Phytolater

Hi, please don't laugh at the photos (I know you will!) I've been struggling for over 4 years trying to care for my cacti, they're still alive (just) and it's still my first attempt. I had done my research before purchasing seeds but obviously hadn't read enough as my cacti soon began shrinking in the poor soil. It was diagnosed as a lighting problem, but a new system didn't help much. Eventually I changed the soil and they expanded like a dry sponge in water (well not quite that fast!). Much later, when they were doing well, I dropped the poor things on their heads when the tray I was carrying went arse over tit. Amazingly they survived the fall, but leaned, lurched and etiolated. Eventually they were so thin, I thought they'd die if I took cuttings and dried them out even more (and I was afraid of them getting infected from the cut). Since they were doing so badly in the tent, I moved them to the window. I figured since they were horizontal, they might be able to take root in the neighbouring pots. Another fail, lol! BUT it looks like maybe a second chance as pups are appearing!!! It was a complete surprise when I discovered the first two just before xmas. If I leave them alone, will they survive? If I have to separate them, how best to do it? It would be a nice change to have some success!

Great explanation Micromegas, so thanks, I'm pretty sure that is everything I needed to know! The photos are a bit misleading, in fact only one plant is upright and it doesn't have any pups. You see only a part of it above, so I'm attaching a new (rather grainy) photo. It's pale at the top as it's getting too tall (39cm) to catch all the direct sunlight through the window, also top-heavy and struggling to stay upright so I'll probably have to chop it as well. I hope to be posting up some really good photos next season! Thanks for all your help.

I just have one last question, but first many thanks to you both, Micromegas and Halcyon Daze, I feel very encouraged by your support, knowledge and suggestions Regarding the pups, I'm not ready to attempt grafting so will let them grow a while. And is it okay if I also cut the good tips off the ones that have produced the pups at the base of their stems? I was unable to find info about that and just want to make sure that doing the cuttings won't affect the pups.

Hi Micromegas, I started out with 21 seeds (purchased online), only a third of them germinated but I know what to do next time. When they had started to grow well I moved them into a tall tent (being a bit optimistic there, haha!) but heat rises, and even with the heat mat, lowering the lighting, throwing in a heated towel rail for company, for some reason from where they sat the temperature was always just borderline okay, so maybe soil wasn’t drying out enough. But they’ve been feeling the solar warmth lately! Thanks for the advice Micromegas, guess I knew I’d have to take cuttings but have been hesitating as I don’t want to mess this up, so really appreciate the encouragement! Btw I’m in ACT which is classified as Cfb (subtropical highland climate) on the Köppen system, and on the ABCB Climate Zone Map it’s 7 (cool/temperate). IMO, a more extreme zone classification is needed for ACT. I understand T. Bridgesii can handle a little light frost. Would you reckon it’s temperate enough here to plant them outside?

Yes, I will watch their sunlight exposure. I had been extending their daylight hours by putting them in the grow tent for a few hours after the sun sets behind the neighbour's house, probably overdoing the light now though! (They had been shrinking a few months ago, became tiny, dried up and wrinkled, only came good after repotting in a much richer soil mix, so I didn't let them go into dormancy over winter as they had a lot of growing to catch up on.)

Had to leave my babies (achumas) at home for a while so watered and put them in propagator with clear lid over to prevent drying out too much, and placed them on a table away from the window to avoid burn from afternoon sun. Kept room warm. After 3 days they were then looked after till I got back a week later (3 days ago). They seemed fine then, but today looked dark around spines, and look even worse now. Cannot find anything that looks like this on the internet, so just took some photos. Thanks in advance for any advice, if there is anything I can do to save them, or maybe it is too late

Oops! I mean Evil Genius, I'm still a newbie here, lol!!

I will act on your advice, Mad Scientist, and thanks so much for your quick response, It is so good to know they'll be okay!!! :D

Hi all, thanks for the advice. Now, how do I know when a cactus goes into dormancy? They are still not growing, though their spines seem to be growing. Last year I had moved them into jiffy pots.. not much better than the egg carton I know, but it was all I had at the time. They did okay at first. Last year they looked green, had shorter spines. Today they are still tiny, but now brown, with long spines From photos, can anyone figure out what I need to do? They spent the summer months out of the grow tent at a West facing window but didn't get too much sun as the neighbour's house gets in the way late afternoon and it was often cloudy.

Hi, I joined The Corroboree a few weeks ago but there has been a lot of reading to do before taking the plunge and trying my hand at raising some Bolivian Torch so this is my first post. During the Scorpio Moon of 28th September I set some Bolivian Torch seeds over a mixture of coarse sand, cactus mix and perlite in egg cartons, and placed the lot in a humidifier dome at a west-facing window to get the afternoon sun. The first seeds germinated on 9th October. Every day I put them outside and removed the lid for a while to let them get some real sun, though in retrospect I might have let them get too much. Anyway, after a few cool, overcast days I purchased a grow tent, fluorescent lights and heat mat, and they continued to do well in the tent (still under the humidifier dome) and a couple more seedlings appeared. Everything seemed fine for a while, but recently they all seem to be shrinking, though I spray them regularly.. or maybe not often enough? Or could the soil be too acid/alkaline (I would need to buy a PH tester)? I haven’t been able to find any info on shrinkage of seedlings and hope someone here might be able to offer some advice?

True, Explorer, they are not stretching, but seem to be shrinking, lol. But I have adjusted the lights now to 15cm from soil level (and only 2 or 3 cms from top of dome). Thanks for the seeds offer, might take you up on it, I'm preparing to plant some loph seeds, so need to make sure there will be room in the tent for the seed trays And hi evil penguin, I have 2 x 30 watt lights, tubes are 50cm long. Tent dimensions are approx length 75cm, height 60cm, width 51cm. Yes, they seem to look okay in the photos, but every day they are more difficult to find, and the little round ball one is only about 2mm high. I don't know if this is normal, I've never grown cacti from seed before, lol.

I have the lights at about 30cm above the seedlings, and the interior of the tent is made of reflective material.

This one shrunk heaps too, but didn't turn into a 'bead'

and another different shaped one

Another one...

Here's the smallest, it has shrunk a lot, and very bead-like now.

This guy is the biggest and seems to be doing well.

No, I didn't save any seeds for another try, I didn't discover that idea till they were germinating, duh! I probably shouldn't have referred to the container as a humidifier. Maybe a humidity dome, or a covered, vented seedling tray might have been more apt, but I'm still learning and still trying to get my head around everything. So I mist with a spray bottle and the domed lid keeps the environment humid. I like to open the vents in the lid each day (sometimes remove the entire lid) to deter mold, then spray again and re-close the vents. A thermometer is in with the seedlings to allow temperature checks (on 2 separate occasions it soared to about 33 C with vents closed and heat mat on). Sixteen seems like a lot of light hours. I've only been giving them 12, but if that is what works I'll definitely try 16 hours of light. Yes, I live in Oz. Nights here in ACT are just beginning to get warm enough not to need the heat mat. (Before I got it, I was warming the entire room, an expensive way to go, lol!) Anyhow, thanks for the responses and I'll try and take some photos tomorrow.