Aztekium

[Philocacti]

First I have to admit that marijuana is a gateway drug to becoming a cactophile ..... At least in my case.

Although I stopped using marijuana since 05 but my love for cacti still grows.

So anyway.... I ordered som aztekium seeds (and a bunch of other seeds) from koehres and they arrived yesterday. I already planted them and hopefully they'll germinate ....

I'm saying this cuz a few years back I ordered different kinds of seeds from koehres and some had poor germination rates and other never germinated at all.

Let's hope for the best.

The soil mic I've done is different then any previous soil mix I've done. It's 70% rocks and pebbles (20% of which is dolomite) and the remaining 20% is a mixture of compost and coir. I added a thin layer of coir on top so all the seeds get equal amount of water in their germination stage

[Jox]

Good luck with them mate,

I notice in your photo your containers have coloured lids & are stacked on each other, is this how you normally germinate your seeds?

I would of thought this would greatly reduce light & have never tried, I would be keen to hear your success rates.

Cheers

Jox

[Philocacti]

Thanks mate

Usually I germinate in Tupperware or plastic plates and I put them in clear or white plastic bags and I place them in the shade. But a month ago I was germinating some ferocactus and I planted them in a similar container with a colored lid. I placed the container in a place that gets about 4 hours of direct sun and forgot about. When I checked on the seedling they were doing great, no sunburn and no etiolation as well. Now I check on them every day and they're doing great. So I decided to do the same with these seeds.

However in a month or so I'll change they're position cuz the sun is getting more intense (spring season starting here). So many then I'll take these bluer lids off and place every container in a clear plastic bag.

I'll go along depending on their development ;)

I'll try to update this thread as they develop (if they germinate)

[irabionist]

Hi my name is Sabry, and Marijuana was also a gateway drug to growing cactus....

But otherwise, I would love to see how these go (even though it'll take a few years), I've been meaning to grow some Aztekium from seed for a while...

[modern.shaman]

You should do fine with a colored lid with aztekium seeds as they require less light then other species. Be aware that its common for seeds to germinate quickly then just as quickly disappear. I'm currently growing aztekium seeds and am 3 months in. They are the easy seeds to grow just really small and slow growing. They start popping up in 5-7 days and keep sprouting randomly up to a month afterwards, but most will be up by the second week. Also keep the seeds in high humidity for 6 month+. You can remove them sooner but will likely lose many if removes sooner then 3 months. You can also keep them in humidity for a year or even 2 years to speed up their growth.

I've also had mixed results with koehres and have decided not to use them anymore. I'm having great success with czech seeds and they are usually cheaper so I don't mind the slower shipping speed.

[Philocacti]

Thanks a lot m.s for the tips ;)

I was meaning to try to graft a few seedlings to pereskiopsis. Did you try that? I'm actually very excited about these seeds which make me check on them every morning and I keep forgetting that the success to growing cacti lies within neglecting them.

I think I need to explore new seed vendors as well. So if things don't go as wish I might ask you for you Czech contacts

[Hellonasty]

I grafted to Pereskiopsis after about 5 months and had pretty good success rates. I tried after 1 month but could not get any to take.

[hostilis]

Sorry to derail this thread, but do you know if Blossfeldia liliputana would be good to put in a pot with aztekiums? I'm going to start some more aztekium riterii and hintonii and I'd like to just throw in the b. liliptana

[Philocacti]

Thanks a lot Hellonasty, but how big where your seedlings at 5 months?

hostilis. I wouldn't know as this is my first attempt at growing aztekium. But why would you think they won't be good together?

[mutant]

nice things happen to those who dare

kudos to those brave that go the impossible and slow road that is Aztekium from seed

nice to know your success with grafting Hellonasty!

[hostilis]

I was thinking it because they both are tiny tiny seeds and need high humidity for a long time.

[modern.shaman]

hostilis, they would work sown together and can still be distinguished even without areoles as the Blossfeldia seedlings are microscopic easily half the size of aztekium if not even smaller. They can both be kept in high humidity for up to 2 years but I wouldn't keep them that long personally maximum of a year but that's just a preference.

Philocacti, as for grafting onto pereskiopsis I have had success grafting 2 ritteri seedlings that were around +-1 month old. I only grafted them this young because they were albino and they seem to have remained all white for about a month grafted now. They have grown very little but are plump and have taken. I lost 1 albino hintonii graft but I didn't use a clean blade so it was doomed from the start.

For those interested in trying czech vendors be aware that they take much longer to send an invoice of the seeds for payment 2 months or more in some cases. After they send you an invoice they seed the seeds fairly quickly after you send the payment, usually within a few days. I personally don't mind waiting as I prefer the lower prices and the quality of the seeds have been great in my two fairly large purchases. I've also heard some stories of people not receiving the seeds that they purchased which can be a HUGE problem especially with slow growers but that isn't a common problem.

Czech vendors are know to poach plants and seeds from the natural habitat. So keep that in mind if you want to be environmentally aware and not promote or support known poachers.

Edited April 11, 2014 by modern.shaman

[Philocacti]

Funny thing is I bought 6 other seeds types and they're all germinating except for the 2 aztekium species

Czech vendors are know to poach plants and seeds from the natural habitat. So keep that in mind if you want to be environmentally aware and not promote or support known poachers.

Probably not all of them poach, but I'll pass to be on the safe side. Thanks for the tip.

[mutant]

Czech vendors are know to poach plants and seeds from the natural habitat.

hey you have to support this... because it sounds really bad...

[Philocacti]

I call it a fail. None of my aztekium seeds germinated, I can't even spot them in the soil.

I guess I might have placed the whole thing in bright light. All the other seeds are germinating and doing well.

So I'll get more seeds and probably add a layer of sand on the too and place them in darker spot.

[zelly]

Hmmm I just mailed off a packet of my homegrown aztekium ritteri seeds to a mate in Oz and have to say they are the smallest cacti seeds I've ever seen. They're about the size of the period at the end of this sentence, or less.

[modern.shaman]

How many days have passed? I'd wait at least 2 weeks before giving up.

I wouldn't sow less than 100 seeds as many seedlings die soon after germinating. Out of 100 seeds sown I would expects only 20+ seedlings would survive.

[hostilis]

I've always had good luck using GA3 with aztekium seeds to increase the germination rates. They're super hard to handle physically though.

[Philocacti]

modern.shaman I planted them on the 6th of April. Non germinated but I'll keep the Tupperware as is until I get other seeds.

I've put cinnamon in my soil mix and non of my trays has fungus or algae but I'm doubting there's a bacteria growing in the aztekium tray as the coir looks more glancy than the rest of the other trays

Zelly. Yup they're pretty small ... the smallest I've sown so far but I could see them in the soil the first week or so, now they disappeared

hostilis I have no access to G3 and I don't think I would use it if I had access to it ;)

[hostilis]

Well, just the difference between no seeds germinating and 50%. I guess it's all preference though.

[Philocacti]

I totally understand but if the seeds won't germinate by themselves (for one reason or the other) I don't want to use a chemical to force them to germinate cuz then it may pass on this trait to their seeds and I'll have to use chemicals again every time I want to germinate any seeds from its offspring

[hostilis]

That makes sense. Kind of forces weak seedlings to germinate.

[zelly]

damn, i just learned i can produce seedless tricho fruits by using ga3!

hell yes!! no more spitting out seeds for meeee

[hostilis]

Lol. It's meant for increasing germination not flowering.

[Philocacti]

I know but I have this "OCD" that I always want to be self sustained. So I wouldn't want specimen that will produce dud seeds..... It might not make much sense but I'd want all my globular a at least produce viable seeds

Not saying that seeds that germinate with the help of G3 wouldn't but I prefer more "natural" so to speak