Too many seeds...

Good day to all of ya! It's time for another post about cacti and an update on this year's sowing plans. The idea was not to sow hundreds of seeds this time, but those who've read my previous post about cacti already know about this mission's failure. A nice guy from the United Kingdom has already sent me hundreds of seeds and that's on top of the placed order at Succulenta.

Here are some photos were taken in my greenhouse:

A 5-year-old Trichocereus terscheckii (Cardon Grande)

It might be hard to imagine, but this cactus can reach over 8 meters in height. This will take many years of course, but the Cardon Grande grows a lot faster than the Saguaro for example. Somewhere in the future, this green little fellow probably will cause some discussions between me and my wife. But for now, I'm good. :-)

A 4 year old Pilosocereus gounellei

Pilosocereus gounellei, also known as the Xique Xique cactus, after the equal named municipality in the state Bahia of Brazil. I've sown this 4-year-old plant back in 2012.

4 year old Browningia candelaris

This Peruvian cactus was also sown in 2012. Adult plants have a typical "candle shaped" form. Google this species and you'll see that this is actually a very weird plant!

4 year old Browningia candelaris?!

This little fellow came from the same seed package as the previously shown B. candelaris, but it's different from all the other plants ever since it first popped up. I'm guessing that it came from a lost seed or maybe is a sort of mutant. If it will survive for at least 5 years, I'll be able to ask an expert to help me out with the identification.

Too many seeds...

Cacti seeds

Cacti:

• Acanthocalycium glaucum
• Hildewintera colademononis
• Mammillaria plumosa
• Lophophora williamsii
• Astrophytum asterias

Other succulents:

• Titanopsis hugo-schlechterii
• Lithops bromfieldii
• Lithops coleorum
• Lithops fulviceps
• Lithops gracilidelineata
• Lithops insularis
• Lithops lesliei var. burchellii
• Lithops marginata var. dabneri
• Lithops steineckiana
• Lithops turbiniformis var. subfenestrata
• Lithops turbiniformis

What?! I've added a link to a Google image search to each species for those who are curious.

 

Too many seeds... Good to know that not all of them will germinate and if so, survive the first 3 years. Not good to know is that I'll be out of space very soon. Nothing to worry about, because I'll just build a larger greenhouse!

When I tell someone that my collection contains more than 400 plants, that person usually thinks that my house looks like the Sonoran Desert or something alike, but that ain't the case. I actually have 96% of my plants outside in a small greenhouse on one square meter. I'm very creative with space and I'll be alright for a couple of years more. These succulent plants usually grow very slowly. Take for example one of m5-year-oldld Saguaro seedlings which has a diameter of only 1,5 cm.

The next challenge is to find a place where all my plastic seed containers may stand for at least 1 year. Sunlight, protection against Wonnebald (our cat) and my wife's approval are of great importance. A cacti collector's life ain't that easy as you can see!

That's it for today. Till next post!