Cactus seed soil battle! | Episode 7: 30 week update! (A lizard makes a surprise cameo)

[@nathanielvargas3863]

I’m definitely interested in this series. I’m not sure if anyone else is doing this kind of research on KZbin. It’s already saved me a lot of time and heartache in my seed sowing journey.

[@cookiescacti]

Thank you so much for the feedback, Nathaniel. Your comment gives me extra encouragement me to continue this series. Also I'm so glad you're growing from seed too!

[@stevenburke7960]

@@cookiescactiI’m not sure if you’re familiar with a small shop in Tucson called Eco Gro, they advertise having weird plants. I see they recently had someone there selling a new soil, or new to me at least. It’s called Big Rootz. I haven’t tried it yet but I may, I’m pretty happy with the Uni-Gro. They have nice plants, Eurphorbia and such. Right now they have some amazing pots, they bought someone’s collection of hand crafted pots.

[@msviking8]

I love this series, and I’ve watched each one multiple times. 😄 You’re the reason I started growing cacti from seed, so thank you! It’s so much fun watching them grow, yet heartbreaking when some don’t make it.

[@cookiescacti]

Thank you so much for leaving this feedback! It's absolutely incredible that you're growing from seed. 2 months ago I would've said it's the most rewarding activity. But now we know it's a mix of both joy and severe anxiety lol.

[@danieladkins7697]

I am really enjoying this series and its really making me rethinking my own growing media.

[@cookiescacti]

Thank you so much for the feedback! We will keep going.

[@kevinchildress6072]

I love growing cacti from seed!

[@cookiescacti]

Me too! It's such a rollercoaster of a hobby 😊

[@kimmy6304]

I love seeing these babies grow. Even if we should end up with no clear-cut conxlusions, it's super interesting to see the journey.

[@cookiescacti]

Thank you for the feedback! I'm wondering if the differences will become greater as time goes on. Let's see!

[@zhaezz84]

These are your best videos! You saved me from those annoying "baggies", they drived me crazy. i rewatch each video and compare growth to my plants 💕 The most detailed seed sowing series on youtube, it is amazing ❤ Best regards from your cacti friend in Denmark 😘

[@cookiescacti]

Wowowow, thank you so much for so many encouraging words! Did you also move to trays and domes? I don't know why it seems to work better for me than bags but plenty of amazing growers have tons of success with the baggy method.

[@zhaezz84]

@@cookiescacti Yes i have 4 domes now with 35 pots in each ^^ I could not keep mold down in the baggies, even with sterilizing everything and using fungicide, i think it come with the seeds. Also tjecking those baggies induvidualy was a nightmare. Now in domes i dont have any mold, i use a low dosage of fungicide with each watering (Chinosol) it prevents damping off also. My domes are not completely tight, so some circulation is present, i think it helps a lot. I do take of the lids each day and tjeck and treat all issues i find, i am trying to keep it perfect, and so far it seems good, almost 2 months in on one dome. Best regards from your danish cacti friend 😘

[@tara1971able]

You did it again… another informative and amazing video! Your seedlings look great, mine I tried when you started this experiment are almost all dead 😵- but a few are surviving. I definitely took the dome off too soon for the Ariocarpus, and the Astrophytum got too dry at one point. Oh well.. it’s so much fun trying anyway, and you make it more fun with your videos.. thank you! Looking forward to the next update. P.S. I just sowed 100 more Astrophytum and Ariocarpus seeds today after watching your newest video, think it’ll go better this time. 😂

[@cookiescacti]

Tara! The fact that you sowed more seeds is the right way forward! We keep trying over and over again... I think this is my 5th or 6th or 7th time trying Ariocarpus again after endless failure (I think my Lazy Way series was a perfect example of pure failure at growing Ariocarpus from seed). If you have plants that produce seeds, it makes it even easier to keep trying - you almost have no choice but to keep trying 😂

[@morningstar8187]

I do have a theory as to why Ariocarpus seemingly start dying off for no reason after a while. I’ve noticed it myself. I suspect they just pop from too much water. When they’re small, their root system is extremely inefficient, so they need constant humidity. As they grow bigger, their roots become better at absorbing water, but they don’t yet have the rigidity to withstand the water pressure inside. They drink too much water and just pop open and die. Bear in mind that it’s just a theory inspired by what I’ve seen in Lithops. They too have a nasty tendency to absorb water until they pop.

[@cookiescacti]

Do you find young Ariocarpus seedlings to be very sensitive to repotting? I've experienced this multiple times including when the birds pulled the seedlings out of the pot. I repotted in dry soil, didn't water, and they still died off! So annoying!

[@morningstar8187]

@@cookiescacti It’s best not to repot young seedlings at all if possible. The fine roots die easily. The seedlings are unlikely to regrow new ones before dying.

[@adeanaargle5739]

Jen, he just wanted to see the update 😂 🦎🦎🦎🦎

[@cookiescacti]

Of course! This is absolutely the reason that makes the most sense! 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂🦎🦎🦎

[@Chuck3392]

I appreciate your projects, they’re very interesting. I germinated some Ario seeds that I purchased 5 months ago and holy geez, it’s like they’re frozen in time. Great job.

[@cookiescacti]

They grow so slow!!! Great for space considerations but not so great on the excitement factor lol. However, now I appreciate that an alive Ariocarpus seedling is a HUGE accomplishment!

[@morningstar8187]

Have you tried micrografting seedlings? I’ve been micrografting a lot of seedlings to dragon fruit seedlings. It almost feels like magic. My grafted saguaro seedling is the size of a large grape, whereas his siblings are barely the size of a raisin. I find dragon fruit seedlings extremely effective at bonding with small seedlings. I’ve had very few failures. I even managed to graft some epiphytic cacti by just putting them on top without any pressure. Once they get growing, they literally grow bigger every single day. It’s mind blowing. Let them grow grafted for a season, so they blast past that annoying seedling stage where most of them die, then degraft them at the begging of the next season. With some rooting powder, they should rebuild a root system within 2-3 months at most. Some species like Lophophora can even rebuild a tap root over time.

[@roxpapercrafting7057]

This sounds very interesting! How big are the dragon fruit seedlings you graft on?

[@morningstar8187]

@@roxpapercrafting7057 about the size of a finger

[@cookiescacti]

I have not tried micrografting seedlings but it sounds like you've had great success. I'm also laughing at your comment about the annoying seedling stage where many die lol. Do you find degreafting pretty easy? Is there a need to completely remove the graft stock from the scion when degrafting? I've never degrafted before.

[@morningstar8187]

@@cookiescacti Degrafting can be as easy as taking a cutting or nearly impossible. Some species like Aztekium ritteri are famously nearly impossible to root after degrafting. For other species, it’s pretty straightforward. If a species can be grown successfully from a cutting, it can be degrafted. If you think about it, when you degraft, you’re essentially taking a cutting. The important part is to remove all the rootstock tissue from the scion. It can sometimes get embedded pretty deep into it. You can also leave the vascular bundle of the rootstock attached to the scion and bury it. It will grow roots and live for a while. Eventually the scion will set roots and the vascular bundle will die off. It’s a more complex technique that can be used for difficult species. It’s not something that can be explained in a KZbin comment.

[@kevinchildress6072]

I really like your set-up.

[@cookiescacti]

Thank you so much! It has really allowed me to grow batch after batch of seedlings. It's so much fun.... (And then sometimes not fun after they go outside).

[@phillipcase3860]

7:00 YUP!!! I've learned that that soil is horrible for my plants, if I don't amend it. Which is crazy!!! You'd think you can use it because it specifically says; Cactus, Citrus and Palm. Cactus being the first word! 🤣😭. I started cutting it; 1 part mg soil, 1 part perlite, and 1 part pumice. It still holds water but I've since then stopped buying it. I'm gonna try Tank's, see how their mix is. I've lost a couple plants to mg cactus soil holding way too much water. Surprisingly my aloe vera didn't rot in that soil WITH a plastic pot, but aloes are very resilient though, it's crazy 😅

[@cookiescacti]

Isn't that weird?? When I first started with this hobby I didn't know anything about soil. I just trusted the "cactus soil" label on the bag. My how things have changed! I've used Tank's on Adenium but haven't tried it on cactus.

[@barbie_t]

I love these series ❤️ P.s. my little monster mega head Astrophytum is doing great still 😂

[@cookiescacti]

Yesssss thank you for letting me know you enjoy this series, Barbie! As long as someone is interested, I'll keep going! You're so lucky to get that little monstrose Astro seedling! (The surprises are so much fun!)

[@barbie_t]

Your Lazy way series is what made me want to sow seeds, then this series made me start them. I have watched each video in both series multiple times .

[@JamesEndo1]

Nice❤

[@cookiescacti]

☺️☺️☺️🙏🙏🙏 I think you were one of the people who left valuable advice on the Ariocarpus!

[@JamesEndoSanJoseCARealEstate1]

@@cookiescacti I learned from my seed friend too! I leave in propagator with heat for a year so it can get big and green before starting to take them out. Its amazing how your grow is turning out. Keep up the great videos!!!

[@cookiescacti]

@@JamesEndoSanJoseCARealEstate1 that was super valuable advice! Hopefully more folks can see it and have some success. 🤞🤞🤞 6th time the charm. If not I'll just keep trying since now I can get seeds from my own plant, so no excuse not to keep trying.

[@JamesEndoSanJoseCARealEstate1]

@@cookiescacti If you like it, keep trying til you succeed!!! I'm keeping in my propagator 12-18 months before I take them out. So far, seems like they are the only ones that do well with that much humidity and heat.

[@cookiescacti]

@@JamesEndoSanJoseCARealEstate1 that is so interesting considering how hardy they are after they become mature. I can't even imagine the number of seedlings that don't make it beyond a few months in the wild.

[@lealee13569]

Thanks to your experiment I have decided to grow astrophytum from seed. I am a big fan of the east coast camanchaca s. American soil (I use it for my cacti) and I was interested to use it but it’s on the more expensive side. I heard about madam cacti seed soil and will be trying it out. She seems to have good success rate.

[@cookiescacti]

Madam cacti is my role model! It's definitely worth trying her mix! Eastcoast's soil is really great, just difficult on the cost side. I wish I knew his magic formula! Happy growing!

[@SimaShangde]

There is one thing I've just realised, I only needed to verify the ingredients. Miracle-Gro Cactus, Palm & Citrus Mix is made with forest products compost as the main ingredient. My concern is, that this so called forest products compost is basically a bunch of rubbish made from wood processing leftovers. Stuff like that can contain significant amount of tannins, different in each batch. Tannins inhibit seeds germination and seedling development (also adult plants root development). After adding amendments you've lowered the tannin concentration and changed overall parameters of that mix, that's probably why the results are much better in tray #2. Miracle-Gro Seed Starting Mix is almost entirely made of peat moss, which doesn't contain tannins, that's probably why the results are much better in tray #1, but it would be easier to compare both if they were amended the same way.

[@cookiescacti]

This is super interesting. I've never heard anyone talk about the effects of tannins on growing cactus from seed. It makes a lot of sense. Thank you for sharing!

[@SimaShangde]

@@cookiescacti Well, it's not even a specific cacti knowledge, in general tannins are growth inhibitors for many plants, particularly on early stages of development, that's why I came up with those conclusions. I cannot tell for sure how much it can inhibit cacti growth, but considering that cacti are not deep forest plants, I'm rather careful with products containing a lot of decomposing wood and bark.

[@54Maria]

I love these videos! I get so excited when I see you posted an update. I sowed over 300 cactus and succulent seeds a few days ago and I just can’t wait until they pop up. (P.S. Did you ever get the lizard out?)

[@cookiescacti]

Wowwww, 300 seeds!! You will have the wonderful space conundrum coming up in the near future. May we all run out of space 😂😂😂. The lizard is still in the house somewhere!! I have to find it!

[@CactusCaffeine]

I hope you keep this going! I’m very much interested in the outcome. 😊 Don’t you get problems with fungus gnats indoors?

[@cookiescacti]

I do have fungus gnats problems! But they seem to come and go. In the past I had a lot of issues with them and my Ariocarpus seedlings. Now I'm having scale issue with some of the seedlings. I swear the new problems never end! How are your seedlings doing, Ana? I have watched your seedling growing videos uncountable number of times!

[@andersnrregren9087]

I tryed no bag and left em out over the winter, my may plants are ok but my august plants did not get big enough befor winter came so stoped growing and now snails eat allmost all my two and one year old seedlings, there are maybe 50 of smalest out of 700 left

[@cookiescacti]

Oh noooo, Anders! I'm guessing this is the loss you were referring to in your comment for my seedling death video. That is so hard. It seems loss is part of this hobby. Then it's a question on whether we can eat the loss and keep going or decide it's no fun. Definitely a personal question.