Khala Posted July 3, 2011 (edited) Just planted up one of my mini-greenhouses FULL of seeds. Used so many. Looks good, can't wait for them to start germ'ing Praying for no pests/infections/fungus. Peace! EDIT: Wrong picture! Sorry. Edited July 3, 2011 by Khala Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Khala Posted July 4, 2011 (edited) Okay, here we go. First up, my seedlings. I've moved them into full winter sunlight, through a window, and they are looking a bit funny. LOTS of red/brown colouration and they are quite pale. I think full sunlight isn't the best idea, thoughts? Should I move them back to their original position on the speakers? Here are some photos. There is definitely lots new growth, they are thickening up nicely: You can see the colouration here though. And note these ones, they are a very vivid red tip (the cluster at the back) My neighbour is a horticulturist. I'm pretty sure he used to be a park ranger or something, but he does volunteer work at the local rainforest-type place called Sea Acres, and has lots of plants. Anyway we were talking about cacti and he brought me over this, wondering if any of you could ID it. He is getting my some dragonfruit cuttings as well :D And I checked out my grafts, the orange one had shrunken in quite a lot. I removed it and it HAD grafted successfully, but it was dying. I removed the red one as well and found it to be extremely soft and had brown/black colouring on the inside. So the results: A successful graft, but not able to survive. So I found a division I had trying to take root and grafted it onto one of the stocks! It's M. gracilis. Peace! EDIT: Updated with some seedling photos. Edited July 4, 2011 by Khala Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Khala Posted July 7, 2011 My two spachianus trays that I planted up have germinated today. Excellent! I'll put some photos in this afternoon, need to buy some batteries. That's 13 days. I was under the impression cactus germination took ages? So far it's been under a fortnight! :D Peace. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Amazonian Posted July 7, 2011 Hmmmm, me thinks you have a bit of a green thumb Khala! . Well done. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Khala Posted July 7, 2011 Okay, got some new batteries. First up, here are the T. spach photos. There are 5-10 germinated on each, and from what I saw with my first tray, they'll start popping up now day after day. Apologies for these bad photos. Unfourtunately, in one of the trays there are 4-5 fruitflies that have made their home. Will they negatively effect? How can I get rid of them? And here are the original mixed trichocereus, for your viewing pleasure, still growing strong - bit of discolouration, but they've greened up a lot! Cheers! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Philocacti Posted July 7, 2011 great work man, keep the good work i also have a tray of lopho seedlings that has some fruit flies in it, i don't know how this affects little cacti Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Khala Posted July 7, 2011 Philo, I think if they decide to have a munch you'll have a lot of groovy, peaceful fruitflies in there hahaha. Watch out for drum circles. Peace. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lhb2444 Posted July 8, 2011 Philo, I think if they decide to have a munch you'll have a lot of groovy, peaceful fruitflies in there hahaha. Watch out for drum circles. Peace. HAHAHA, watch out! next thing you know they'll be setting up a hippy jam band festival the likes of which you've never seen! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Khala Posted July 8, 2011 (edited) Just potted up most of my decoratives, will edit this post with a picture in a minute. Here is the outdoor crew: Here are all the ornamentals I potted up today, looking very sexy: And my spachs, day two of germination. They all pop up so quickly! I'll post on these guys again in a week. Peace Edited July 8, 2011 by Khala Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Khala Posted July 10, 2011 (edited) Checked my lil greenhouse this morning, and three of the 'Random Trichocereus' plots have germinated. Good news! But, there are like tufts of thin whispy white hair on a lot of the soil, concerned about a fungus infection. I sprayed it with a bit of tea tree solution and left the lid off all day to de-humidify, hopefully it takes care, but I might be stressing over nothing. Thoughts? Peace. Edited July 10, 2011 by Khala Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Evil Genius Posted July 10, 2011 Yeah, that could be cobweb mold. Keep the soil dry and try to germinate again after the soil is totally dry. If it grows agressively, it could destroy the seeds/seedlings in no time. bye Eg Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Khala Posted July 10, 2011 Hey EG, how to dry out the soil? Can I just leave the lid off and germinate as normal? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Evil Genius Posted July 10, 2011 (edited) Do you already have germinated seedlings in that container? There are two options. Drying out and starting with another cycle but you always have the risk that the mold comes back. If i were you, i´d just take off the lid and keep the soil moist. Germinating without lid takes a lot longer for some seeds but if you really have a strong mold growth in there, its probably the best thing you can do. If the mold continues to grow even without the lid, you should wait till the soil dried out before you can water again. Sometimes, its a constant struggle and molds usually arent that big of a problem if they grow slow. But in some cases and under the right conditions, they can eat your seedlings in no time. just watch the mold. If its gets bigger theres no way around a. dry soil and/or less air humidity or b. a strong fungicide. The latter is always a problem because cacti can store toxins for a long time. bye Eg Edited July 10, 2011 by Evil Genius Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Khala Posted July 10, 2011 Yeah there are some germinated seedlings. When planting seedlings (cacti) I soak the bottom of the soil in water, so that watering is unneccessary due to evaporative pull/absorption. I will take the lid off tomorrow and just let it be, the change in humidity could be enough to take out the mould, but it is pretty extensive. It is in about 8 plots. Thanks for your help mate, I will keep the thread updated with progress. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Amazonian Posted July 10, 2011 , how to dry out the soil? Can I just leave the lid off Another way to rid excess moisture from soil is with paper-towel. You can roll a piece up and insert it into the edge of the pot . It will begin to absorb the moisture (capillary reaction).. The mold may die back with the drier soil, but might return when the moisture level is raised again. Just keep your eye on it. Good Luck. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Khala Posted July 13, 2011 Still battling the mold, I've had the lid off the box for a few days. A few plots of the assorted Trichocereus have germinated, as well as a few BridgeXPsycho0. Got them sitting out in sunlight now, but it's winter so it's very cold. I've definitely stemmed the growth of mold but it is yet to die. An uphill battle. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GoOnThen Posted July 13, 2011 You could try following the mushroom growers way of combating cobweb mould by spraying with diluted peroxide. This should kill the mould and not harm your babies. Cheers Got 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Khala Posted July 13, 2011 What concentration do you think? ie ratio of H2O2:H2O? Cheers. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GoOnThen Posted July 13, 2011 I am not sure what the best concentration would be but I don’t think the standard 3% is too nasty. I had a look around and found this chart you could use as a starting point Cheers Got Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Khala Posted July 13, 2011 Great tool, thanks man. I had about a cup of water and I added two dashes of 3% and sprayed, and the mold seems to have disappeared. I also pulled out the origin stick - it was covered in little white spores. So looking good I'll keep my eye on the tray to make sure nothing returns. But now it seems back to normal. Peace, thanks for the help guys. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Evil Genius Posted July 13, 2011 Got them sitting out in sunlight now, but it's winter so it's very cold. How cold is it exactly? Shouldnt be much below 20° Celsius. Below that, they stop growing and are very prone to root rot either. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Khala Posted July 13, 2011 It gets pretty cold. It hasn't been an issue for my takeaway container ones, but germination has been a bit slower in the greenhouse. I attributed it to the larger volume inside, and the mold. Could it be the cause of the red colouration on the cacti? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Evil Genius Posted July 13, 2011 (edited) Could it be the cause of the red colouration on the cacti? Could be. It means stress. But it usually happens to my seedlings when they have too hot or when i introduce them into direct sunlight. So it could be due to the direct sunlight you gave them. If its not too much, it wont kill them. But at that age, they get UV Burn very easily. Keep an eye on the temperatures. I dont water at all when temperatures are below 20° Celsius because that would promote fungal infections. And thats probably one of the top seedling killers. It´s also one of the most common mistakes that new growers make to water when the cacti cant metabolize any more water because of low temperatures. When its that cold, it takes forever for the soil to dry out and the root rots away. Edited July 13, 2011 by Evil Genius Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Khala Posted July 13, 2011 Okay cheers man, I'll keep it in mind and keep them out of sun. My first batch of cacti in the container were quite etoliated so I threw them in direct sun, they definitely suffered UV damage but have greened up quite a lot. Cheers. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Khala Posted July 21, 2011 I've been really quiet lazy lately, so I decided to snap some pics of my lil greenhouse. Looking awesome. The S. disciformis and E. micromeris are yet to germinate, possibly incorrect conditions, but the other cacti have popped up (PCxPsycho0, assorted trichs, spachs). The pcXpsycho0 are going amazing: Cheers all, sorry for the laziness. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
