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P.Zappatecorum
Lophophilus



Registered: 10/15/12
Posts: 2,094
Loc: Cactaceae
Last seen: 3 years, 5 months
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P.Zap's Seedling Tek *DELETED* 5
#22512198 - 11/12/15 12:20 AM (8 years, 2 months ago) |
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Post deleted by P.ZappatecorumReason for deletion: Cleaning House
Edited by P.Zappatecorum (11/12/15 12:30 AM)
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karode13
Tāne Mahuta




Registered: 05/19/05
Posts: 15,290
Loc: LV-426
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Excellent write up.
Thanks for taking the time to post and write it all up.
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Spanishfly
$$$Rich€€€Bich£££



Registered: 03/19/12
Posts: 1,851
Loc: Spain
Last seen: 6 years, 25 days
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Re: P.Zap's Seedling Tek [Re: karode13]
#22512398 - 11/12/15 02:11 AM (8 years, 2 months ago) |
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Good write up - thanks for the trouble. And my goodness that load of seeds will keep you busy.
And I am SO ENVIOUS of your ease of supply - all the stuff you need packaged in bags - I have to chase around for my materials (third world country!!). I use a lot of lime for Mexican desert cacti - I buy marble chips and crush them with a hammer a handful at a time !!!!
EDIT: I am just back from a builder´s merchant with more granitos - like a coarse grit they use here as a coating for exterior walls. My desert mix is 40% this stuff !!!
Edited by Spanishfly (11/12/15 03:05 AM)
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LSoares
Farmer



Registered: 10/09/13
Posts: 3,209
Loc: Portugal
Last seen: 4 years, 2 months
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Re: P.Zap's Seedling Tek [Re: Spanishfly]
#22512473 - 11/12/15 02:49 AM (8 years, 2 months ago) |
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Excellent, P.Zap! May I suggest one of the mods put a link to this tek in the relevant list?
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Mostly_Harmless
wyrd bið ful aræd



Registered: 05/12/09
Posts: 5,043
Loc: Perfidious Albion
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Re: P.Zap's Seedling Tek [Re: LSoares] 1
#22512548 - 11/12/15 03:46 AM (8 years, 2 months ago) |
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Quote:
LSoares said: Excellent, P.Zap! May I suggest one of the mods put a link to this tek in the relevant list?

added to USEFUL, INFORMATIVE, & INTERESTING POSTS/LINKS
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P.Zappatecorum
Lophophilus



Registered: 10/15/12
Posts: 2,094
Loc: Cactaceae
Last seen: 3 years, 5 months
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Re: P.Zap's Seedling Tek [Re: Spanishfly]
#22513310 - 11/12/15 10:23 AM (8 years, 2 months ago) |
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Quote:
Spanishfly said: Good write up - thanks for the trouble. And my goodness that load of seeds will keep you busy.
And I am SO ENVIOUS of your ease of supply - all the stuff you need packaged in bags - I have to chase around for my materials (third world country!!). I use a lot of lime for Mexican desert cacti - I buy marble chips and crush them with a hammer a handful at a time !!!!
EDIT: I am just back from a builder´s merchant with more granitos - like a coarse grit they use here as a coating for exterior walls. My desert mix is 40% this stuff !!!
Yeah, grit is a good substitute for sand. If you have big toy stores around where you could get play sand for sandboxes, that works too, although it has to be washed to get rid of the finer particles. The finest paver sand works too, but it really needs to be washed.
I'd like to get some limestone to experiment with. There are a few specialty gravel/rock places that are a decent drive from where I live that might have it, but most of the local stone is volcanic. That makes pumice and lava real easy to find, but the sedimentary and metamorphic rocks, not so much.
Thanks for all the kind words guys, any comments or recommendations are always welcome, I am still always in the process of learning with this hobby. Living in a wet cold climate makes your learning curve pretty steep as every tiny mistake costs you a plant or two, but any tips and tricks are appreciated.
Edited by P.Zappatecorum (11/12/15 11:46 PM)
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Spanishfly
$$$Rich€€€Bich£££



Registered: 03/19/12
Posts: 1,851
Loc: Spain
Last seen: 6 years, 25 days
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P. Zap - my desert mix contains about 40% coarse grit and 10% sand - builders sharp sand is no problem. I can buy big bags of marble chips that I crush to add to my mix, (or use straight as a top dressing) - 20% is loam and 10% wormcasts - a bit of nutrition.
-------------------- I am currently BANNED from using Private Messages - so can anyone who wants to contact me do it via my Journal thread. Link is https://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Number/23831115 Maybe some mod or whatever might think this has now been long enough.
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spaceman101
Friend to all



Registered: 01/18/13
Posts: 11,726
Loc: In heaven bored as hell
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Re: P.Zap's Seedling Tek [Re: Spanishfly]
#22513977 - 11/12/15 01:15 PM (8 years, 2 months ago) |
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Wow! Zap that is an amazing load of good information.
Thank you for taking the time and putting it all together
Great Job Bro
-------------------- ------------- Check out my Pollen Trade thread for spreading Good genetics far and wide Great Vendors thread where we can discuss "Non Shroomery" Vendors that sell good products worth checking into A few things I wanna get my hands on check it out and let me know if you have any of these Need help getting started growing mushrooms Here's The Noob Forum
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spaceman101
Friend to all



Registered: 01/18/13
Posts: 11,726
Loc: In heaven bored as hell
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Hey! Let me know your germination rates on the
pseudomacrochele
frailensis
and jauernigii
I've had little luck with these plants and hope you do better than I
-------------------- ------------- Check out my Pollen Trade thread for spreading Good genetics far and wide Great Vendors thread where we can discuss "Non Shroomery" Vendors that sell good products worth checking into A few things I wanna get my hands on check it out and let me know if you have any of these Need help getting started growing mushrooms Here's The Noob Forum
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P.Zappatecorum
Lophophilus



Registered: 10/15/12
Posts: 2,094
Loc: Cactaceae
Last seen: 3 years, 5 months
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Quote:
spaceman101 said: Hey! Let me know your germination rates on the
pseudomacrochele
frailensis
and jauernigii
I've had little luck with these plants and hope you do better than I;)
Will do!
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cactamateur
Stranger

Registered: 10/11/15
Posts: 42
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Quote:
P.Zappatecorum said: P.Zap's Guide To Growing Cacti From Seed
First off, I start with a mix of roughly 30% horticultural sand, 20% pumice, 15% pea sized lava, 15% pea gravel, and 20% coco coir (hydrate before mixing). I also add some gypsum and lime. You don't have to do this exact mix, but you absolutely must have at least 20% coco coir for the humidity retention, the pumice is a good idea for aeration and the clean, non caking river sand is a must for small seeds so they don't fall down the cracks. A lot of the species I like to grow, Aztekium, Turbinicarpus etc. grow out of straight up solid gypsum cliffs in the wild, so I'm going to put in a fair amount of gypsum and a touch of lime. Some species want acidic soil, so do your research and do what makes sense for you.
Thanks for the write-up. I'm currently watching a bunch of 6-8month-old seedlings which I sowed in a 100% mineral mix. They seem fine, but I'm wondering if I need to worry about nutrients at all.
Do you plan on fertilizing your seedlings or will they get enough of what they need from the mineral mix?
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P.Zappatecorum
Lophophilus



Registered: 10/15/12
Posts: 2,094
Loc: Cactaceae
Last seen: 3 years, 5 months
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I wouldn't consider fertilizing until they're getting to the stage where I'm backing off humidity and they're looking fat, established and resilient. Yearlings can take a feeding. If they seem like they're stalling out or going slower than they should, a light feeding won't hurt, but too much fertilizer can attract mites or feed algae. In general, straight mineral plants will grow more slowly but have a flatter, compact shape. One time I repotted some seedlings from straight horticultural sand to a richer substrate and they etiolated horribly from the sudden burst of growth from the increase in nutrients. Couldn't have been anything else as the light and temperature didn't change at all, just the soil.
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Rafiikii


Registered: 11/17/10
Posts: 2,891
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-------------------- "You didn’t come into this world. You came out of it, like a wave from the ocean. You are no stranger here."  
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Dety
Old No.7

Registered: 09/14/04
Posts: 1,685
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Re: P.Zap's Seedling Tek [Re: Rafiikii]
#22518507 - 11/13/15 03:17 PM (8 years, 2 months ago) |
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Thanks for the tek.
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P.Zappatecorum
Lophophilus



Registered: 10/15/12
Posts: 2,094
Loc: Cactaceae
Last seen: 3 years, 5 months
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Quote:
spaceman101 said: Hey! Let me know your germination rates on the
pseudomacrochele
frailensis
and jauernigii
I've had little luck with these plants and hope you do better than I;)
So far the frailensis are doing great, 4 days in at least 50% of them have already germinated, many other species haven't even started popping yet.
The number one cause of poor germination, IMO, is seed age. While some species, like opuntioids, have erratic germination and actually benefit from being old, but for the vast majority of cacti I've worked with, the fresher the seeds are the better. If you know your seeds are old, a GA-3 soak can do wonders, but make sure you rinse the excess off before sowing because it can really damage the roots of the seedlings.
Otherwise, temp and light can be a factor. You can always just let them dry out, get cold, then water, bring the humidity back up, and raise the temps after a few months of dormancy and see if that wakes them up. Cactus seeds can go dormant and then take a season or two to finally germinate. I've heard many stories of people re-using soil only to have seeds they thought were dead pop up in the new containers.
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spaceman101
Friend to all



Registered: 01/18/13
Posts: 11,726
Loc: In heaven bored as hell
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Quote:
P.Zappatecorum said:
Quote:
spaceman101 said: Hey! Let me know your germination rates on the
pseudomacrochele
frailensis
and jauernigii
I've had little luck with these plants and hope you do better than I;)
So far the frailensis are doing great, 4 days in at least 50% of them have already germinated, many other species haven't even started popping yet.
The number one cause of poor germination, IMO, is seed age. While some species, like opuntioids, have erratic germination and actually benefit from being old, but for the vast majority of cacti I've worked with, the fresher the seeds are the better. If you know your seeds are old, a GA-3 soak can do wonders, but make sure you rinse the excess off before sowing because it can really damage the roots of the seedlings.
Otherwise, temp and light can be a factor. You can always just let them dry out, get cold, then water, bring the humidity back up, and raise the temps after a few months of dormancy and see if that wakes them up. Cactus seeds can go dormant and then take a season or two to finally germinate. I've heard many stories of people re-using soil only to have seeds they thought were dead pop up in the new containers. 
Yea Dude! you're completely right about that and I've had opuntia sprouts popping from old sowings as well as Lophs are still sprouting from the containers I sowed in late last winter.
How do you break down your GA-3 I have the chems to do it but I don't know exactly the ratios to use like how many grams "or how much of a gram" do you use for "lets say" a pint "or even a quart or gallon" of water after liquefying the compound?
-------------------- ------------- Check out my Pollen Trade thread for spreading Good genetics far and wide Great Vendors thread where we can discuss "Non Shroomery" Vendors that sell good products worth checking into A few things I wanna get my hands on check it out and let me know if you have any of these Need help getting started growing mushrooms Here's The Noob Forum
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P.Zappatecorum
Lophophilus



Registered: 10/15/12
Posts: 2,094
Loc: Cactaceae
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I am really lazy about GA-3. My packet came with a tiny scooper, I put one scoop in that nozoki (soy sauce dish) shown above then spray a tiny bit of iso to dissolve it. Once it's mostly dissolved I fill the dish the rest of the way with water. That's a pretty strong solution so I put the seeds in, let them soak for a minute or two then take them out with tweezers or a spoon, put them on a paper towel and rinse with distilled water, then sow them with the tweezers. It works fine that way, definitely increases germination and with the rinse you don't have any excess GA-3 eating away the roots. I don't have a milligram scale and I ain't got time for that ppm shit anyways.
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spaceman101
Friend to all



Registered: 01/18/13
Posts: 11,726
Loc: In heaven bored as hell
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Ok I got ya buddy
Do you have a pic of the scoop with a lighter "or something" as I size reference or do you have an idea of the size of the scoop?
-------------------- ------------- Check out my Pollen Trade thread for spreading Good genetics far and wide Great Vendors thread where we can discuss "Non Shroomery" Vendors that sell good products worth checking into A few things I wanna get my hands on check it out and let me know if you have any of these Need help getting started growing mushrooms Here's The Noob Forum
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4HO-DMT


Registered: 01/11/11
Posts: 5,073
Loc: County Line Road
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Thanks for the write-up p. zap. I will be trying this out shortly.
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P.Zappatecorum
Lophophilus



Registered: 10/15/12
Posts: 2,094
Loc: Cactaceae
Last seen: 3 years, 5 months
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Quote:
spaceman101 said: Ok I got ya buddy
Do you have a pic of the scoop with a lighter "or something" as I size reference or do you have an idea of the size of the scoop?
 It's very small, probably holds like 10-50 milligrams. Like I said, I don't have a scale that small so there's no telling.
Checked on all my seedlings. At 6 days 10 species have had very good germination with at least 50% of their seeds sprouting. 4 species have had less than 50% sprouted, and 7 have not yet sprouted any. Every day I have a few more sprouts so I suspect the rest will pop up over then next week. I noticed the seeds at the center of the heat mat were doing better, so I moved them to the edges and moved the ones that hadn't sprouted to the center. It's warmer there so they should wake up soon. Of the three you asked about, only the jaurnegii have yet to give me any sprouts. Frailensis are already at 90%.
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