Peyote Seedlings Spring 2010

[m-c-hammer]

If anybody has been thinking about growing their own Lophophora from seed here is a couple of pic's to show how it has worked for me.

 

I have found over the years that the growing cacti from seed isn't too hard, you just have to accept the fact that you may not keep them all alive. With that in mind it is best to buy up plenty of seed and grow a few hundred or more at a time.

 

For the price of one cacti approx 3cm in diameter you can buy 100 seeds.

90% will sprout, 50% of those will be resistant to mould and fungi and a further 75% will survive their first winter outdoors.

This gives you 33.75 peyote plants that be strong enough to survive outdoors thereon provided you keep the creepy crawly's away.

 

I start my seedlings off in a 2' aquarium with a glass top and a heat mat underneath keeping the ambient temperature in the mid 20's.

I put a layer or perlight approx 3cm thick on the bottom and add about 0.5cm of regular tap water.

The rockwool cubes are soaked in 1/4 strength hydro solution.

For lighting i use one 2' fluorescent light above the aquarium 24/0.

 

Week One:

 

As you can see I have setup the tank and placed some seeds onto the cubes, you can also see some grafting stock in the 2nd photo.

Seedlings emerged 2 days after planting.

 

Week Two:

 

In these photo's you can see the seedlings growing well, some have succumbed to mould and will die however their brothers will be resistant.

The second photo shows some cubes with seeds randomly placed onto them a few days ago, as you can see some have already started to emerge.

 

One Year Old:

 

In mid summer I transplant the seedlings to soil and put them outside with the parent plants to harden off prior to winter.

This photo was taken today, as you can see this pot of seedlings all made it through their first winter.

They are just breaking dormancy and will start to take up water over the next few weeks.

 

Two Years Old:

 

This pot contains some good size plants, 2 years old grown hard outdoors. I hope to get flowers from these guys this summer.

 

And that's it. No excuses now, I hope to see some of your photos on here now too.

 

Hammer.

[jimbojones5678]

Very cool, do you have any larger ones?

 

Jimbo

[m-c-hammer]

Here is a pic of one of my seed plants.

Each plant this size gives me approximately 30 seeds per year, this plant is grown hard outdoors for a vigorous flowering season.

[Burnz]

I thought peyote takes atleast 5 years to mature?

[peyotedub]

m c hammer :applause:

 

nice buttons you have there!!

 

looks like im gonna have to get my cati garden goin

 

peyotedub

[DarwinsBulldog]

can't wait to see more mate

 

darwin

[m-c-hammer]

Thanks guys, I really want to see some pictures of yours now.

 

Burnz, maturation of peyote is like the length of a string, there really is no correct answer.

 

If you graft 3 day old seedlings onto pereskiopsis stock, you can have that seedling produce viable seed within a matter of months.

If you take good care of your peyote and give it optimal lighting, ventilation, bla, bla, bla... you can achieve growth in one year that others can only achieve in 3 or 5.

Just like with growing weed anyone can do it, others however get better results.

 

I have spent a decade growing peyote, I have killed a lot learning what their limits are and I'm definitely not the best grower that I know of.

The methods I use and have found to be successful others will totally disagree with. Experiment a little and see what works.

Keep a log book and take note of things like air temp, water temp, food levels, lighting... and soon you will find what works and what doesn't.

 

I encourage you all to give growing this little gem a shot, it is very rewarding and will test your patience and sanity, of which I have neither.

 

One last word of advice, don't put all your eggs in one basket.

 

Hammer.

[gtrip]

Hammer top post.

 

Im totally new to growing cacti. Ive got x50 seeds of peyote, and your method is the best ive seen.

 

Tomorrow im getting a heat mat , perlite , light and cubes.

 

Questions- your said light is 24/0... does that mean light on 24hrs?

 

And how deep did you plant the seeds ... i just cant figure it out on the pics?

 

Appreciate any help even though this its a late post... cheers.

Thanx for sharing your knowledge ;-)

[Miss.Tery]

Beautiful peyote photos. It's too wet where I am to grow them, rots sets in way too easily. Shame, as they're such a cute plant.

[hidden.monkeys]

How old is that mother plant m-c-hammer?