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Post by tod2 on Oct 19, 2010 12:36:19 GMT
Mickthecactus - I am about to sow some seeds I bought at the Chelsea Flower Show. They are: Alostera - Apricot Ice Aylostera Mixed(Rebutia) 'Carnival' Mammillaria Zeilmanniana - New Dawn Aylostera Muscula
The instructions all say plant under glass - don't dry out for 3 months etc. I intend to grow them outdoors in pots and put over a sheet of glass to cover them. Are there any other growing tips I could glean from your expertise, never having grown any of my cacti from seed before?
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Post by mickthecactus on Oct 20, 2010 12:20:40 GMT
Tod2, your conditions and mine are probably a mile apart but....
Sprinkle them over the top of fairly fine sandy compost, don't cover them as Aylostera (Rebutia) seeds are very small but the Mamm seeds are a bit bigger I think, so a little soil over the top would be Ok , water from below, allow to drain. I would then put them into plastic bags which can be sealed and actually can be left sealed for 12 months. The cacti grow quite happily in them. Min temperature of 70f but not much more than 85f and out of the sun.
Does that help?
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Post by tod2 on Oct 20, 2010 13:42:17 GMT
Thank you Mick! I will work out those temps. in C - I think I have the perfect place on my verandah. No sun gets to this shelf but it gets mighty hot under the roof (38C) so this may be too hot. That surprises me about heat and also NO sun!? All my cacti are outdoors in sun part of the day. I have noticed morning sun doesn't harm them but last year one cactus leaned over the lip of the tub and got really burnt in afternoon sunlight(just where it touched the edge).
I will do the plastic bag thing - just so I get it right is this the method?:
Put fine soil in bottom of bag - water well and let drain - sprinkle seeds on top - capture air inside bag and seal - leave in warm shade - don't add any water.
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Post by mickthecactus on Oct 20, 2010 15:05:17 GMT
Thank you Mick! I will work out those temps. in C - I think I have the perfect place on my verandah. No sun gets to this shelf but it gets mighty hot under the roof (38C) so this may be too hot. That surprises me about heat and also NO sun!? All my cacti are outdoors in sun part of the day. I have noticed morning sun doesn't harm them but last year one cactus leaned over the lip of the tub and got really burnt in afternoon sunlight(just where it touched the edge). I will do the plastic bag thing - just so I get it right is this the method?: Put fine soil in bottom of bag - water well and let drain - sprinkle seeds on top - capture air inside bag and seal - leave in warm shade - don't add any water. The seedlings will burn in direct sun or boil in the bag.... 38c would be too hot and they wont germinate. 22-25c are optimum temperatures. Method not quite right - my fault. The soil should be in a pot, say a 3" pot per variety or it could be a bigger pot but you will need to put dividers in. Then sprinkle the seed over the top, then water and drain, then seal into bag. They won't need any more water for some months.
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Post by tod2 on Oct 20, 2010 15:21:27 GMT
Gotcha! Many many thanks Mick!
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Post by mickthecactus on Oct 20, 2010 15:54:46 GMT
My pleasure. ;D
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Post by tod2 on Oct 22, 2010 13:40:46 GMT
As promised Bixa - Here are my Kokerbooms or in English, Quiver Trees. They have been in these pots for about 5 years now and need to be planted in a permanent position in the garden. I bought them as teeny little trees at the Quiver Tree Forest in Namibia. I am going to try and locate my photos of the forest because it is truly amazing. Mickthecactus - a little glimpse of one of my Impala Lilies (no thorns yet) and a very tall spikey thing which just seems to get taller and taller?!
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Post by mickthecactus on Oct 22, 2010 14:40:02 GMT
Aloe aristata with it and Pachypodium. P. lamerei? Bixa?
The Aloe dichotomas are absolutely gorgeous.
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Post by tod2 on Oct 23, 2010 18:50:26 GMT
Thank you Mick! I was going to donate them to our Botanical Gardens but they would have to plant them on a hillside so the frost won't get them down in the valley - not many people venture up there and so won't see them. Today on my morning photo shoot of all that is blooming in my area, I saw this little non-fruit bearing Prickly-Pear flower and photographed it just for you
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Post by Deleted on Oct 23, 2010 21:18:06 GMT
Those are great. But I am nevertheless dismayed by the hostility of cacti.
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Post by tod2 on Oct 24, 2010 9:00:12 GMT
Yes, you don't want to get caught up in those thorns! It always amazes me how giraffe can eat around thorns that size on the acacia trees..... Here is one of my cacti just coming into bloom yesterday-
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Post by tod2 on Oct 24, 2010 12:23:50 GMT
Just noticed that one critter not bothered by the thorny cactus are snails I see their markings all over the leaves - or am I barking up the wrong cactus
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Post by bixaorellana on Oct 24, 2010 13:48:47 GMT
Yes, on P. lamerii. That is a classic one of the type, Tod.
The pictures in #98 made me nostalgic for where I used to live in extreme southern coastal Texas. Behind the filling station I used was a wild area full of big Opuntia. They would bloom furiously, all in different colors. It looked like a candy shop for giants.
Tod, I adore your precious red-flowered Mammillaria! (izzat right, Mick?)
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Post by mickthecactus on Oct 25, 2010 12:36:27 GMT
Spot on Bixa.
I must look out a picture of a non-hostile cactus........
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Post by bixaorellana on Oct 25, 2010 14:09:56 GMT
quote taken from thread "pix of flowers that you grew"Bixa - I took a look at this thread to see what other folks were growing and I want to ask you or Mick or anyone, about that last pic - Queen of The Night. My aunt grew this very gangly succulent? in her garden and one evening we kids were hauled out of bed to come and see the flower. I can't remember if it only lasted that night or opened every night for sometime. Anyway, she gave me a piece when we got our first home and it too grew one and only one, flower! Now, I noticed a very similar plant under a table in Mickthecactus's photo on succulents & cacti. Is this the same plant - Queen of the Night? This is the (web) photo to which Tod is referring in the first part of the quote above: Tod, I was being deliberately vague in my reference to the plant because I'm not sure exactly which one it is. I have at least three different plants that are all referred to as "queen of the night". Here's the wikipedia article showing the problem with the common name. Click on the links to see how much the plants vary. I know the flower buds that are eaten in the south of Oaxaca come from an Epiphyllum, possibly E. oxypetalum or very similar. I also have E. anguliger. That one came from a parent plant in Guatemala. I've shared it with other people and it grows like mad, but no one around here has had a flower. When I had my Ephiphyllum possiblyoxypetalum in a pot, it bloomed furiously. One year it had well over 50 over a period of weeks. It's never done as well since. It was in a big pot facing east, in a sheltered corner. I am going to try the advice in this loving look at the plant.
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Post by tod2 on Oct 25, 2010 18:33:25 GMT
Found it! Thanks Bixa for giving me the Wikipedia article where I found the Queen of the Night I once had. It is this one: Hylocereus undatus. I recognised the leaves or stems or protrusions - whatever they are called Now that I think of it, I remember bringing some of the plant to this home so will hunt around the garden tomorrow and see if it's still alive.
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Post by bixaorellana on Oct 25, 2010 22:36:17 GMT
Yay! Isn't it a thrill to finally identify something?
Keeping my sepals crossed that you find your queenie in the garden.
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Post by mickthecactus on Oct 28, 2010 12:26:00 GMT
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Post by bixaorellana on Oct 29, 2010 1:15:20 GMT
Mick, if anyone were to ask me, "Why do you like succulents and cactus so much?", I would simply flash that 2nd photo of yours at them. Flowers, infinite variety, a completely off-the-wall type of beauty .... the more one sees and knows of them, the more they're appreciated.
ALL of the pics are outstanding, I simply cited #2 because there are so many different kinds in it.
I'm totally in love with that two-tone jobby on the left in the first pic. All of the PacMan stone plants are fun. I was amazed to see the little stand-up daisies on the fenestraria. I reeeeally covet that frosty leaved pelargonium!
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Post by mickthecactus on Oct 29, 2010 8:24:24 GMT
Thank you Bixa.
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Post by mickthecactus on Oct 29, 2010 12:06:25 GMT
Incidentally, I found the 2 tone Pleiospilos in a garden centre along with a rare Uebelmannia cactus. Pure serendipity. Here's a newish aloe - Aloe perrieri.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 29, 2010 13:07:29 GMT
Great Cacti plants, Mick. How many do you have altogether now?
Back when I was living in BC, they grew wild. I can't beleive there are so many varieties of them.
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Post by mickthecactus on Oct 29, 2010 14:31:16 GMT
Golly Deyana. There's a question.
If I include every seedling...dunno. Maybe 1,000 but that could be way over the top.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 29, 2010 17:45:37 GMT
1,000? My gosh that's a lot!
Where do you keep them all? You must have a big garden.
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Post by mickthecactus on Nov 1, 2010 13:36:29 GMT
All in my greenhouse in winter Deyana. Some come out for the summer though. Here's how it looks now -
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Post by tod2 on Nov 2, 2010 6:25:33 GMT
What a swell greenhouse Mick! Can I ask if the flat green leaf just in the photo of Aloe Perrieri, is Queen of the night? I have also spotted (under the table) the same cycad I have in my garden - I posted a photo of the fruit that is developing on it in TROPICANA.
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Post by myrt on Nov 2, 2010 7:08:19 GMT
Aren't there some absolutely astonishing plants on this thread?? I love them. I have a few now (kindly given by Mick) but am a real novice still. They never cease to amaze me.... I really love the Quiver trees, Tod2! I was gloating over a baby one for sale on ebay recently wishing and wondering how I could justify buying it! Mick is a real expert - I don't suppose he's told any of you that he supplies Kew with stapeliads? Wow....... (Sorry, Mick )
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Post by mickthecactus on Nov 2, 2010 9:13:49 GMT
Stop it Myrt.......
tod2, it's a cutting off an Epiphyllum which is closely related. The original plant I found years ago in the fireplace of a pub and asked them for a cutting. The original plant is enormous now (too big) so I'm starting it again. It has huge pink flowers.
Yes - my Cycas revoluta. Whether I shall ever get a fruit on it remains to be seen....
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Post by tod2 on Nov 4, 2010 9:07:04 GMT
Here are three new cycads sprouting from the base of the one that has the fruit forming - I suppose I should dig them up now and plant them elsewhere??
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Post by mickthecactus on Nov 4, 2010 9:23:34 GMT
You can do I suppose. Think I'd like to leave them to form a clump.
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