I built a growing cabinet for my cacti seedlings

[Funky Monkey]

Hi fellow Nexians,

Last July I finally planted some Trichocereus (or Echinopsis) cacti seeds that I had laying around for nearly a year. The seeds were bought from a well known German vender. I planted 100 of each of the following types: T. Bridgesii, T. Pachanoi and T. Peruvianus. I had excellent germination rates of close to 100%, which I think is pretty good for a first try at growing cacti from seeds :d

The seedlings were doing quite well, but a number of them died from rotting stems. This was probably due to colder temperatures and overwatering. To help them through the winter I built an IKEA growing cabinet and treated them to a 2 foot, 4 bulb, high output T5 light fixture. I thought I'd show my cabinet here for fun

The cabinet temperature is regulated with an Arduino Uno microcontroller that powers two 12V pc fans when it gets to hot.

The pictures were taken today, and the seedlings are now 7 months old. I'm feeding them bone meal, potash and lava dust. The other plants in the cabinet are hot peppers, and three Pereskiopsis cutting I got his week.

 

[wearepeople]

Awesome operation!

What kind of temperature sensor are you using with the Arduino board? Standard thermocouple?

Nice crest in that last photo! Lucky!

You just got my "yes" vote towards full membership.

Cacti Love,
Wap

 

[Cosmic Spore]

Looking good

Welcome to the nexus

 

[Funky Monkey]

Awesome operation!

What kind of temperature sensor are you using with the Arduino board? Standard thermocouple?

Nice crest in that last photo! Lucky!

You just got my "yes" vote towards full membership.

Cacti Love,
Wap

Why thank you :thumb_up:

I'm really happy with my crested Peruvian. I had a double-headed Pachanoi as well, but it rotted at 4 months old

I'm using a simple TMP36 sensor connected to the 3.3V and it's own ground. I'm taking an average of 100 readings for accuracy.

Full membership would be nice... the cacti section beckons 8)

 

[Funky Monkey]

Looking good

Welcome to the nexus

Thanks!

 

[Archmage]

Funky,

Awesome rig! I am inspired to germinate all the Peruvianus seeds I picked up a year or 2 ago.

Keep up the great work!!! It's quite inspiring!!!!!

 

[dg]

nice!
growing well- but you might consider giving them a little nitrogen along with the bone meal and potash. especially when they exhaust any that might be in the medium

 

[Funky Monkey]

nice!
growing well- but you might consider giving them a little nitrogen along with the bone meal and potash. especially when they exhaust any that might be in the medium

Thanks for the tip!
The bone meal I use should contain enough nitrogen for them. The NPK of the total mix is 9.5 - 20 - 20. Should be plenty right?

 

[Poekus]

Great! Do you know what color temperature your TL bulbs are?

 

[Funky Monkey]

Great! Do you know what color temperature your TL bulbs are?

I have four 6500K tubes (96W total) and the cacti do really well under them.

I keep the day temperature at 29°C and night temperature at 18°C.

 

[downwardsfromzero]

Lovely pics, making me drool! Have some Trich. seeds myself - will have to sow them sometime but for lack of space. Absolutely loving the cabinet you made as well. Perhaps a 'how to' next?

Welcome and congratulations on your particularly rapid promotion!

 

[Kash]

Great looking setup! I keep saying to myself I am going to build one but have yet to get around to it. What will you be doing with the spikey buggers when they outgrow the cabinet?

And hey, welcome to the nexus. Good to have another cacti enthusiast.

 

[Funky Monkey]

@downwardsfromzero: Thank you!

I could post a 'how to', but the only modification I really did was cut holes for the pc pans :d
I spent more time putting together the electronics and programming the Arduino.

Great looking setup! I keep saying to myself I am going to build one but have yet to get around to it. What will you be doing with the spikey buggers when they outgrow the cabinet?

And hey, welcome to the nexus. Good to have another cacti enthusiast.

Luckily I dont have to think ahead that far yet, as they don't grow that fast
By spring I'll move all of the pepper plants out and center the cacti under the light. I want to try to graft some of them to my newly acquired Pereskiopsis. I also want to graft some to my bigger plants that go outside during summer. In particular I have a fat (for European standards) 7 year old San Pedro with three good spots for grafting onto.

How would I go about selecting the best seedlings for future sampling? I want to keep as many as possible but must be realistic. My wife also has a say in the matter :| For starters I was planning on focussing on the fastest growing ones. My crested Peruvian will obviously get a special place. I'll probably give a bunch away to friends and family. Might try to sell some via the internet so I can buy some more cuttings.

 

[Macre]

Wow they're only 7 months old? I need to add more heat to my cacti, I'm going to re-pot them in new medium today, I might look into heat also.

Peace

Macre

 

[Funky Monkey]

Wow they're only 7 months old? I need to add more heat to my cacti, I'm going to re-pot them in new medium today, I might look into heat also.

Peace

Macre

Yes they're only 7 months old. Are they big for their age?

What medium are you going to pot them in?
I have mine in a 1:1:0.5 mix of regular potting soil, coir (coco peat) and perlite/vermiculite.

 

[Macre]

Similar, I'm going for 2:1:1 perlite/soil/coir. I'm thinking of adding heat using a pad, as I light them with natural light. Yeah for 7 months they look amazing, I may have to consider lighting.

Peace

Macre

 

[Mitakuye Oyasin]

Nice looking setup. How long have the rows of pups been growing for? Have fun with it.

 

[Funky Monkey]

Nice looking setup. How long have the rows of pups been growing for? Have fun with it.

Thanks!

The baby cacti are now 7 months old.

Is anyone interested in me posting a growlog? I have a bunch of pictures depicting the whole growth process.

 

[downwardsfromzero]

[...]

Is anyone interested in me posting a growlog? I have a bunch of pictures depicting the whole growth process.

Please, tell all! I'd love some more encouragement to get my seeds into soil!

 

[Funky Monkey]

Hi everyone,

I thought I'd give an update on my cacti growing adventures :d

My baby cacti have been doing very well and have recently gotten a growth spurt. I've also acquired some Pereskiopsis cuttings and have made my first grafts ever. I grafted a Bridgesii with an impale graft, and it took off a week later. I also grafted a Pachanoi and Peruvianus to one plant. Of these only the Peruvianus has started growing. I'm quite proud my first grafts ever succeeded.