14 replies to this topic

[shobimono]

I started some San Pedro seeds about one month ago.

Here are some pics.




They are about 6 inches under flouros and there is loose plastic wrap with holes covering the container.

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[StroFun]

Hey thats pretty cool what are your temps and RH light cycles? how many watts and how many flouros? watering schedule? oh yeah what brand soil you got there?
Thanks for the info.

[shobimono]

Hey thats pretty cool what are your temps and RH light cycles? how many watts and how many flouros? watering schedule? oh yeah what brand soil you got there?
Thanks for the info.

These are grown at room temp (60-70).

The flouros are a 2 foot 2 tube light I had laying around. I think one of the bulbs maybe one of those lame grow lights, but the other I just replaced with a cool white (20watts?). I know the flouro grow lights aren't as good as cool white, but I'm cheap and won't replace it until it burns out.

Soil was just a mix of Schultz, screened to remove the larger wood chips common to this brand. This was mixed with a bit of sand.

The container was filled with soil and moistened. Cactus seeds were dropped on the surface and then a thin layer of cactus soil/sand was layed on top of the seeds. This was then misted and covered with saran wrap.

I haven't watered the container since I made it, thats why I put plastic wrap over the top. Plus the soil is about 3 inches thick so it holds a lot of moisture to begin with.

For the most part, the lights are on 24/7. Once a week they may get shut off for a couple hours at night.

[loochypooch]

Flouros do seem to work perfectly for cactus seedlings at about 4-6" over the top. I invested in some of the "full spectrum bulbs". Different brands have different amounts of blue and red light, one even seemed sort of purple, but all were sold as "full spectrum". I thought it would be interesting to grow one tray in the red light and one tray in the blue light. I forget what my results were now, but I think it went something like this: the red seemed to improve sprouting from the seeds, whereas the blue seemed to help accelerate growth after sprouting, and purple was not tested enough. Anyways, I gave up on seedlings so I have like four (16"?) 15w florous with full spectrum bulbs gathering dust now.

[lsd child]

Hello everyone

im just after some information on how to germinate my peruvian torch seeds....as i have no idea on how to do this.

Thanks

[yerbaadam]

Keep em warm. You may need to go out and get a heat pad under your tray.
Do not cover with soil, just press them on top of your mix (maybe 1/3 perlite, 1/3 washed sand, 1/3 cactus soil or screened compost).

Cover your tray to keep it a bit humid. A seed propagation tray is nice. Some folks i know enjoy the "biodome" made by Park seed company.

We should get Rocketman on the sceen of this crime to help with his deep wisdom of the ancient healing powers of cactus kingdom.


Hope that helped a bit
Yer frIEnd, nAscAr denDtiTE duDLey

[loochypooch]

I used a standard peat pellet seedling kit from Home Depot. I do recall putting a little cactus soil on the top of each pellet before seeding. I didn't have heat pads. I kept them in a humidity tent with flourescent lights about 4-6" over them (the lights raised the ambient temperature during the day surely). The germination rate was about 90%.

My mistake was taking them out of the humidity tent after only a couple months. I was trying to acclimate the to lower humidity but once they wilted, there was no coming back.

So I'd say they are very easy to get started, but you have to be dedicated and patient. Don't take them out of the high humidity at ALL until at least three FULL months, in fact I'd recommend maybe five months.

I haven't tried the Biodomes but I do suspect Rocketman is right about them. I think they have better soil than just peat and it would keep you from needing a larger humidity tent. They look ideal to me.

[shobimono]

Here is how I started some

http://mycotopia.net...ead.php?t=16199

[lsd child]

Hey thanks for the help...i live in northern australia and at the moment the humidity and heat is insane...would i be able to just make a little germ box to increase humidity or will this not be nessesary?

Oh and this will also be an out door grow as i do not have the lighting required nor the room either.

Anyone know of any complete grow guides? ive looked around with no success.

Thanks again.

[rocketman]

They really love the high relative humidity, so adding a clear cover to your container even if its a large ziplock bag is a good thing.

All the grow guide you need is to keep the soil mix moist and the humidity high. Direct sunlight is not good for the babies, so keep them shaded if you are doing an outdoor grow. http://mycotopia.net...2754#post242754

[420bymywatch]

Hello,

I planted over a hundred in a small tub and got so many to germinate that I had crowding issues. Here is how:

Cactus mix: 1 part builders sand. 1 part potting mix, 1 part perlite.

Fill a shallow pan with holes in the bottom with your mix. Sprinkle seeds on the surface and sprinkle just a few grains of sand over the seeds. Do not cover the seeds as they need UV light to germinate. Cover the container with a low profile clear dome, or a piece of clear plastic and a rubber band to retain humidity. Poke a hole or two in your dome or plastic cover to vent excess humidity. Water from the bottom by placing the container in a tub of water until saturated. Place directly under a flourescent light (very close to the bulb, within an inch or two)

Should germinate in less than a week, if not a few days. Examine closely and you'll see em. Worked great for me!

[shobimono]

update

Algae was growing on the surface, plastic wrap covering was removed to let more fresh air in.

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[Hippie3]

looking good.
:bow:

[Hippie3]

how are yours' doing now, shobi ?

[shobimono]

They are still alive, but growing slowly like cactus tend to do :)
They will be 6 months old at the end of this month, I was planning to update and merge both seedling threads then.