How are the baby cacti doing?
Jan. 9th, 2024 09:25 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
which_chickThey're doing pretty well. The first batch I tried were generic 'mixed cacti' seeds from a non-specialty seller and I got like 20% germination which is not great. They're about two months old and are starting to look a little different from each other. Like, it's clear that they are not all the same kind. There are eleven of them (out of allegedly 50 but I did not count) at this point.
Here is a spiky boi:
And here is a bunny-eared boi:
And here is another, slightly pink from the "sun" (lights, not actual sun), spiky boi and not-pink friend:
I might have done better with more competent practices but it was my first try and I was learning. Substrate was too chunky (you can see how it changes to finer material in the second try pics below) and there was a general lack of clue going on. Eagle-eyed viewers can see dud (black) seeds alongside the ones that grew, on the first try pics above.
My second try was with a specialty grower who sells primarily cactus and succulent seed, Mesa Garden. They are aces and their seed is da bomb.
Astrophytum ornatum, "20-30 seeds":
Astrophytum capricorne, "20-30 seeds":
Astrophytum caput-medusae, 10 seeds exactly and if you blow up the picture you can see that there are exactly 10 plants. 100% success... so far.
I have some other stuff, but it all mostly looks like this, tiny green blobs of tiny. I'll keep after pictures more or less monthly, but they are not very fast. This is not like tomatoes when you can plant them and in a month they look like tomato plants, albeit small ones. This is "tiny green blobs" for literally months at a time.
Here is a spiky boi:
And here is a bunny-eared boi:
And here is another, slightly pink from the "sun" (lights, not actual sun), spiky boi and not-pink friend:
I might have done better with more competent practices but it was my first try and I was learning. Substrate was too chunky (you can see how it changes to finer material in the second try pics below) and there was a general lack of clue going on. Eagle-eyed viewers can see dud (black) seeds alongside the ones that grew, on the first try pics above.
My second try was with a specialty grower who sells primarily cactus and succulent seed, Mesa Garden. They are aces and their seed is da bomb.
Astrophytum ornatum, "20-30 seeds":
Astrophytum capricorne, "20-30 seeds":
Astrophytum caput-medusae, 10 seeds exactly and if you blow up the picture you can see that there are exactly 10 plants. 100% success... so far.
I have some other stuff, but it all mostly looks like this, tiny green blobs of tiny. I'll keep after pictures more or less monthly, but they are not very fast. This is not like tomatoes when you can plant them and in a month they look like tomato plants, albeit small ones. This is "tiny green blobs" for literally months at a time.
