what variety of loph seed would u advise to grow and why?

[SirLSD]

what varieties of loph seeds have you grown and which ones would you reccomend and why?

ie i have found cardona to produce larger seedlings than the 2 other varieties i have grown.

also i am looking to buy 100 seeds and want to find someone else to also buy 100 seeds of diff variety and we can trade 50 witheach other to get 2 lots of 50 seeds but still get the good price of 100. who keen?

[occidentalis]

Out of the six location named varieties I planted last year, in terms of size and growth rate Huizache was the best followed by Cardona.

I will be keen to go in on your purchase deal but not interested for a couple of months, so let me know if you plan on doing it later in the year.

[SaBReT00tH]

hey, if they're fresh seeds I'd be keen (cause I won't be sowing them till summer and still want good germination rates)

Edited June 18, 2007 by SaBReT00tH

[teonanacatl]

Id get some mixed seed :D

[Dodie]

Im thinking about doing what teo said, from koehlers (spelling?) mixed bag is cheap, would be great to learn to grow and graft with.

Also go with what you think looks beautiful..

edit, importing loph seed is illegal

Edited June 19, 2007 by Dodie

[SaBReT00tH]

anyone aware of any Turbo Loph (Lophophora vs Turbinicarpus) seed in Oz?

[kadakuda]

i like fricii growth habits and the flowers are the best in my opinion! nice deep pink.

[SirLSD]

planning on buying seed soon. who's in? between 2 to 5 people would be good

got a website for koehlers?

was planning on buying from earthalchemy (spelling?) as have had good results from them before

[SaBReT00tH]

I might be in, how much are prices, are they fresh?

[incognito]

loph williamsii v.gigantea would be worth a shot. apparently collected from plants which measure 30cm across. email vlado (u can get email address from his site cactus-seeds.com)

i had a great strike rate from the seed he sold me, and they do seem to have a faster growth rate than my other loph will vars.

[M S Smith]

Here's some comments I made regarding the Kohres Lophophora seed at The Nook:

I think it a marketing gimmick if the suggestion made by the list is that these are all in fact "variations" in the botanical nomenclature sort of way. Of course plants from different locations may have different traits that may make them worth having for "varieties" sake, but this doesn't make them "variations."

But here's what makes it really a gimmick; that "all varieties marked J originate from wild plant cultivation" doesn't necessarily mean that the seed themselves come from these particular locations (which almost all of these "variations" represent), which then means that unless he has more than one of these "location variety" plants in his collection and he only breeds these ones together, while avoiding cross pollination with others, then all these "varieties" are in all likelihood open pollinated in his greenhouse and are all likely just a mess of mixed genes. This is no problem for most as such genetics are going to lead to increased variety in growth habit, etc., but if you think you are going to grow a plant from these seed to look like the plants in a particular location in Mexico you can only bet on that if he is isolating these plants from a particular location together so that they may cross breed without any interference from other plants. That he takes such steps in seed production is probably quite unlikely except in a few cases, one being the "albiflora" L. fricii, but even with this one I have yet to hear from anyone who grew them to see if they produce the white flower like the original mother plant.

Gimmick, I'd say, unless there were some really tight controls. I'm sure he makes a good chunk of change on this one from the Lophophora collectors.

~Michael~

[SirLSD]

yeah only reasons i want to get "named variations" is to maintain genetic diversity for conservation reasons and in a hope that one will be more suited to my growing conditions than others.

[teonanacatl]

MS im sure kohres is aware of that so i guess its just a question of whether he impliments it or not. If you want to find one suited to growing conditions then get the mixed bag.

Edited June 25, 2007 by teonanacatl

[SirLSD]

can someone please give me a link to where i can buy mixed seed. im sick of searching and it has been a real shit of a day.

[incognito]

can someone please give me a link to where i can buy mixed seed. im sick of searching and it has been a real shit of a day.

www.cactus-seeds.com

[SirLSD]

cool, thanks.

better prices than earth alchemy.

[SirLSD]

am going to order myself some seeds next week. if anyone wants to chip in or order and trade let me know.

will be mainly ordering through earthalchemy as they are in aus and will deliver. cactus-seeds.com didnt reply to my email, and i noticed their policy on mesc containing varieties seeds didnt allow for my intended order.

[charliewired]

I know that koehres has a literal complex of greenhouses - but keeping pollination strictly within one would be a challenge as Michael says - especially when you have insects and such - I am currently growing 23 different varieties of loph - I never made the assertion that they were variations, the variety is usually an area or patch number..... Ive noticed some very distinct traits in most of the varieties Im growing, growth habits, size, pupping characteristics etc.

I agree that Huizache is the strongest fastest growing most forgiving variety Im working with

[amongst the Williamsii that is - Koehresii is Extremely hardy but does not carry the same alkaloidal makeup of williamsii being within or closely related to Diffusae instead{jury is out on that one for some I believe}]

These are followed closely by loph williamsii caespitosa (which is obviously a much sought type on account of its mad pupping characteristic)

Anyhow Bettina Koehres was very kind to me and facilitated the speedy arrival of my seed in every instance....and threw in freebies on some orders... I usually ordered 1000packs of each variety so I wouldnt have to do dozens of orders one after the other... consequently I have so much seed its coming out my ears LOL

However there is no way that Koehres would mislabel seed or anything like that, I do know they will send the seed sna you can take your chances with customs, so check your local law in Oz before ordering, or order from an Aussie company instead if your paranoid.

Have fun!

Cheers

Charliewired

Edited July 14, 2007 by charliewired