Cacti from Seed?

[jc12551]

Wile I was at Wal-Mart I picked up a pack of mixed cacti seeds. Has anyone ever grown cacti from seed? I assume they take a long time to sprout and will need to have the pots covered in glass or plastic wrap. Any advice? I also ordered succulent seeds from Parks and I assume they need similar treatment. I don't know what is in the succulent mix, but in the cacti are: saguaro, hedgehog, fishhook barrel, dollar prickly pear, desert prickly pear, chistmas cholla, cane cholla, santa rita prickly pear, cardon. None of them are real nice indoor pot plants I think. I have no idea which seeds are which either.

 

[patandchickens]

I started some mixed cacti and some 'living stones' (Lithops) from seed when I was in grad school, just for kicks. I do not recall having any particular difficulty except that from the mixed cacti I only got 2 kinds coming up from what was theoretically a mixture of 5 types of seed.

Unfortunately I have no recollection whatsoever about how they were sown etc. I'd read the package and also google "starting cactus seeds", prolly, then split the difference

I do recall that the cacti and most especially the Lithops were just cute as buttons when they were tiny. I don't think they took all THAT long to germinate, but I also seem to recall they took their sweet time growing on after that. Pretty cool though. Had to give 'em all away when I moved, unfortunately.

Have fun,

Pat

 

[silkiechicken]

Good luck! Sounds like an adventure.

 

[OCMG]

Please let us know, i have always wanted to do that but was told it took so long I am very impatient.

If patandchickens says it doesn't then that's good enough for me, I used to collect cacti but also had to give them up when I moved, now I would love to start again since I just has a garden window installed.

 

[patandchickens]

Please let us know, i have always wanted to do that but was told it took so long I am very impatient.
If patandchickens says it doesn't then that's good enough for me,

ha ha, very amusing

Please note that I did not say they were not *slow*, I just said the ones I'd grown were not *difficult*

I don't think the Lithops I grew took more than a month or two to sprout, and I doubt the cactus that came up took all that much longer (although remember, I said that not all the varieties supposedly in my seed mix came up - I may not have waited long enough). Once they were up, they were cute as all get-out.... but they *stayed* tiny and cute for a good long while. But since they required no particular fiddling around or extraordinary care, so I don't see why someone shouldn't try them if it seems like an interesting idea

Pat

 

[jc12551]

Well I planted them earlier this week. Not 10 minutes after planting them and placing them on the bottom shelf, my son AND dog knocked them over. I scooped the soil back up, but who knows where the seeds are. They are tiny and very, very black. *sigh* I am just glad I didn't plant all the seeds.