Windowsillcactusblog

seedlings brought indoors

2009-09-26T09:36:00.002-05:00

The cactus seedlings started this summer have now all been brought indoors. As the weather cools down it becomes very wet here and the stress on them is too risky. Most species of older cacti seem to be fine getting more outdoor sun at the end of the summer, but the will be indoors under lights soon too.

There was a period of dry weather for about 3 weeks and the seedlings had gone into a state of rest. They are very wet now and it will be interesting to see if they start a new growth cycle or stay at rest. I will let them dry out for over a month and then give them small amounts of water over the winter.

Hopefully, no destructive insects have come in with the seedling trays, and I will have to watch for them too.

more sun for the seedlings

2009-09-02T19:53:00.002-05:00

The past weeks have brought rain on an almost daily basis, and now there is at least a week of sun. With the rain behind us for a while I decided to take the shade cloth off of the seedlings. The shade cloth prevents the seedlings from being damaged or washed away. The sun is getting lower in the sky and is now passing through our neighbors oak tree for about 3 hours every afternoon. Now, with a lower sun and partial shade from a tree the seedlings should be fine without the shade cloth. Cactus seedlings sunburn easily and this often kills them, so it is important to have shade cloth. So far, the seedlings look great and are showing no signs of sun damage, but if the rain returns the shade cloth will have to go back on - at least until the rain is over.

Squirrels and Pediocactus seedlings

2009-08-21T09:15:00.002-05:00

Earlier this summer a squirrel dug into on of my Pediocactus simpsonii v minor flower pots and uprooted several seedlings. These flower pots have seeds planted in them and they germinate in the spring. The pots stay outdoors year round and as seedlings grow they can be transplanted.

I found most of the seedlings that were dug up and replanted them. Then covered all of my Pedio seed pots with deer netting to keep the squirrels out. Later this summer I see that the only seedling that survived this squirrel ordeal is one that wasn't uprooted. This is typical of my experience with these plants - that uprooting them almost always kills them. Pediocactus seems to be very fragile if the plant is moved, but I have noticed that there is a time of year when they have a great survival rate.

In the early spring from March through April I've been able to transplant Pedio seedlings and have nearly all of them survive very well. Like the ones I lost to a squirrel ordeal it seems that transplanting them any other time than early spring is likely to kill these plants.

lots of late summer rain

2009-08-20T15:27:00.003-05:00

The cactus seedlings that were starting outdoors this spring are starting to show their adult forms. We have had plenty of rain on a regular basis and I doubt if the seedlings have had a chance to completely dry out for the past 4 weeks. Even with all of this water the seedlings are healthy and showing no signs of mold. They are probably fine with the wet conditions because there is also plenty of sun and wind. If it stops raining I think I will let them stay dry because they are growing large enough to have a good supply of stored water to live on.

squirrls

2009-07-24T21:42:00.002-05:00

A squirrel scratched around in one of the flower pots with Pediocactus simpsonii v minor seedlings growing. I was able to find 5 of the seedlings and replant them and I think that was most of them. Then I covered all of the Pedio flower pots with some deer netting which will stop he squirrel from digging there again. Squirrels tend to return to the same spot and dig several times. Deer netting is a good way to cause them to lose interest in a spot they've chosen.

slug after seedlings

2009-07-19T21:08:00.002-05:00

In the morning I lifted up the shade cloth from the cactus seedlings and found a slug slimming around the Mammillaria coahuilensis seedlings. I suppose the slug thought these would be the tastiest variety of seedlings to start munching on. The slug circled around the coahuilensis seedlings on the seed tray and then climbed down on to the seedlings and began to eat. It looked like I found this slug just before it had made its choice for breakfast.

I went into the house and brought back some tweezers and slug bate (Slug Magic) and pulled the slug off with the tweezers. I tossed the slug off into the flower garden and then put out some bate by the seed trays. It only takes a few days for one slug to become many slugs and they would clean out the seedlings in a few weeks or less. I'm happy that I found this one early enough to prevent the death of too many seedlings. The few seedlings this slug started to eat will likely die, because when slugs chew on plants they also cause fungal infections that often kill the plants too.

summer cactus seedlings

2009-07-13T14:39:00.002-05:00

The cactus seeds planted outdoors in seed starter trays are growing very well now. They are covered with 50% shade cloth and the sun heats them up very well. The growing medium has to stay fairly wet for cactus seedlings and if there is no rain they have to be sprayed with water every 2 to 3 days. The seedlings are starting to put out spines and only one out of more than 200 pots had to be disposed of because of mold. This outdoor method is turning out to be a great way to start cactus seedlings. There is no evidence of insect problems, only one instance of mold and more healthy seedlings than in any indoor trial, and I'm really happy with the way this method is developing.

outdoor cactus seedlings

2009-06-23T20:34:00.002-05:00

This week there are lots of cactus seeds starting to grow in flower pots and under shade cloth outdoors. The weather conditions have been great with lots of rain and temps. from the high 60s at night to above or close to 90 in the day. Humidity is high too so the growing mediums are staying wet enough for the seeds to grow.

There are mainly two kinds of set ups for the seedlings to grow in. Glazed flower pots with rocky growing medium, and these are sitting out in the open with no shade cloth. The seedlings begin to grow under the rocks and as they begin to mature they start to grow out of the cracks between the rocks. The second method is a sandy growing medium in black plastic seed starting trays and these are under 50% shade cloth.

Growing cactus seeds outdoors in Wisconsin is turning out to be much better than using artificial lights. I hope to write about these methods in more detail on this website when I've a better understanding of how well this is working. So far these seedlings are growing faster and healthier than anything I've ever grown under lights.

Astrophytum myriostigma

2009-06-05T17:29:00.002-05:00

The Astrophytum myriostigma are starting to bloom and they've been outdoors for over a month now. These cacti will take very low temps. and can be set outdoors in the sun even when there is still a risk for frost. They were starting flower buds a when they went outdoors and I was afraid that the cold nights would make them abort these buds. They held on to the flower buds and are now starting to bloom

Echinocereus viridiflorus flowering

2009-05-20T20:02:00.002-05:00

The Echinocereus viridiflorus plants are starting to flower and they are bright beautiful and green. Hopefully, they will make plenty of seeds and we will have a lot of new seedlings later this summer. We plan to plant the seeds we still have from 2008 and keep the 2009 seeds to sell.

Disocactus ackermannii flowers

2009-05-14T19:08:00.002-05:00

The Disocactus ackermannii plants are blooming and these flowers are big and beautiful. For the first time every I have two plants with flowers at the same time, and I hope to have them make seeds. It may be at least a few months before seed pods would be ripe enough to harvest, but for now there are lots of red flowers to enjoy.

waiting for more flowers

2009-05-07T18:53:00.002-05:00

The Pediocactus simpsonii var minor have stopped blooming and hopefully they will soon have seed pods. Now, I'm waiting for some of the Echinocereus plants to bloom and they are showing lots of buds. I wish I could have cactus flowers all year, but at least in the spring and summer there is usually some variety of cacti making flowers.

Pedio cactus flowers

2009-05-01T18:35:00.002-05:00

The Pediocactus simpsonii var minor have been blooming this week and the flowers are beautiful. I tried to pollinate them today, but it was cloudy and the flowers were barely open. I think some of them may have already been worked on by bees which means I've lost control of keeping pink flowers from crossing with white ones. I'll have to wait till next spring if I want to try and keep my flower colors pure and know what the seeds will grow into.

Most of the bees around here are native to Wisconsin and live solitary lives in the ground. Hopefully, the Pedios will make lots of seeds and they will be planted as soon as they mature with the adult plants. If the bees didn't get them pollinated I will continue to use a sable brush on the flowers over the next few days.

Pedio flower buds

2009-04-02T17:59:00.002-05:00

It is very exciting to see the Pediocactus simpsonii var minor plants getting flower buds this spring. This seems early for setting on buds because the weather here is still at freezing at night, but if they are ready they must like these conditions. I'm hoping to have more seeds from these plants and plant them to get more plants.

almost spring snow

2009-03-28T11:14:00.002-05:00

More snow is coming this weekend an maybe more in the coming week too. All of the cacti that take cold down to freezing have been brought back indoors, and they will probably have to wait a few weeks before night time temps are high enough to go back outside. All of the cacti that take cold down to and below zero are back in the cold frames and the lids are closed as they wait for snow. I still have some Opuntia in flower pots sitting out in the open that I'm covering with shade cloth. It's like going back to winter conditions for a while but still it will be much warmer than it was a few months ago. Most of these plants would be just fine with the snow cover, but some of them are starting to form flower buds and they will be more likely to keep the flower buds if they have protection.

Pedio seedling 2009

2009-03-22T20:35:00.002-05:00

Last summer I began testing Pediocactus simpsonii var minor seeds in outdoor flower pots and some of them germinated. Most of these seeds still need to grow and I'm expecting to see more of them germinate this summer. The ones that did start last summer were kept outdoors in cold frames and all but a few are alive. I transplanted them today into individual pots, because seedlings in this generic seem to do better when they are grown as individuals rather than in groups. They are in their pots under some shade cloth and hopefully will start to grow this spring and into the summer. I'm very happy that they survived the winter very well.

seedlings to transplant

2009-03-08T12:43:00.002-05:00

This weekend has been another great weather to stay inside and transplant cactus seedlings. Wet winter weather outdoors though is probably fine for the outdoor cacti. They haven't started to show any signs of spring growth, but they are dry. Now they will be wet and cold for another week, and as far as they're concerned it is still winter.

There are still more seedlings to transplant, but I've ran out of pennies. I started with over 500 pennies and now I need more. I'm using pennies to plug the holes at the bottom of the small plastic pots. Pennies are great because the copper is a good at stopping slugs and insects from getting into the bottoms of pots. These seedlings will go outdoors this spring under under some shade cloth and hopefully most of them will grow into adult plants.

winter still here

2009-03-02T18:29:00.002-06:00

Winter has been staying down in the single digits at night a lot. It seems to be staying cold longer than past years, but it is suppose to warm up soon. The cold frames had to be closed again and they had more snow for a while. It looks like a few days of warmer weather will allow me to open the cold frames again and the outdoor cacti will be getting much more sun. They are unlikely to show any signs of growth at least until the end of March.

The Cactus Family

2009-02-12T18:19:00.002-06:00

My wife, Ann bought me the book The Cactus Family bey Edward F Anderson for our 20th anniversary. This is great and it may take a while to read this book. I understand this is one of the best books out there and it costs some money, so I'm very fortunate to have it as a gift. Spent the last few days transplanting more cactus seedlings.

spring for opuntia

2009-02-07T15:39:00.002-06:00

Today we are having a fast warming in the weather and it is here to stay for a while. I took about 2 dozen Opuntia outdoors to get some real sun. These plants may not want to be outdoors when it gets close to zero, but they will be happy now. Hopefully I won't have to move them all back indoors if a few weeks, but that it a risk I'm taking. If I'm able to leave them outdoors from now until next December that will be great.

transplanting seedlings

2009-02-04T18:12:00.003-06:00

The past few days have been great for transplanting cactus seedlings. They are growing close together in small plastic pots. I want to put these plants outdoors this spring and I think they will do well with individual plants in individual pots. These seedlings are almost two years old and they need much more light than they have had so far. Still have hundreds more to transplant, but tonight I will have to take a break to watch Lost.

back to plant care

2009-02-01T20:08:00.002-06:00

It seems like I've been spending all of my free time working on taxes for the last three weeks, and now the forms are at least filled out. This is a wonderful feeling to be able to have time to water plants again. I've been neglecting to water all of my non-cacti succulents (cacti get no winter water) and they all look like they are still doing well. Many of them have started to go through a winter growth cycle and I imagine they were happy to have more water after being ignored for the time it took me to read tax instructions. I also was able to spend some time cutting up plastic growing trays to get ready to transplant more cactus seedlings. I really need to get these seedlings transplanted this month before the weather begins to warm up, because they survive better when transplanted between 55 and 60 F deg. (more would fail to survive the transplant when the basement gets warmer). I used vinegar and C-GRO in the water today.

Mealy Bugs Gone

2009-01-18T11:51:00.002-06:00

The mealy bugs are gone now at least for another year. Fortunately, this year I only had about a dozen plants that showed mealy bugs this winter - not counting the seedlings. A few of them I gave up on and threw them out and the rest have been treated with BotaniGard ES and these plants are now mealy bug free. It is still possible that I may see these insects again, because I will likely buy some new plants. I try to treat all new plants even if they are symptom free. I have to say the hardest mealy bugs to kill are almost always from plants that originate in Arizona greenhouses. I suppose these mealy bugs are the progeny of generation after generation of mealy bugs that have become resistant to insecticides.

I had the most trouble getting rid of the insects of my Obregonia denegrii. The insects are able to hide in the structures of these cacti and avoid the BotaniGard. Keeping the plants wet helped because the stems swell up and open up the mealy bug hiding places. After about 3 weeks of wet growing medium the insects are all exposed and are finally easy to kill. The Obregonia denegrii seem to absorb water much more slowly than most other species. They will tolerate wet conditions for longer periods of time that cacti like Astrophytum, but it's much easier to kill mealy bugs on Astros without keeping them wet for a month.

Over the years I'm having fewer problems with mealy bugs now than five to ten years ago when I was using insecticides. I'm happy that there are organic alternatives.

C-GRO

2009-01-11T18:00:00.002-06:00

I watered my succulents today and was able to use C-GRO for the first time. I heard about this product a few weeks ago and it sounds like a great alternative to chemically manufactured products. I'm only watering succulents like Haworthia and Gasteria in the winter and adult cacti will stay dry until May. In the spring there will be many more plants to try C-GRO on, but until then I will be able to see some growth with the non-cacti succulents.

gasteria with mealy bugs

2009-01-08T16:49:00.002-06:00

I found a few gasteria plants with mealy bugs and these plants have had these for a few years. They've been treated several times but every January they begin to show up again. This time I'm keeping them in plastic bags for a week while they are being treated with BotaniGard ES and hopefully this will put an end to the insects for good. I probably won't be able to tell if the bag method works until next January, but this method has worked on several cactus plants that had reoccurring mealy bugs. I soak the soil and coat the leaves with the solution and then put the potted or unpotted plant in a plastic bag for a week in an area with low light.