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Taharka said:
Here's what I do.

Shake Schultz Cactus & Succulent Potting Mix through a kitchen sieve. Mix the fine portion with water to saturation and microwave 2x 10 minutes in an unsealed container. Then seal the container and allow it to cool to room temperature. This should sterilize the soil and make sure you don't get any fungal or algal growth. Then, I fill shallow dishes with aquarium gravel, and the last inch with the prepared cactus soil. Excess water drains from the soil as it is being packed into the dish. Then, spread your cactus seeds on the soil and press them down into it, but do not cover. Finally, place the dishes into individual ziplock bags.

I usually get very high germination rates without any fungal growth. At about two weeks, I poke holes into the ziplock bags for air exchange, and gradually increase their number until around two months, when I remove them from the bags. I've found that the longer the seedlings are kept in the high-humidity environment of the bags, the faster they will grow. For me, they tend to slow down when removed, so I don't think I've found the ideal time to keep them inside the bags yet. Watering is usually not necessary while the seedlings are still in the bags.

This technique has worked well for everything I've tried, Ariocarpus, Astrophytum, Lophophora, Trichocereus, Carnegia, and Turbinicarpus.

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