Cleaning bulk cactus seeds

[incognito]

Got a fair few big trich fruit, what's the quickest easiest method to get the seed/clean the seed from them?? The old mash and stew method? It is there better out there?

[bogfrog]

The old mash and stew? I don't know if I'm familiar with that. Guess I'm not old enough.

Last time I was dealing with cactus fruit I was lazy and just scraped it out and smeared it over newspaper. It took a long time to dry, a month or more.. but required very little effort on my part.

[incognito]

Like mash up the pods put in a bucket of water in the shade outside, the seeds drop to the bottom and the crud festers and rises to the top which u can turf. C'mon Ceres your not that young ;)

Got some good

Crosses

t.bridgesii "funkoid" x scopolicola hulk (and vice versa)

Funkoid x t.cordobensis "lance" (and vice versa)

Looking forward to the progeny might sow them all and look for

Freaks

[bogfrog]

I see

yeah I know what ya mean now.

Mushing and drying straight onto newsprint seemed easier to me than the mash n stew. It took longer before they were ready to sow tho.

Cool man, I've never seen this funkoid did you name it yourself? Got any funky pics?

[Halcyon Daze]

Like mash up the pods put in a bucket of water in the shade outside, the seeds drop to the bottom and the crud festers and rises to the top which u can turf.

How long does the crud take to fester. A day or two? R U sure this doesn't reduce viability?

I had some success smearing the gel on newspaper and then using a stainless steel ruler to scrape the gel across the paper a few times. Most of the gel sicks to the paper while the seeds are freed. Then you can finish drying the seeds on a china plate.

There's a knack to it and it takes a few goes, so your mash and fester method may be superior.

[incognito]

Depends on the heat really hd, usually a few days- unsure of effects in viability though I had good germ rates (few years ago now - back in my wandjina days)

[gtarman]

I woulda thunk that soaking them, you'd wanna use them straight after right? Wouldn't the water make them begin to germ? Sounds like some cool crosses btw

[zelly]

Auxin had a pretty good idea, pop the fruit in your mouth & then spit out the seeds...I tried that once but the fruit was so tasty I munched the whole thing!

personally i mash the pulp, water separate, then dry the seeds.

I've soaked 'em for up to 2 weeks (got lazy & forgot about 'em) with no affect on near 100% germination rates.

[incognito]

Yah think ill stick with the water separation. Seems simplest

[nitrogen]

Keeping them in the fridge in water for a week or two is fine - the cold seems to help them germinate.

If you just wanna go quick with it, once you mashed the mix all up in some water - strain it, then put the whole pulpy mess on a plate and run it through a food dehydrator - once the pulp is all bone dry, the seeds will easily separate from it with a little manual agitation. All the pulp won't get out of their, but that doesn't make any difference - just make sure it is bone dry for storage or else the not-quite-dry pulp can start to mold.

When you sow the seeds though, make sure the lot you sow has been completely separated from the pulp, as the pulp can start to mold when rehydrated.

[trucha]

Much depends on what you plan to do with them.

Getting them dry and clear of any sugar-containing stuff is helpful for both storage and germination.

Letting seeds sit and stew is good for tomatoes (in that case it is required to remove germination inhibitors) but it is really not necessary for cacti. Depending on the duration it might be able to cause germination or possibly drowning.

I've found an easy approach to be transferring the parts of the fruit pulp containing the seeds (or in some cases this will be the wet seeds with very little pulp) into a fine steel strainer (fine enough for that seed size) and running a gentle stream of warm tap water through it until its as clean as I can gently work it with my finger tips. Many cactus seeds are really rugged, Opuntia's are like little rocks, but some are surprisingly fragile and can be crushed.

The mass of washed seeds gets dumped onto a cotton dishtowel to blot off excess water and then is allowed to dry on a piece of paper, in a dish, on a plate, on another dry dish towel or in the strainer. The dry seeds may still have a few bits of dry plant matter left that can be plucked out or winnowed out.

[zelly]

Ok so lets say you have a dozen fruits a day for several days in a row or so to process......

I'm curious if there's any nutritional value in the seeds....similar to chia seeds, or hemp seeds, etc.

[djmattz0r]

I'd bet there is nutritional value to the seeds just as there is to the fruits... I just hope you wouldn't go eating those dank seeds :D I like the pipe cleaner tags

[trucha]

Some cactus seeds rival brazil nuts for their nutritional content. Most of them have not been examined.

Finely ground prickly pear seeds make a coarse but tasty seed-meal that works great for griddle cakes.

[Philocacti]

Like mash up the pods put in a bucket of water in the shade outside, the seeds drop to the bottom and the crud festers and rises to the top which u can turf.

So how long does it take for the pulp to surface?

I got me a couple of dragon fruits and mashed the pulp and put in water, but everything sank in the water.

Edited March 5, 2014 by Philocacti

[doxneed2c-me]

I use a colander which has fairly small holes to filter out most of the junk when dealing with seeds. There is always a bit of the junk left but it removes the bulk of it. Then I put the seeds and junk on aluminum foil with the corners rolled to form a shape like a baking sheet and set a fan to blow over it for a day and it is usually dry after 6-36 hrs depending on how much water and junk was left.

Edited March 5, 2014 by doxneed2c-me

[Philocacti]

I use a colander which has fairly small holes to filter out most of the junk when dealing with seeds. There is always a bit of the junk left but it removes the bulk of it. Then I put the seeds and junk on aluminum foil with the corners rolled to form a shape like a baking sheet and set a fan to blow over it for a day and it is usually dry after 6-36 hrs depending on how much water and junk was left.

Thanks, I'll try that

[doxneed2c-me]

I guess I should explain my protocol a bit clearer.

I generally take the fruit intact for certain plants or I scoop out the portion with the seeds. I put it in the colander then rinse the material with water. I usually rinse the seeds into a large container so that I can pass the collected rinsings through a screen or finer colander. I usually break up the fruit material with my hands while rinsing it. Also use your hands to move the plant material around to free up the seeds which might be trapped.below the plant material. This method is my go to method and works extremely well if you buy yourself the right tools. Make sure you get a colander which has wide enough holes for the seeds to pass through. The second colander should be fine enough to trap the seeds as it is really just to get rid of the water.

Edited March 6, 2014 by doxneed2c-me

[doxneed2c-me]

I am going to post my guide with pictures this week but ideally I would post it tomorrow.

[doxneed2c-me]

Here! This is a gallery for the time being of how to do it. Still deciding if it really needs explanation.
http://imgur.com/a/w5iVZ

Don't mind the laundry.

I will make an actual thread I suppose. If anyone finds this useful and feels generous enough to consider sending me seeds PM me. I do give seeds anyone has sent me to a few fellow cacti enthusiasts in the area.

Edited April 1, 2014 by doxneed2c-me