20 January 2008
And then there were… millions…
Posted by Stuart under: Cacti; Propagation .
Just before Christmas, I took it upon myself to volunteer to rehome the BCSS discussion forum’s seed pool stock from 2005, as otherwise it was going to be thrown out on the grounds of diminishing viability. I’m a sucker for freebies.
So, I received various packets, some of which haven’t been sown yet, of such delights as Leuchtenbergia principis, Turbinicarpus alonsoi, Gymnocactus subterraneus v zaragozae, and Astrophytum ‘onzuka’, as well as some that I wouldn’t normally have grown, such as an Agave species, Trichocereus pseudocandicans, and a terrifying-looking “lucky dip” bag that must contain something approaching a thousand seeds.
Last Sunday I sowed the Gymnocactus, Astrophytum, and Trichocereus seeds – the Trichocereus went in in some quantity, in two pots, and I still have roughly the same amount of seed left over.
The seed’s viability obviously hasn’t been affected by its age! Germination of T. pseudocandicans began two days after sowing, and as you can see the germination rate is pretty high. Quite what I’ll do with this many of them, I have no idea…