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[EthnoSam]

I just received a bunch of Trichocereus and Loph W. seeds and plan on using the Takeaway Tek method to germinate them.  I was planning on using 50/50 coco coir and perlite along with some 1/4" volcanic rock mixed in.  People that have had success germinating these seeds, what soil mixture worked best for you?

[svk]

I have had success with both of these seeds, I posted a grow log on this site last year, check it out!

I did perlite mixed with a seed starting soil.  the soil contained quite a lot of peat, low amounts of organics/humus and no fertilizer.

when i transplanted them after 2-3 months I did the same mix but with some gravel/sand that I had laying around from my aquarium. I also "fertilized" with aquarium water, to give the plants some N.

[EthnoSam]

Thanks for the advice.  Do you have preferred seed starting soil?  Im looking at some cactus soil from miracle grow and there is a bunch of added fertilizers, wetting agents, and forest products, so im guessing that would not be the best option.

[Scarlet Dragon]

I'm a beginner but I justjust sowed a batch about 10 days ago. Used a mix of half sand and then equal parts of a potting mix, vermiculite and peat. I sterilized it all together in a pressure cooker, let it cool then filled 72 individual mini pots in one burpee seed tray system. I filled the underlying tray with distilled water, sowed the seeds with tweezers and then covered with the clear plastic cover. Put it all under one 15w led grow bulb and a seed heating mat underneath. After 8 days I took the cover off and saw about 20 little cacti. A few had some white downey mold looking stuff at the roots so I sprinkled some copper sulfate powder on those roots and surrounded all the seedlings with a thin layer of sterlized sand mixed with cinnamon powder. I recovered and am watching them grow more. When they get a little bigger I will startstart uncovering the tray more frequently. I am planning on leaving them in that tray for 6months to a year. Any feedback is welcome? Could more seeds still germinate or is about 25% all I'm gonna get this time around?

[XDX]

okay, idk what the takeaway tek is
and idk why folks do all this sterilizing and such

in my experience, either the cactus seed is good, or its not
if theyre good, they germ super easy, takes maybe 2-4 weeks. i dont think i have ever noticed a late germer months down the line.

i use regular potting soil, or seedling mix, which is basically peat moss & perlite. sometimes i cut with extra perlite, but i am never exact with anything. i fill lil 2in pots with this
then i top this with ~0.5cm coarse grit sand mixed with vermiculite, bout 3:2 ratio, but again never exact.
i put the pot in a dish of water to hydrate from below, overnight
next day, i surface sow the seeds.
if i feel motivated, i might give them a light spritz/mist of water so they settle into the sand, but dont spray them under or away!
i put the pot into a large clear storage tote to increase humidity, this is what i use for seedlings and clones.
i have also used plastic wrap rubber banded around individual pots
put it under lights, 12/12 cycles
bout 2 weeks, they should sprout. bout 2 more weeks, i take them out of the box, but mist the sand layer every 1-2 days, lophs a lil less than trichs
thats it

no sterilizing materials, no fungicides, never had any mold issues.

biggest issue i have is the sand compacts, so some of the babies struggle to get their roots thru, and get a slow stunted start. once the seedlings are like idk 4mm? you can kinda push them down in there, and they should start growing bigger better roots, take in more water, and grow much faster. then once theyre like 1-2cm i transplant to individual pots, with basically the same type soil blends i use for tropicals. rich, slightly acidic, but well draining. thats for trichs.
i havent gotten that far with lophs from seed yet, but i have a couple mature lophs that came to me, and they are in some bonsai blend, its like strait gravel, 4 or 5 diff kinds, with a lil bit of bark chips, and toss some oyster shells in as well.

id say most cacti seeds i have encountered seem to have something like 25-50% germ rates, and sprout in 2-4 weeks. some are strait bunk, some ive had near 100% pop up. i am really curious what influences this, cause bunk seeds suck, but seeing a carpet of trich babies is soo beautiful & rewarding! i still havent gotten around to messing with ga3 or anything like that to see how that works.

in general, i am not a fan of miracle grow, but thats just me. forreal tho, in general, cactus soil is made to be alkaline, which is good for lophs, but trichs like it slightly acidic from my experience & reading.



ill go take some pics of the babes n edit them to this post in a bit

1 Like Scarlet Dragon likes this.

[Shamichael]

I planted some trichocereus seeds about 6 months ago in miracle grow potting soil with good results.
From my research you can use a soil with more nutrients in it and they will be okay and you won't need to transplant them right away.

I am about to plant some more and I am going to use a mix of Happy Frog and Ocean Forrest with some plain coco coir on the very top.

The light has to not be too bright otherwise they will turn reddish and stall out, so keep an eye on them and if you start to see any reddish color back them away from the light ASAP.

Good luck and I look forward to seeing your results.

1 Like Scarlet Dragon likes this.

[XDX]

Ahhh yup mine deff tend to turn red...
H/o I did take pics,

1 Like Scarlet Dragon likes this.

[ONandONandON]

ive noticed most of my macrogus seedlings turned red, but i really think it was from the cold,
because the greenhouse isn't very bright, a couple bridgesii seedlings also turned a bit red..
and it happened right around the time of cold-snaps, but they still look healthy and growing.

[XDX]

yeah i never really thought of the red as an issue, i just thought some do it when they are young. i guess it does seem like a sign of stress. usually stops by 1cm, definitely by 3cm, like the biggest one there pictured by itself has just a hint of red left, but i expect it will disappear when i move them back outside into real sunlight. none of my older cacti show this, and they never get artificial light anymore.

the babes do grow slow, but i mean they are cacti... takes me about 3 years to get them well established-

yr 1= seedling to 1-2cm.
yr 2= 2cm to ~4-6cm
yr 3= 6cm to ~20cm

my oldest took off for yrs 4 & 5, pupping & nearly doubling in mass
now they grow slow again, probably 15cm or less per head. theres like 40 heads though soooo cant really complain....
i think they want to go into the ground, but im moving again this summer.

[Shamichael]

I will have to post some pics of my 6 month plants.  The ones that turned red are exponentially smaller.  They can grow pretty fast from pictures I've seen if you get them the right amount of light and good nutrients.  I guess like everything it takes experience to dial it all in right.
My focus right now is Pachanoi with small areoles and short spines.