To thrive, cacti need a sunny location in a compost that is very well-drained, like cactus compost.
Select a windowsill facing south or east for the greatest effects. If the windowsill gets too chilly in the winter, you might need to find them another position.
How to plant cacti
Plant cactus carefully at all times. Your skin may sting and bleed from the spines. To avoid harming yourself while planting your cactus, it is a good idea to use everyday kitchen tools like a fork, spoon, and thick tea towel.
Cactus should be planted in a compost that drains very well, such as cactus compost. Alternately, use a multipurpose compost devoid of peat that has been enriched with horticultural grit or vermiculite to improve drainage.
To finish the aesthetic of the pot display, add a layer of horticultural grit or pebbles. Additionally, this stops water from re-splashing on the cactus.
In our No Fuss video guide, Kevin Smith of Gardeners’ World Magazine demonstrates how to use cactus plants to make a visually appealing display. Kevin discusses how to make a decorative mulch, which compost to use, and why salad tongs are the best tool for handling cacti:
Caring for cactus plants
Water cacti in the summer only once a week at most. A decent watering less frequently is preferable to a little-and-often strategy. In the coldest months, you shouldn’t need to water cacti at all.
Cacti should be repotted every two years to receive fresh compost; larger pots aren’t always necessary.
Stan Griffin of Craig House Cacti shares his three best growing advice for cactus plants in this Golden Rules video, including when to water, feed, and when not to. He also offers guidance on how to take cactus cuttings.
Growing cactus plants: problem solving
Cactus plants often pose no problems. Overwatering or inadequate lighting might cause them to decay at the base. The plants frequently die as a result of this.
Spindly growth is possible in cactus plants, although it is simple to fix. In our Quick Tips video, Emma Crawforth from BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine explains everything.
Cactus varieties to grow
- Golden barrel cactus, Echinocactus grusonii, is initially globular but later becomes tall. It has brilliant green stems with spiky ribs that are native to Mexico. In the summer, flowers that are bright yellow bloom.
- The varied cactus Gymnocalycium paraguayense has flattened spines. In spring and summer, it blooms a creamy white color.
- A globe-shaped cactus with brilliant pink, funnel-shaped blossoms is called Mammillaria spinosissima. It has reddish-brown or yellow center spines.
- Rebutia krainziana is a clump-forming barrel cactus that grows little, white areoles and spines in contrast to its dark green, up to 7 cm in diameter stems. Large, yellow or red flowers grow in a dense clump around the main stem in late spring.
You Will Need
- Cacique seed
- clay and plastic miniature pots
- Cactus compost or free-draining compost
- Vermiculite or fine grit
- glass sheet
- spoon or fork
- Tweezers
- Gravel
Step 1
A pot should be filled with a loose-draining, moist compost. Firm the surface down gently and level it. Spread your mixture of cactus seeds evenly around the area, being careful not to sow them too densely.
Step 2
Over the seeds, evenly cover the surface of the compost with a thin layer of vermiculite or fine grit. To keep the soil moist, leave the pot wrapped in a clear plastic bag in a greenhouse or on a warm windowsill.
Step 4
Your seedlings should be ready for transplantation the following spring. To gently pry out individual cactus, use a fork or spoon, being careful not to get the spines on your skin.
Step 6
Add compost all around the seedling and give it plenty of water. If more compost is required, add it after placing the gravel around the seedling with the spoon. Keep in a bright area, like a windowsill, and turn on the pot as necessary.
Can cactus be grown from seeds easily?
Some people are interested in learning how to cultivate cacti from seed due to the rising popularity of succulent plants and cacti. Anything that produces seeds can be propagated from them, albeit not all seeds are capable of doing so. If the conditions are ideal, cactus seed growth might proceed without your assistance, but this is uncommon. It may take many years for certain seeds to germinate once they fall in their natural environment. You might have to initiate the procedure yourself to get them going. More cactus plants are produced when cactus seeds germinate successfully, increasing your collection.
How long do cactus seedlings take to grow?
Despite the fact that many of us have tried and failed, growing cacti from seeds is not as difficult as you may imagine! Planting the seeds too deeply is one of the biggest errors people make. Given that seeds are wide, it would be advisable to just plant them deeply in the soil. When seeds are sown too deeply, the little plants emerge, start to grow, but are prevented from reaching the surface before their food reserves run out. You will succeed if you follow these guidelines for raising cacti from seeds.
Seeds
Most cacti should be grown from fresh seeds. You can either harvest seeds from a plant in your collection or buy them from a commercial source. When taking seeds from a cactus collection, be cautious. True seed cannot be guaranteed for some cactus species unless pollination has been properly observed because some cactus species easily hybridize.
Soil
Cacti can be grown from seed in a good potting mix that has been improved with 1/2 its volume of granite, perlite, or pumice for drainage. Pests must be kept to a minimum in the soil. Put the soil in a shallow heatproof pan and bake it at 300°F (150°C) for 30 minutes to pasteurize it. The majority of commercial soils have either been pasteurized or sterilized. Verify the label.
Planting
Ensure that all used containers are clean. Although it is not crucial, shallow containers are favored. Before planting, properly wet the soil and allow it to drain. The seeds should be evenly dispersed throughout the soil’s surface. Mix or very fine sand should be used to softly cover the seeds. Cover the pot with any clear lid after planting. The seedlings will be able to receive light and retain moisture as a result.
Germination
To germinate, cactus seeds require both light and warmth. A window that gets enough of sunlight is ideal, but watch out that it doesn’t get too hot from the light. The seeds should be able to germinate thanks to the moisture that the cover has managed to preserve. Be patient; while most cactus seeds germinate in three weeks or less, some take considerably longer. Raise the cover once the spines are visible to allow for daytime ventilation. Keep the soil from drying out. The amount of heat and light the seedlings receive will determine how much water they need. Pay close attention to the seedlings. Don’t drown them in standing water, but also don’t let them entirely dry up.
Repotting
When seedlings attain the size of marbles, which occurs between six and a year after germination, they are ready to be transplanted into larger containers. Make sure the soil mixture has excellent drainage, and that the container’s diameter is no more than twice that of the plant. Until they are about 1 inch (2.5 cm) across, plants can be grown in clumps or groups of 6 to 8 per pot. After that, they can be separated and reported individually. Carefully remove the tiny plants from the growing medium, set them in the new container, compact the dirt around their roots, and water them.
The young plants should ideally recover from transplanting in a shaded environment. Seedlings will be sensitive to the full sun until they are older, even in cacti that naturally prefer it. As a result, gradually expose a young plant to the sun, starting when it is about 1 inch (2.5 cm) across. Until they are around 3 inches (7.5 cm) across, it is frequently simpler to adapt young plants to the light in the winter and provide some shade in the summer.
Fertilization
During the growing season, which is often the warm season, fertilize young seedlings every month. Use a cactus-specific formulation or a general-purpose soluble houseplant formulation at half the advised strength.
Can winter be used to develop cactus seeds?
I’ll be discussing how to grow cactus and succulent plants from seed in this blog as well as the way I prefer to use to do so. Over the years, this method has been quite successful for me in growing my cacti and succulent plants from seed.
Although growing cacti and succulents from seed may be done in a variety of ways and there is no right or wrong way to do it, in this blog I’ll teach you how to grow them using a bag.
I’ve included some movies I’ve created for my Cacti & Succulent Plant You Tube channel called Desert Plants of Avalon. These videos feature step-by-step directions on how to grow Cacti and Succulents from seed as well as a video on how to care for seedlings through their first Winter.
Knowing that you have raised your cacti and succulents from seed is a great buzz. Growing from seed can be highly satisfying because you get to watch your plants develop over time from seedlings to mature plants.
Because of the longer days and warmer temperatures, late Winter, early spring, and early summer are the best times to plant cacti and succulent seeds. However, if you have grow lights and additional heating, you can still plant seeds in autumn and winter. What’s most important is that the seeds or seedlings are maintained at a minimum temperature of 70 Fahrenheit/21 Celsius.
You will require:
Two parts of loam-based seed sowing soil, seeds, plant pots, clear zip-top bags, a pen, plant labels, or white sticky labels ( or any well draining soil ) Grit or perlite in one part, horticulture sand in one part.
I’ve discovered that the clear fruit containers that cherry tomatoes and strawberries are frequently sold in are ideal sizes to use as small seed pots and they fit perfectly in the bags as well. They’re also a great way to recycle, but make sure to give them a thorough cleaning before using them for seed sowing.
Check out the video I prepared for my You Tube channel, Desert Plants of Avalon, below if you want to discover exactly how to grow cacti and succulents from seed.
Mix the 2 parts seed-starting soil, 1 part perlite OR grit, and 1 part horticultural sand thoroughly. Depending on the size of your seed pots, you can use as much soil mixture as you need.
It is advisable to remove any stones, lumps of bark chippings, or other impurities from the soil you are using by first passing it through a gardening sieve.
It is advisable to sterilize the soil by heating it in the oven or microwaving it after properly mixing the soil with the perlite or grit and sand. This step is optional, but I like to do it since it helps to prevent bacterial and fungal attacks on the newly hatched seedlings.
It is crucial that the soil mix is extremely hot because this is what will kill any pathogens and sterilise your soil. If you are sterilizing the soil in the microwave, place all of the soil mix into the microwave on high for 3 minutes, stopping halfway through to thoroughly stir the soil mix.
If you’re sterilizing your soil mix in the oven, bake it at 180–200 F (82–93 C) for at least 30 minutes, or test the soil’s temperature with a cake thermometer when it hits 180 F (82 C).
If using rainwater, it may be preferable to boil the water first and then let it to cool so that any pathogens that may be in the water are decreased. Once the soil mix has cooled, insert the soil mix into the seed pots and place the seed pots in a tray or trays filled with 2-3 inches of clean water.
It may take up to an hour or longer, but it’s vital to be patient so the soil mix is properly moist all the way through the soil. Leave the pots in the water until the soil mixture in the pots is completely soaked with the water.
On the plant labels or white sticky labels that you will attach to the bags, write the name(s) of the seeds you will be sowing along with the date you will be sowing the seeds.
Make sure your hands are completely clean before evenly scattering the seeds over the pot’s surface. Larger seeds, such those from opuntia or aloe, can be placed on the surface individually and gently pressed down. If the seeds are very little, it is better to sprinkle them on like pepper as equally apart as possible.
After the seeds have been planted, you can very lightly sprinkle some damp horticultural sand on top of the soil. Sand can reduce the amount of moss that tends to form on the soil that new seedlings are growing in since the soil must always be kept moist.
Before sealing the bags, make sure to let all the air out of the clear plastic bags that contain the seed pots.
Place the bags in a well-lit, bright area that gets some sun but not a lot of it or a lot of heat.
If the seedlings are still small and the soil in the bags is still moist, you can keep them in the transparent bags for longer than three months. I have maintained seedlings in the bags for up to ten months when they are still small.
Following Care
NEVER open the bag(s) until at least 3 months have passed in order to maintain the sterility of the seedlings and soil. However, if you find your seedlings have fungus or any other issues, opening the bag(s) may occasionally be necessary.
Since young seedlings do not require a lot of water, the clear bags act as a mini-greenhouse and prevent the young plants from drying out for up to three months. However, if you notice that the soil inside the bag(s) appears to be drying out, you will need to open the bag(s) and water it before the three months have passed.
After three months, you can progressively open the clear bags over a few days to enable the seedlings get used to the drier air outside of them in their new surroundings. After a few days, you can totally remove the seedlings from their bag(s).
If your seedlings are still young after three months and the soil in the bag(s) is still moist, they can continue to grow there for many more weeks or months. In certain cases, I’ll keep my seedlings in the bag(s) for up to nine months if I don’t need to remove them.
What winter care should I give to young cacti and succulent seedlings?
Many people may find this confusing because we are instructed to keep our plants cool and dry during the winter as cactus and succulent growers, but what should we do with new seedlings, especially during their first winter? since they are still so young and their roots will still be healthy and developing, but a cold and extremely dry time could destroy them.
For their first Winter, I strongly advise you to overwinter your young cactus and succulent seedlings indoors at a minimum temperature of roughly 15 C/60 F. In order to prevent the fragile root hairs from drying out, I would still water them very sparingly.
Therefore, in nature in their natural habitats in dry arid deserts even in the Winter young seedlings would still be receiving moisture from the humidity on the lower grounds of the vegetation for their young developing. Young cacti and succulents would be growing under the shade of larger plants and vegetation where they would naturally be receiving more humidity and warmth than their mature parents who are more exposed to the elements.
Depending on their size and the sort of cactus or succulent they are, you can continue to care for them after their first year as you would more mature cacti and succulents.
Here is a video I prepared for my Desert Plants of Avalon channel on You Tube that explains how to take care of cacti and succulent plant seedlings during their first winter:
If you viewed my video on How to Grow Cacti from Seed for my Desert Plants of Avalon YouTube channel, then check out the video I did on the update below: