Cacti
 

I started these from seed several years ago. Not orchids but I think they are still beautiful.

Wow! Beautiful!
I do love cactus blooms!

Beautiful blooms and quite large plants for such a short time. do you have any tips for seed raising? I have bought some Gymno seeds and am about to embark on the long quest to flowering size plants, but I've never done it before and would welcome any tips, please

Gorgeous flowers!

Hi Hedge. I was hoping that you would see these pictures as I know you are interested in cacti. I am afraid I have very little in the way of help for you. I have germinated cactus seeds from perhaps 15 or more different genera but have had problems with Gymnocalycium. Some need to be refrigerated for a period of time but I can't remember if Gymno is one of those. I simply used a commercial cactus mix as a seed medium and planted them in shallow rows made with a toothpick. I only covered every other row and if I remember correctly, I didn't see a great deal of difference between the covered and uncovered seed. I germinated them in a south window and used a clear plastic dome to keep the humidity up. Some say that a fungicide should be used, but I never found it necessary. Some germinate quite rapidly (probably a survival mechanism in nature) in about 3-5 days, but others took forever! I prick them out into small pots when they reach ~1/2" tall. Perhaps someone with some real knowledge will chime in and give you some solid advice. In the above pictures, the orange flowers are of Echinocerus pentalophus and the pink ones are of a Trichocerus/Echinocerus/Lobivia hybrid. Good luck with your seed, Hedge.

Thanks, Jerry - any help is better than none! I thought the pink one was probably a Lobivia hybrid, these seem to be very robust, I have a couple and they are ancient, but always flower reliably and have survived the most awful winter cold, before I got heating and a greenhouse.

Wow abosolutly awesome ...where dod you get the Trichocerus/Echinocerus/Lobivia seed at?

I bought a few seedlings that were supposed to be Lobivia hybrids a few years ago and got a unkown cacti with small inconspicous blooms ...gret plants just not what I wanted.

Boy John! It's been quite a while and my memory, or lack thereof, is kind of hazy!!! I think I got these from a seller on ebay. I know that I purchased some hybrid seed from someone there, but can't remember who. Most of the species I started I got from the American Cactus Society seed bank.