Grown from seed

[0_o]

I planted this seed on 8/6/18.
It's hybrid and these plants do exhibit heterosis however this one isn't particularly vigorous rather it's about average for a plant that gets fed and watered.

Today on 6/21/2019 it's about a foot tall.
In my experience growing from seed is not actually slower than from cuttings. I've grown hundreds of cuttings but thousands of seeds over the last 20 years.

I don't graft.

 

[0_o]

I feed often but not large amounts.

 

[DansMaTete]

What do you use as soil ?

How is your climat ?

Full sun or shady ?

What is your favorite meal ?

Can i build a rocket without knowing rocket science ?



The train of questions might have gone of track.

 

[0_o]

It was grown indoors for the first 6-7 months.
It's in part sun, 1200 meters above sea level, between 30 and 40 N latitude.
I wish I could give it more sun.

I'm presently using coir and soil mixed.
My grandfather designed and had co-patents on some parts for a couple of Apollo missions rockets. He told me that rockets are designed and built by people working together.

 

[RoundAbout]

It was grown indoors for the first 6-7 months.

Under lights or windowsill?

Has it been transplanted at all?

What do you feed with?

You put me to shame

 

[0_o]

Transplanted 3 times so far.
I use plant food, ordinary plant food.
It was under lights, 26,000 lumens at least.

There's no shame.
I transplanted this one early to be a specimen and to document the rate of growth.
The others are stunted from being allowed to grow crowded, they are still healthy but 1/20 the size of this one. I transplanted them later and they will catch up eventually.

 

[Spiralout]

How deep are the containers that you start them in? I've been starting mine in small containers so that they can dry out if they get over watered... I've recently started starting them with a thicker layer of soil ; maybe 2/3 of an inch of soil instead of 1/8 of an inch.

Have you used calcium nitrate as a feed? Or dyna grow? I remembe you saying that you use a balanced 1-1-1 ratio I believe?

I was looking at this chat that says trichoceeus use a good bit more calcium than other plants so I figure maybe the cal nitrate might work well... It's inexpensive and the nitrogen is immediately available..

You do use some kind of perlite or pumice I'm guessing? Also, you feed... once or twice a week?

 

[0_o]

I am using a time release right now. It feeds with each watering.
I water almost daily.


Some food for thought, if a seed can become a plant a foot tall and 3 inches wide in less than a year then how many feet can be grown in the same time from 30 seeds? 500 seeds? 1000 seeds?

The containers were shallow. I've not used calcium nitrate and magnesium fert for years. It's excellent stuff though.

 

[0_o]

This is the same plant from January:

 

[Muskogee Herbman]

what a fun but addicting hobby! All fun, until you have to repot them. Then its Hunger Games!!!!

Both these picks are 1 year old and i dont think one of those plants are still in those pots... In one day I repotted 120 or so once.

 

[0_o]

Lovely!
I don't have the space or budget to grow all out.
Those are looking great!

I'm drooling at that Caapi vine!

 

[Spiralout]

Looking good!

Cat you are using a balanced npk nute right? About what dilution do you use?

I need to start feeding mine more.

 

[○]

Very nice

 

[0_o]

Some bridgesii seedlings.

 

[0_o]

I had to start my cactus collection over due to some legal problems unrelated to cacti.
So I contacted some friends I had given plants to and one of them sent me some nice cuttings last year.

I also bought some seeds and obtained a few from Share the Seeds...
I decided to document and record my progress this time.
I have photos of the entire process from seed to plant.

I'll share more of them here as time goes on.
There are a few misconceptions worth addressing regarding growing these plants and I'll continue to address those as well. If anyone feels that I am being dishonest, rude or inconsiderate feel free to let me know. It is not my intention to promote or sustain any form of conflict.

My goal is to learn and share information that helps everyone interested in growing these plants. I like to question what I am told and to test it.
Doing that has enabled me to learn a great deal and taught me to be careful of what we consider to be true. It is far too easy to take what we think we know for granted.

 

[Spiralout]

So you are using a pretty high amount of phosphorous then cat.. Have you been using this fertilizer for a while?

From what I understand it, cacti in general tend to like the K to be a bit on the higher side . Any plant that has potential for faster growth should benefit from a bit more N . I also have seen articles showing that Trichocereus contain more calcium than many cacti and thus a higher calcium proportion should be in order..

I'm wondering what the ratio of magnesium should be to to the calcium as you can't have one without the other... I am experimenting with calcium nitrate as a foliar spray and will be trying to figure out the best ratio of calcium nitrate to epsom salts. Other than the foliar spray, about once a week, I think I will stick to my organic nutrients for the soil and begin to amend heavily with compost tea once my compost pile is finished cooking. I have seen a thread on reddit where someone had unbelievable growth of a "sherman" (ca1) bridgesii clone using only some kind of compost tea and maybe chicken manure if my memory is working. Sacred Succulents also primarily feeds with tea from what I understand and their cacti are healthier than any other I have seen..

0.o I don't see you being rude or inconsiderate... Just because someone doesn't agree with something doesn't make it false.. The truth does not require our consent.. On that note , it would be very interesting, and perhaps useful, if you had the time to make a thread with the documentation of this grow that you have. The only bone I have to pick with you is the idea that synthetic and organic fertilizer are the same... As far as I understood it salts in synthetics are apt to kill the microbial life in the soil. I don't have a full understanding of all this though so I can't really support an argument with evidence either way.

 

[Spiralout]

Have you had any issues with mold or infection of an orange persuasion during the germination and seedling stage? This has been a major issue for me .

 

[0_o]

In the past I lost maybe 1 out of 100 seedlings to an orange rot, most likely a yeast
I haven't had that happen for some time.

Synthetics are easy to over apply unlike many organics.
The main takeaway is that constant nutrients at a low concentration results in excellent growth. It doesn't matter if the source is organic or synthetic, both work well.

I use a lot of 20:20:20 for seedlings, but in my experience more mature plants require more N for best results. I have used everything from blood meal to fish emulsion, compost tea, topdressing with compost, bat guano etc and they all worked well.

I happen to live in an area with hard water that has calcium and magnesium salts in the water.


I keep my germination period brief, once most of the seeds have sprouted (with fresh seed that is usually about a week) I remove the seedlings from humid conditions and put them into very bright conditions and start feeding them a low but steady concentration of a complete fertilizer.

I'll gradually share more details.

 

[DansMaTete]

I'm also interested by your experience with tricho, 0_o (i don't know how to prononciate it). Please share with us.

 

[0_o]

I pronounce 0_o as Nihil but with one eyebrow raised or it doesn't count.