sowing out lophs and alike

[planthelper]

since a few months, i'm trying again raising lophs, arios & co, but my germ rates are low.

a few years earlier, i sowed out many loph seed's (from one batch) and at maybe two occasions out of five "sowing outs" i had a much higher germ rate.

i'm happy if i can 2 out of 5 loph seeds to sprout, but sometimes i get nothing at all.

sometimes i have observed a small second wave of germination a few weeks after the first flush, but that only seem to happen if the initial attempt was kept a bit to dry.

i wonder how many % of loph seeds are programed for multiple re wetting?

i'm sure some loph seeds dormancy can only be broken with, multiple re wettings, but as said sometimes i seemed to have achived very high germ rates, what is going on here?

i seemed to achive the best results when it was very, very hot (37 deg C) and the sowing out trays where kept out doors, but very sheltered.

if i try something on the lines of bottom heat, i get 2 out of 5 only and sometimes failed totaly.

when i experimented with the correct polarisation of loph seeds, only 1 seed in ~7 germed, and this was using the wet tissue methode.

i kept the tissue with the seeds which did not germ, and it stayed dry now for a few weeks, now i will re wet them and see if any germ.

i might even go further and cold stratify on top of re wetting...

some people say, they get high germ rates, what's your secret?

[bℓσωηG]

Fresh seed is almost 100% for me, from my own plants or from members here that have fresh harvested seed... im not sure what happens to them while the seeds sit around for months in a bag, but they do seem to not want to wake out of their slumber as readily.

.I use the Takeaway tek, with bottom heat as we have cool nights here and low humidity.

Your climate may need a tweaked tech planthelper, as it maybe too hot, too wet, maybe another tropical region dweller has some tips..

[klip247]

Ive had excellent success at germination with: premium soil mixed with vermiculite, inside a plastic growbox, always kept the soil moist... actually very wet never letting the soil dry out. I keep them like this for a while until most of the seeds germinate, hope this helps

[planthelper]

i pretty do as most of you do, regarding my settup and temp and so on....

if the seeds are fresh from a wet seed pot, do you guys let them dry out for a bit before sowing, or do you sow them straight away? i have heard conflicting views about this.

[mutant]

PH it sounds like the seed hasn't been so good. You did mention it was from a single batch...

[tripsis]

I've found different batches of seed have very different results, perhaps due to freshness, but maybe other factors too. Under the same conditions, some seed will have excellent germination rates while others will be poor or completely nonviable.

[planthelper]

PH it sounds like the seed hasn't been so good. You did mention it was from a single batch...

 

my wording about this must have been confusing, what i said was, all those seeds from one source (around 3000) gave me results like maybe this:

1 or 2 total fails germ rate less than 10%

2 total successes germ rate probably high ~70%

5 average germ rate guess to be around 40 to 50%

so it's not the seeds, setup was the same.

if temps are around 25 or 27 deg C and the nights just slightly colder, is that warm enough for the most of you?

the only thing i can think of to blame are the temps, maybe i'm right to remeber that the two times i got lot's of seedlings, happend when temperature reached 37 degC or more, and the spot wher i germ them would get even hotter. but is sheltered from direct sunlight, but bright, all my lophs are happy at that location.

anyway, i always make sure when planting lophs that the soil is realy, realy wet, which is needed for good germ rates.

[klip247]

Have you tried a heat pad? That seems to stimulate germination quite abit..

Edited February 4, 2011 by klip247

[planthelper]

Have you tried a heat pad? That seems to stimulate germination quite abit..

 

i'v never used a heat pad, but i have used additional heat at times, and it sometimes did not help either.

anyway, i'm sure i get more lucky again soon.

does your heat pad fluctuate temperature wise, or is constantly set the same heat?

[Gunter]

expose the seeds to sunlight before sowing

a few minutes is plenty

cactus seeds seems to go dormant, light wakes them up

this is why your better germ rates were had outdoors

I exposed knize seed (KK339) that someone had 0% germination with, to sunlight, and got 100% germination...

other cacti seem to behave in a similar manner

light tells them they are in a good spot to grow and root, you would not want mere wet conditions to cause germination because the seeds could germinate when in the earth, they go dormant and wait for the wake-up call of the sun

Edited February 5, 2011 by Archaea

[mutant]

^^^

wow cool. it also makes sense

thanks for sharing

[planthelper]

yeah, great tip archaea, but now i wonder if i sometimes sowed them too deep.

but one thing i observed a few times, i had more seedlings comming up at the edges of the punnets facing away from the light.

next batch i will sow out in a fashion that, the top of the loph seed is level with the soil,

now that will be a boring job to do, hehehe.

[bℓσωηG]

yeah i don't bury seeds at all anymore, i just sprinkle on surface and then spray with water, the spraying helps them settle in a nice position

[Sola]

I sprinkle them on the surface as well, using the takeaway tek. I've found they germinate really well with very high humidity and heat as would

occur in Texas, Oklahoma at different times of year. I put a thermometer in the storage box to see what temps I got to with the light on and in

a glasshouse. I'm sure there is an upper limit but I haven't found it temps in the high fourties seemed fine although I generally try to keep it

below that. I think the freshness of seed plays a major role too, have had close to 100% sometimes and as low as ~15% other times.

[Evil Genius]

Hi Planthelper, from what i´ve seen during the last years, i´d say that Lophs dont like too hot Temperatures. Germination rates during the first flush depend on the freshness of the seed and the family. Some cacti (Echinocereus, Mammillaria, Tephrocactus) need a few watering cycles but Lophophora usually isnt one of them if the conditions are ideal. Lophs need light but no direct sunlight. I think that the inconsistant germination rates could have to do with you light. Inside, i had great results germinating them in front of a window that doesnt have direct sunlight or under artificial lights. Best type of indoor Light would be LED or some kind of Energy-Saving-Lamp. Not sure about the english name but i mean the crappy shitlamps they are forcing us to use in the EU now. Sodium and Metal Halogen Lamps are not good because they produce too much heat. Besides, the light spectrum isnt ideal. Having a dim light also helps to keep the algae away caus they need a lot of light to grow! Best temperatures are between 15 and 35 Degree Celsius. Though you can germinate Lophs at a temperature of 15 degrees, you should stay over 25 to avoid most molds. They usually need 8-12 days to germinate and it helps if the temperature drops at night. I would say 25 at day and 15-18 at night are ideal. I never used heat pads for Lophs because i had worse germination rates with that. bye Eg

Edited February 11, 2011 by Evil Genius

[planthelper]

thx to all of you, i get a clear picture now!

because i have very fresh loph seeds, i know i can rule out low germ rates because of age.

i believe i have buried them too deep at times, and

i think i used sometimes even too much heat.

eg, your post got rid of my lose or loose ends, i'm confident to achive better germ rates from now on.

i used to sprinkle just on top aswell, but than must have gone deeper and deeper, hehehe.

you know what i hate?

when the cane toads, make themselves a "nest overnight" in my flower pots. grrrr.

i just have hoodia seedlings comming up and the cane toads destroyed some of them.

they burry themselves a little bit into the moist soil, the damage looks like something, dug a shallow hole into the pots.

[klip247]

i'v never used a heat pad, but i have used additional heat at times, and it sometimes did not help either.

anyway, i'm sure i get more lucky again soon.

does your heat pad fluctuate temperature wise, or is constantly set the same heat?

 

The pad I have has a dial on one side to change the temperature, it will run constantly and consistently at the temperature that was set via the dial, having it hooked up to a timer would be even better.