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Monday, December 25, 2006
Escobaria missouriensis seedling
 A few years ago a friend of mine in Colorado found some Escobaria missouriensis growing on his mountain property. We could only find 3 plants and he was willing to give me one to grow. The one he gave me grew like crazy to 3 times its size and then died, and I think it was an old plant. StevenBrack told me this species usually only lives about 10 years, so the plant was a large one anyway. I still was disappointed to see it die so soon after my friend gave it to me. I did go through the soil around the plant and found about 30 seeds, which have all been planted at various times. This seedling is the only one that germinated from the last few seeds from the motherEscobaria missouriensis. All together I have 6 seedlings from these seeds and hope to grow these plants long enough for them to make more seed.
Sunday, December 24, 2006
Echinocactus texensis seedlings
 Many of these E. texensis seedlings are sending their roots out on top of the soil. If left alone they will eventually send the roots into the soil and the young plants will grow in an 's' shape. It seems that some of the larger seeds from cacti tend to grow this way if the seeds are just left on top of the soil. I usually plant seeds on top of the soil without any gravel covering them. I'll take tweezers and stick the roots into the soil, and the sooner this is done the more likely the plant will adjust to change. If the seeds would have been stuck down into the soil a little they would have been less likely to send the roots out on top of the soil. These seeds are from adult plants from New Mexico, and I pollinated the flowers two seasons ago.
Monday, December 18, 2006
Escobaria vivapara kaibabensis
 Lots of Escobaria seeds are germinating today and here are some from Mesa Garden under the number 410.58 named Escobaria vivapara kaibabensis. They are growing in a seed starting tray with established Buffalo Grass.
Sunday, December 17, 2006
Echinocereus reichenbachii perbellus
 Lots more seeds germinating today, and here some growing from Echioncereus seeds from Mesa Garden under the number 250.7. This tray of seeds has been planted with Buffalo Grass over 6 months ago. The established grass changes the soil - somehow - in ways that make it more cactus seed friendly. I have fewer problems with molds in soil with established grass. The grass looks dead now and the tray was dry for several weeks before planting the cactus seeds. The grass isn't dead and will grow again if and when the conditions are good for growth. Most likely the grass and the seeds will both grow a lot this next summer when the tray will go outdoors in the sun and rain.
Saturday, December 16, 2006
Bergeranthus jamesii
 These seedlings came up yesterday after being planted for only 4 days. They are growing from seeds I bought from Mesa Garden under the number 1351.2, and I'm very happy to see the succulents beginning to germinate.
Saguaro seedlings
 The seeds I planted in the 'Grow your own Saguaro Forest' kit still haven't germinated in the little clay pot. I planted the kit seeds according to the directions and with the soil and supplies that came in with the product. I think the soil temp. may not be getting high enough and if they still won't grow in another week I will need to try them in another location. These Saguaro seeds are just beginning to grow and they just emerged today. These are some of the seeds from the same kit, and I set them aside to plant with lots of other cactus and succulent seeds. The tray these Saguaros are growing in were planted 5 days ago using our own (windowsillcactus) seed starting medium. I think because the seed tray is covered with a clear plastic top it raised the soil temp. higher than the soil in the small clay pot. The nice thing about the seed growing kit is that it provides lots and lots of Saguaro seeds, so there were enough to plant using my own familiar methods.
Saturday, December 09, 2006
Cactus Spider
 Here is a spiders winter food stash on one of our cactus plants, and the dark spots in the webbing must be flies stored for eating at a later time. These plants are in an unheated room of our house and the winter cold will be a little below freezing at times for these plants. The cactus plants kept here are unwatered from November until they are put outdoors again in May. The plant this spider chose to build its web on is one we grew from seed over 12 years ago. I'm unsure what the species is for this plant, but the spider won't hurt it. Every fall when I bring in the cacti for the winter there are plenty of spiders who come in with them. There are always more spiders on the plants than there are insects in the house for the winter so they all have to fight it out for survival. This one looks like it is doing very well, but even it won't make it till spring. I suppose the spiders who do well will end up laying eggs which will hatch out next spring when I put these plants back outdoors. Still waiting for the "Saguaro Forest" seeds to germinate and the little water dish under the pot dries out quickly.
Sunday, December 03, 2006
"Grow Your Own Giant Saguaro Cactus"
 This is a product and it looks like a lot of fun. We found it in a coffee shop in Colorado, but I'm sure these are widely available as a tourist - gift type of thing. We bought this for fun and introducing this to the blog will follow its development. Here are the planting instructions: 1. "Pour in soil..." (Pour soil in the provided clay pot.) 2. "Pour seeds on soil surface and cover with 1/8" dirt." 3. "Place pot in bowl with one inch of water. Keep water in bowl until seeds sprout." (This is a point many people may miss about growing cactus seeds in that the seeds need lots of moisture to germinate.) 4. "Place pot in a warm area with bright indirect light, such as a table close to a window. Cactus come up in 3 to 10 days. We will place our pot under a plant light of the sort we use to germinate other cactus seeds we've started. This product also comes with some information on the "History of the Saguaro, How to care for your cactus, Interesting facts and Suggested reading". This product is from a company called: Desert Gatherings.
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