only 10-20 seeds per pot depending on how large the cacti seeds are.  I then get distilled water, fill a cup half way with it, then dip the pot in it until all the soil is wet.  I then grab some plastic wrap and cover the entire pot with it, wrapping the excess around the side of the pot. 

I then put it in a propagator under some T5 flouro lights.  It will stay in the first propagator with a heat mat under it for about a month with the plastic wrap still on.  After that month I move them into one that has no heat mat under it.  They will stay there anywhere from 2-12 months depending on species.  After that period I acclimate them to outdoor conditions.

Here are some pictures of my set-up.

[cantharis]

Germination rate depends on a number of factor, an important one being how viable is the seed - freshly harvested seeds give the best results, and all seeds should be stored in a dark, cool, dry place.

Having said that seeds have been found in Egyptian tombs thousands of years old that germinated.

It is easy enough to get seeds to germinate - if you want you can do it on a wet paper towel.  They will do that bit whether it is light or dark.  But once sprouted they need some light to grow - I use a pair of 6500K fluoro tubes.

Varying the temperature between night and day does seem to stimulate germination.

I prefer an open, well draining alkali soil with just a bit of nutrition.

[CactusGrower]

Since this topic was listed in main links for beginners I rather reply here even though it is old one.
I have very good success rate to germinate cacti seeds (and Lophophoras) in pure coco coir. Since this thread was created there was a huge hype in coco coir (or coco peat as some call it). It is an excellent medium to retain moisture and its is very lightweight and does not degrade/compact with time as easily.

It is not very rich in nutrients though so worm castings, volcanic ash and other fertilizing agents can be added to the coir to give the seedlings a boost when growing.

I typically spray/soak a little the container with coir, sprinkle seeds on top and cover with clear lid under the lamp. I never put the extra layer on top of the seeds in general, I had always decreased germination rates that way regardless of species.

Another huge advantage of coir is that it is pretty much without pathogens, and if you soak the block in boiling water you sterilize it one more time. No mould whatsoever in a closed container this way.

[Snakeprincess]

Since this topic was listed in main links for beginners I rather reply here even though it is old one.
I have very good success rate to germinate cacti seeds (and Lophophoras) in pure coco coir. Since this thread was created there was a huge hype in coco coir (or coco peat as some call it). It is an excellent medium to retain moisture and its is very lightweight and does not degrade/compact with time as easily

Dude I actually really appreciate this... I have been doing a lot of my own research on Lophophora recently- I’ve got just 3 seeds and don’t wanna mess it up. I have been going through all of these older threads and they are a wealth of knowledge, but I was wondering if there are any more current teks that may be better to follow.... so this is much appreciated