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Starting My First Seeds - A Question...

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I keep seeing people recommend using ziplock bags for starting new cactus seed. IIRC i want to plant the seeds in moist soil and left in a ziplock bag for 6months? then i can start trying to introduce them to the air etc. (please correct me if im wrong on that process)

So im a huge mason jar fanatic.. so i was thinking.. couldnt i just use these half pint ball mason jar's filled half way up with soil. capped and left to do its thing? or am i completely off base on how i should be doing my first set of seeds? prease halp

Is there a really good walkthrough on the best way to start seed? I want to start a cactus farm in a few years so i want to start planting ass tons of seeds.

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post-14335-0-55667500-1394723338_thumb.jpg

post-14335-0-55667500-1394723338_thumb.jpg

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Problem with the mason jar is drainage. Pots are actually used in the Baggie method so once removed seedlings can be grown own in said pots. I tried the takeaway tek and Baggie tek and the bag works better for me personally. I start poking holes in the Baggie once I start get about 50% or better germ rate and add a few more holes every few days. By 2-3 months they've left the Baggie all together. I am in a humid enviro tho so drier climes would do better to leave them in the bag for longer.

M S Smith has a good write up on it. However I don't sterilize soil and omit other steps as I've gotten a little more experience but it's a good beginning point.

http://cactus-mall.com/ccc/

Edited by EthnoGuy85
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I'm using takeaway style, with this methode a glas like this would work. When you fill in substrate moistend and not too high, you don't have to add much water for some months. The lack of drainage is not a big deal if you don't have too much water in the mix in the first place. But the danger of mold is high. One other problem is the lid, your seedlings would only recieve light from the sides. Also getting the plants out of there is complicated. I think there are containers better suited for that task. More shallow, with transparent lid and squared.

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That's what I do as well, It's basically the same as the baggie method.

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Hate Ziplocks for germinating because they don´t provide solid structure. Maybe you can get this working if you are the Special One, like Neo. But for everyone else, you would probably de-root your small seedlings everytime you want to move the bags and check the seedlings. Because thats what you will need to do in order to bring in fresh air every now and then. So i would strongly recommend small takeaway containers. Mason Jar would work as well. But they are heavy and night as stackable and easy to handle as takeaway containers. Besides, they are cheaper.

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what are these takeaway containers? tupperware? plastic pots? i got 30 2.5" square plastic pots. i was going to just saran wrap them then slowly poke holes in the sarawrap as they need it.

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TAKE_AWAY_CONTAINER_500ml.jpg

something like this

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People actually use ziplock bags alone for seedlings? I thought the baggie method was putting a small pot in a baggy to provide humidity and warmth.

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I use chinese takeaway tek too, love it. After two months I pop one of the sides open to allow a bit of fresh air circulation. Next month I open the lid more and by the 4th month the lid is removed completely. Saran wrap would be good too with say a rubber band to secure it or something but I figure the takeaway containers come with a lid I may as well use it :)

Edited by Brendo

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I like putting a bag over the top of my pots since it allows the condensation to drip down the sides rather than condense at the top and drip onto the seedlings. I've noticed that this can cause rot and also creates little magnifying glasses that can mess up the light distribution.

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Yeah, both methods are in use so i wasn´t sure you are talking about covering your pots with a Bag. Well, that´s not so problematic as putting them in the Ziplock without anything else. It´s nothing but a variation of the Takeaway Tech. So yeah, don't see a problem if you want to put a Bag over your Pot. :)

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I could only imagine what a nightmare it would be trying to get the seedlings out of a mason jar without causing damage. Take away all the way.......

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interesting. i bought a few containers just like the above last week. i figured they looked usable for seedlings so i grabbed them. apparently my intuition was on the money :)

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ok so basically.. sow seeds in moist not wet soil. cover with saran wrap and place in light. after 2 months or so i can poke some holes to let some air in. over the next few months just poke more holes and slowly acclimate teh cactus to the full air. this should all take no more than 4-6 months? is there a simple time frame for each step i should consider?

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I pretty much learned about sterile technique from mycology but its so much easier with plants, no need for autoclave here :)

I get little pots and 3 quater fill them with john innes seed soil,

and get another pot to tamp down the soil so theres at least 1cm from the top of the soil to the rim of the pot

..its gritty/sandy/loamy but I gather anything with little to no nutrients can be a good sowing medium

I tried all sorts of mixes , the most successful in efficiency being a layer of perlite and an equal thickness layer of john innes seed soil on top - I think this aids with air flow...

but really we're thinking longevity and I only use this when I'm going to transfer seedlings early, or for a viability test... which isn't often...

and these seeds could be in this pot covered for 6 months before poking a tiny hole in the saran wrap , then another the next day and so on...

limestones didn't seem to help so I left them out in the end - I read somewhere once that cacti like high-ish ph (ph8) but rain and aquarium water are the way

and rain is ph4..., my aquarium is ph6.8...

then I microwave them for 4x 3 minute blasts with 2 minutes between each if its the flimsy anderson die pots, - its a 1000w microwave-

or 10 minutes if its a sturdy high quality plastic pot ,

I would rehydrate with freshly boiled water from the kettle until water runs freely out of the pots from underneath, probably on a clean dinner plate over a sink

I use tap water boiled, not rain, germinating is the only time I use tap water for indoor plant use, from acacias to cacti and the water here is quite hard, enough to scale a kettle in a few days. obviously watch that the hot water spills in the sink and not down your front.

( http://www.shaman-australis.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=29996&p=458149, I've added pics of the pots and the ones I cut plastic caps to make with casings and you can see the perlite/john innes layer and air flow space)

...after a few hours of getting on with other things; like writing labels and records ...to give the microwaved bizz to cool down,...

I'll sterilise my hands with IPA or hand wash gel (same thing pretty much)

and sprinkle seeds on the surface without pushing them in and without adding any soil on top of them

then cover with cling film/shrink//saran wrap and often an elastic band if needed, and a label (writing the labels before you stick em on is easiest :] )

stick em in the propogator and turn it off when the room they're in is over 20C (daytime) and turn it on after letting it drop to 12-16C, usually 16C, if it does.(night time) , this could be done with a timer switch but I'm with them 24/7

The fluctuating temps seem to be the key to germinating cacti I find so far, and 100% germination has been achieved countless times with this way

so I stuck with it, ....also I shuffle the order they're in , just in case the propogators have hot/cool spots.

hope this helps :)

oh yeah , I get a 5ml baby medicine syringe barrel for 50p from the chemist and use that to add tap water if they look dry at a later date, this just resulted in my eagerly awaited juulsXvalidus sprouting overnight last night by adding 3ml to each and then another 5 today, no more water for now though.

Edited by ☽Ţ ҉ĥϋηϠ₡яღ☯ॐ€ðяئॐ♡Pϟiℓℴϟℴ
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just thinking with the takeaways pre-drill some holes in the lid and cover all with tape, and as you want to introduce fresh air just remove the tape of one hole and etc., probably les fiddly that saran

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Are these seedlings too etiolated to bother with? How will they hold themselves up in a few months? Should i fill their pots higher, burying them deeper, once i repot them? Or would that induce rotting?

I was planning on poking each spot out from the bottom and just repotting in a bigger pot and whatever seedlings in the group survive then they win. jvMrGo3.jpg

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they're perfectly normal healthy seedlings, i'd get them in a deeper container now and try and split them up a bit they'll grow better with less competition

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This weekend i plan to pot each spot into its own 2x3 pot. should be ... a lot of work. but lots of cactuses's later

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try putting these into individual pots.....keep a guy busy for years lol

seeds sown on 10-4-14

fuUDLOa.jpg

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Let me take em off your hands, Zelly. You need to rest your fingers. :lol:

Edited by Evil Genius
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Let me take em off your hands, Zelly. You need to rest your fingers. :lol:

EG, you'd probably like these better :wink:

25dZ65e.jpg

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