Windowsillcactusblog

Saturday, September 26, 2009

seedlings brought indoors

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.

Wednesday, September 02, 2009

more sun for the seedlings

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.

Friday, August 21, 2009

Squirrels and Pediocactus seedlings

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.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

lots of late summer rain

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.

Friday, July 24, 2009

squirrls

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.

Sunday, July 19, 2009

slug after seedlings

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.

Monday, July 13, 2009

summer cactus seedlings

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.

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