Experienced flower growers prefer not to buy ready-made cacti in stores, but to grow them yourself from seeds. Thanks to this method of propagation, you can get flowers of a particular variety or get a truly large collection, and for little money. About how to grow cacti from seeds at home, you will learn from this material.
When to plant flowers
Seed germination remains equally high throughout the year. Nevertheless, it is better to sow cacti in late autumn. Then the seedlings have time to get accustomed to the next cold period and calmly tolerate wintering. But keep in mind that with autumn sowing, it is important to ensure maximum illumination of the planting. And to do this without special greenhouses equipped with photolamps will not work.
Is it possible to grow cacti from seeds without additional devices? Of course you can. But in this case, it is better to transfer the sowing to the beginning of spring. Then the plants have enough sunlight.
Sowing equipment preparation
Before planting cactus seeds, it is important to choose the right capacity for them. If you grow several types of flowers, then sow them in a separate container. For cactus seeds, a plastic or ceramic bowl with a depth of at least 3 cm is suitable. If you wish, you can grow plants even in a box from the cake. Above all, do not forget to make several drainage holes below.
Before sowing, be sure to wash the container with soap, and also treat the walls with a strong solution of potassium permanganate. If you grow flowers in ceramics, then it is advisable to boil it.
The soil
Breathable soils with a slightly acidic reaction and good drainage are suitable for growing cacti from seeds . To create such a substrate, mix in equal parts the sifted sheet soil and coarse sand that does not contain lime. Add some charcoal and sifted peat to these ingredients.
Before sowing, be sure to disinfect the soil. To do this, pour 3 liters of substrate into the pan and moisten it well. Put the container in the oven, heated to 200 ° C, and calcine the soil for 1-1.5 hours.
Pebbles, sand or broken brick, which you will use as drainage and the top layer of the planting, must be boiled for 5-10 minutes. You also need to sterilize the spoon and tip of the pencil used for sowing.
Seed preparation
Before planting cacti, the seeds of these flowers need careful preparation. After all, without it, future plants will suffer from microbes and may not even take root. First, carefully inspect the grains and remove the damaged and moldy ones. Rinse the seeds in boiled water.
To etch the seed, hold it for 2 hours in a quinosol solution (1 g per 1 liter of water). If there is no this drug, then use potassium permanganate. True, it takes 12–20 hours to maintain grains in this solution. If in a hurry, dilute 40 g of hydrogen peroxide in a liter of water. Hold the seeds in this liquid for 10 minutes, then immediately rinse in boiled water.
How to plant cacti from seeds
Sow the flowers as follows:
- Lay a drainage layer on the bottom of the landing tanks. Use fine pebbles or expanded clay as this material.
- Pour the prepared substrate onto the drainage so that it is slightly below the edges of the containers.
- Compact the soil. To do this, tap on the walls of the dishes, and then carefully level the surface of the soil.
- Cover the substrate with a thin layer of broken brick or quartz sand and sprinkle the soil with boiled water from the spray gun.
- Lightly moisten the tip of the pencil or knitting needles, grab a grain with it and gently deepen into the substrate. If the seed is small, then just lay it on the surface.
- Cover the crops with polyethylene and place in a suitable place.
If you grow astrophytums, then lay them out "scar" up. Plant the rest of the seeds so that this side looks down. Then the roots of the sprouted seedlings will grow exactly in the ground.
Watering
The basic rule of how to grow cacti from seeds is regular planting irrigation. Please note that it is advisable to water these flowers from a tray. That is, to water, lower the greenhouse into a container of water and wait until the soil is saturated with moisture through the drainage holes. If in a hurry, moisten from a spray bottle. But make sure that the grains do not move from the place under the pressure of water.
Moisten the plants regularly, preventing the soil from drying out. For irrigation use distilled, rain or melt water. In extreme cases, boiled will do. But it needs to be softened with 2-3 drops of boric or oxalic acid. Use this water only after settling turbidity. Do not forget to sterilize dishes for irrigation and water storage.
Lighting and temperature
For seedlings to sprout, provide them with a 12-14 hour light day. If you grow cacti in the fall or winter, then highlight the planting with a phytolamp with a capacity of 5 thousand lux. Sown flowers in the spring? Then place the greenhouse on the windowsill near the east or south window. But do not forget to obscure the landing from direct sunlight. To do this, use tulle or a piece of gauze.
Continuing the topic of how to grow cacti from seeds at home, it is worth mentioning the temperature in the greenhouse. For the flowers to sprout, maintain for planting from +20 to +25 ° C during the day and around + 16 ... + 18 ° C at night. At lower temperatures, crop growth slows down. But the heat is unacceptable for them, because even at +26 ° C seed germination is significantly reduced.
2-3 weeks after planting, when the emergence of seedlings comes to an end, raise the temperature in the greenhouse to + 40 ... + 50 ° C for 1-2 hours. Repeat this procedure the next day. Thanks to this “heat shock”, sprouts that have not yet been pecked often wake up.
Seedling care
Only emerging seedlings of flowers need special attention and care. First of all, help the sprouts that have not dropped their shells to get rid of the remnants of the seeds. Otherwise they will die. But remove the shell carefully, because the plants are still very weak, and you can damage them. If the roots of the newly emerged plants are in the air, then make a recess in the substrate with a clean stick and gently push the seedlings into the hole.
The basic rules of how to grow a cactus from seeds and take care of the sprouts:
- Young plants need frequent watering no less than seeds. But when they reach the age of 1 month, reduce irrigation and accustom the flowers to normal watering and short-term drought. To begin, moisten the planting every other day, then after two, and so on.
- Keep the temperature within + 28 ... + 30 ° C. At the same time, try to avoid sudden changes. Keep seedlings close to light sources to prevent seedlings from stretching.
- Ventilate the landing regularly and remove condensation from glass or polyethylene. Remove the shelter when the plants are strong enough. As a rule, this occurs at the age of four months. At the same time, accustom seedlings to "clean air" gradually. That is, remove the film first for an hour a day, then for two, etc.
- Occasionally feed crops with organic fertilizers. But do not force events and do not use growth stimulants. This weakens the immunity of cacti, and they begin to get sick with fungal diseases.
Often when growing cacti from seeds, alkalization of the soil occurs. This phenomenon can be recognized by the slow growth of seedlings and the formation of calcareous deposits on the walls of the greenhouse. To fix this problem, pour water into the substrate 2-3 times with the addition of citric acid (1-2 drops per liter of water).
Picking seedlings
Do not rush with this procedure, because most seedlings do not tolerate transplanting. But if the landing is infected with mold or algae or the substrate is soured, then immediately begin to pick. And also this event is necessary for normally developing sprouts, which became closely with each other. How to carry out the procedure:
- Prepare and sterilize the substrate. At the bottom of the new container, lay out a layer of drainage and cover it with soil.
- With a small spatula, carefully remove the plants along with a lump of earth. Using a soft brush, rinse the roots in a solution of quinosol or potassium permanganate.
- Make indentations in the substrate. Between plants, maintain a distance equal to their diameter.
- Carefully place the cacti in the recesses.
Water the landing 2-3 days after the dive. When the plants become crowded again, hold the event again.
Wintering crops
To young plants calmly survive the cold season, install them on the windowsills of the eastern and southern windows. At the same time, try to prevent hot air from the batteries from flowing into the flowers and they will not suffer from drafts.
It is desirable that the young plants are warm and the temperature fluctuates between +18 ... +20 ° C. Allowed to decrease to + 12 ... + 15 ° C. But with these ranges, the growth and development of cultures will slow down.
Water the seedlings once every two weeks, but be sure to warm the water to room temperature before irrigation. If you notice that the condition of the sprouts has worsened, then return them to the greenhouse under the lamp.
Landing in a separate container
We will finish disassembling the topic of how to grow a cactus from seeds, the rules for transplanting plants into individual pots. Planting grown and stronger sprouts in a permanent place is desirable in the second spring of their life. For plants, prepare suitable pots. Remember that cacti do not like much free space, so pick up containers with a slightly larger diameter than the "spiky balls" themselves. Get soil in a flower shop or mix the following components:
- 1 part of large river sand;
- 1 part of garden land;
- 1 part of leaf turf;
- ½ parts of peat.
Be sure to sanitize the substrate in the oven or keep it under steam. At the bottom of the container lay a layer of expanded clay or small pebbles. Cover the drain with a substrate and lightly tamp it. Make a deepening in the soil and plant a seedling in a hole. To avoid injuring yourself on the needles of a cactus, put on gloves before planting or wrap the flower with thick paper.
After planting, transfer the pot with a prickly “pet” to a shaded place. Do not water the crop until it is accepted. When the sprout takes root, rearrange it in a sunny place. In the future, water the plant every 2-3 days with settled water and, as you grow older, reduce watering to once a week.
Growing cacti from seeds at home is not so difficult. The main thing is to ensure comfortable conditions for planting, and the grains will quickly take root and grow. And after a while you will get many beautiful exotic flowers.