Buying ready-made cacti is not nearly as exciting as growing new varieties from seeds you have harvested yourself. This guide explains how to pollinate flowering cacti, harvest the seeds and start your very own cactus cultivation. Use our tips for successful cultivation.
How can you grow cacti yourself?
To grow cacti yourself, pollinate flowering cacti, harvest the seeds and plant them in loose sowing soil (€6.00 on Amazon) or coconut fiber substrate. Keep the soil moist and place the bowl in a partially shaded window at 16 to 28 degrees Celsius. Germination occurs within 14 to 21 days, cultivation takes up to 14 months.
Pollinating flowers and harvesting seeds – This is how it works
The cultivation begins with 2 flowering cacti. If the pollen has taken on a powdery consistency, it is ripe. Now use a hair brush to transfer the pollen from the first cactus to the stigma of the second cactus. Once the flowers wither, they turn into fruits with seeds. After a ripening period of several months you can harvest the seeds.
Growing instructions
First fill the seeds into an empty tea bag and soak them in lukewarm water for about 45 minutes. In the meantime, fill loose sowing soil (€6.00 on Amazon) or coconut fiber substrate into a seed tray that has a transparent lid. Alternatively, use small cultivation pots. With a size of just 4x4 cm, they are large enough for 10 to 30 cacti. Spray the substrate with lime-free water. This is how it continues:
- Sowing the soaked seeds
- Sift thinly with lime-free quartz sand or vermiculite and press down
- Close the bowl with the lid and place it in the partially shaded window seat
- Keep slightly moist at ideal temperatures of 16 to 28 degrees Celsius
Although germination can occur within 14 to 21 days, further cultivation takes up to 14 months. This is usually how long it takes for cactus seedlings to reach a diameter of 0.5 to 1 cm. This is the earliest time to transplant the seedlings. The longer the prickly dwarfs can develop undisturbed in the seed container, the better they will survive the repotting procedure.
Tip
You can grow pure cacti quickly and easily from cuttings. Kindel, leaf or head cuttings root quickly in cactus soil that you have thinned out with a little sand. The best time for vegetative propagation is between mid-May and the end of August.
