I forgot I plan to grow hildewintera colademononis from seeds. As well I plan to update this thread with any additional info I come across and pictures so others can learn from me!

I definitely will! I'm sure it'll be a long process!

A few of the seeds I intend to plant over the next little while arrived today! Where I work we have tons of little containers so I planted my seeds in those and have them in a sealed plastic baggy. Before planting I microwaved the soil like I've heard and hopefully they grow!

How did these do for you? Any advice?

It's been a while but from my attempt last year I only got two plants that successfully made it uncovered and even those are still iffy. I took the soil from last year and replanted the leftover seeds last week and I've already got three little sprouts! Here's a picture of last years babies I have no idea what they are and how to best care for them so if anyone has any info it would be greatly appreciated! I'm afraid of over watering them and under watering them and too much sunlight and not enough sunlight haha, I've never done this before!

Are they translucent:(?

They're definitely lighter in colour than they were 2 days ago, which is when I started to worry about them

From what I can see they look like they may be dead. Could you take a better pic? I have had this happen to cactus seedlings. Never really investigated why. Assuming it has to do with moisture and maybe not enough light. I really don't know tbh.

Here is a pic of Ferocactus seedlings. Same environment just the ones on the left all but 2 or 3 are dead. I'm wondering if it has more to do with light. On the left side all those clear blobs are dead cactus seedlings:(. The ones on the right are healthy and robust:).

I think you might be right unfortunately, everything was fine until I accidentally let them get a little dry.

They're goners:(. All a learning lesson.

A little tip that container is way too big for that little guy. That could have been your problem. When it comes time to give them their first repot what I do is weed out the smaller ones and keep the best looking ones. Then I put them all in a small container. I'm only speaking about the same species of cactus. I wouldn't do a mixed pot of cactus seedlings:).When still small I don't separate them individually, and pot them up individually. I still keep them crammed. Your little guys weren't ready to be in such a big container on their own.

Here is a little example of some Notos:).

Sowed around the beginning of July2016.

Middle of July 2016. Little green nubs.

Oct. 9, 2016

See how many there are:).

Pic taken a few days ago. Same cactus seedlings as above:).

When it comes to growing cactus from seeds it takes a huge amount of patience. Usually the first 4-6 months they grow pretty quickly. There are some cactus I've heard take their time to germinate. Generally people hear cactus take forever to grow from seeds. Then they get all excited:). Then at about the 6 month mark the growth rate slows down. So people just loose hope or try to move them along so they will grow quicker.

Usually the cactus seedlings die with the first transplant.

Thanks so much for the advice! I'll definitely keep it in mind for round 2 haha! Even though they're most likely dead I'm not quite ready to give up on them but it couldn't hurt to put them in the same pot and hope they make a comeback, even though I doubt they will

Out of curiosity, why does it make a difference how many are in a pot together?

Has to do with the amount of soil and how much moisture it holds. Most succulents especially cactus have very shallow roots. Succulents do much better in containers that fit them just right. When it comes to succulents if you had to choose from two pots one that is too big or the other one that's too small. Go for the small pot:). The more crammed the better they seem to do. If there's all this soil that soil is holding on to moisture. From my experience I have found with all my succulents they don't like to swim in their soil. I'm sure there is some succulent out there that goes against this, but I have no experience with it:).

I know this woman and her potted succulents never look all that great. It's because she plants them in way too big of pots. She does water them like a crazy lady too. So she has two things that are no bueno for succulents. I tell her, but she never listens:).

That makes sense, thanks so much for your help!

So far I've been having much better luck with my second batch. How do I know when I should repot them for the first time? Should I wait for them to be a certain size or a specific amount of time? Since I planted a mixture and new things are sprouting everyday I'm not ready to replant yet but I was wondering how to know when it's time.

Normally I will sow cactus seeds in the summer, then give them their first repotting the next early spring. The new baby cactus are usually ready and strong enough.

Like these Ferocactus seedlings below I sowed in May look like they would be big enough to repot. Unless something happens where I need to give them their first repot, they will stay in this container till probably March:). I think sometimes people get excited and repot to quickly. Just wait and let them get strong roots. Plus in the winter their growth will slow down big time.

Thanks so much! I'll look into the heat mat! And any advice at all is very very appreciated! Right now my cactus babies mostly look like the size of the little ones in the back of your picture, so I'm nowhere near ready to repot them yet haha

I would wait till March. Unless something out of the norm happens.

Or just ask if unsure:).

Kara, do you move the entire array of seedlings in to a single bigger pot all as one piece?

I start mine in shallow plastic takeout containers and usually have to move them because they're hitting the top of the plastic lid or the soil has gotten hard and caked. So, they usually go a few into a small 2" pot. But I like your idea of keeping them together longer.

They basically are like a seedling cactus carpet:). Some parts of the cactus carpet if I can't separate I leave together. I don't want to rip them apart. Since they're so little. So it's like a mixture of entangled seedlings and loners in the container above. Not the Ferocactus container. Next spring I will seperate them all. Probably put around 4-5 in the same type 3 inch container.

All depends on the type cactus of course. The older ones above came from the Noto below. So it's a small clumping cactus. But I'm sure if you were growing Trichocereus pachanoi seedlings the babies would be bigger in the first year. You would probably be able to separate the cactus carpet, and grow a few in a 3 inch container by their first spring. I've found the closer they are together the better they do. As long as they're not squeezing each other of course:).

Two years indoors?! I wish I'd known that before I moved my 8-month old seedlings last month. They're sheltered and in the shade but outside in the heat---should I move them back in, Kara? I've never had cacti seedlings survive this long. They look kind of sad, though. Also, they are ariocarpus seedlings and way slower than your notos.

I'd bring em back in. Especially since they're only 8 months. It just all depends on the species, but since Arios are so slow I would think they would do better inside. Are they turning shades of red?

I put my 5-month-old Cereus Peruvianus babies outside. Some got sunburned and struggled but a few are going strong - 4-inches tall. I started a second batch that I'll keep indoors for a while longer this round. If they all survive, I'll have about 30 to share. :)

It all depends on the genus:).

I would guess Cereus seedlings would grow big fairly fast. It's a big fast growing cactus:). Like my Ferocactus rectispinus above probably won't need to be inside for 2 years. I should be able to pot up 2-3 in one 2" pot next spring, and put outside somewhere protected. They're a medium/large sized cactus.

When the seedlings are small you gotta be careful. Like Ariocarpus are slow growers and stay pretty small when mature. Even the bigger species are still fairly small. So their seedlings are slow growers and small. Plus in the winter all this growing slows down. Which is totally annoying:(.

Here's what I mean:).

This little Pilocereus is probably 2 years old give or take some:). He's roughly 4" tall and 3/4 of an inch at his widest part.

Ok guys I decided to sow the seeds I've been meaning to do:). They are freshly sown and I took pics. Maybe it will help somebody:).

I microwaved about a cup to a cup and a half of just cactus mix in a microwave safe container. Very important using a microwave safe container. I almost started a fire when I tried to microwave the cactus mix in the plastic container. Whoops:). When it cools down I put it in Ziplock containers. I put two different seeds in one container and make a line with some toothpicks. It's probably best to use one container for each type of seed, but I don't have that many Ziplock containers right now.

Just spray down real good and cover. I use plastic wrap and a rubber band. I don't use the tops because they're blue and make it harder to see the baby cactus:).

I'm interested to see how they turn out!

I will keep you guys updated of course:).

So far I have at least 15 little babies (much better than my last batch of 2) and even though I'll probably have to wait for years to figure out what they are I'm very curious!

It's a fun suprise! Just be patient with them:). No need to rush anything. I would say if everything goes right next spring you can kinda weed them apart a little and put them in tiny little pots:).

I've had this happen when I have a bunch off seeds and the seedlings are really crowded. Once I seperate a little there will be new babies in between the bigger ones. The tiny ones were getting trapped by the big guys:). So when you seperate a little it gives those smaller ones a chance:).

Im gonna do one more batch today. I found seeds lastnite on my Gymnocalycium schuetzianum:). I'm assuming it's self fertile sometimes. It was blooming the same time as my G. baldianum and they're right next to each other, so maybe they cross pollinated. It was a total surprise tho. This Gymnocalycium has had a few blooms all summer, but this time I got two seed pods. Interesting very interesting:).

Since I planted more seeds in my soil from last year with the old seeds still in it I have no idea what anything is so I'm sure it'll be a fun little game figuring it out and watching them grow!

Just repotted some Parodia scopa ssp rudibuenekeri seedlings. They were too low in the container and not buried enough. I separated these ones they're big enough. Just used regular cactus mix:).

The water is to rinse the soil off the itty bitty roots. I like planting bare root even this small;).

How cute! And how smart not to use those covers. I left 4 containers of seeds starting while I was away for 4 weeks. I just got home but with the blue covers, I have no idea if any have sprouted. :(

I bet some have:).

Sharing, keep the lid cover.

Very nice:). What are they?

There r free gift Cactus mixed seeds when bought online.

Oh man it's gonna take years to figure out what they are:)!

Hey CasualSweater. I've been growing plants since I was a kid, 25+ years. But I've only recently gotten into Cacti and Succulents, for the past 5 years or so. My interest has quickly turned into obsession in those years. Most of what I've learned has come from forums such as this one on houzz and others like www.CactiGuide.com and www.SucculentGuide.com. As well as watching tons of videos on YouTube. There are a hundreds of great videos about growing cacti and succulents from seeds and I highly recommend you do some searches and watch.

I've created a Cacti Propagation playlist that might be a good place to start.

Cacti and Succulent Plant Propagation Videos

I hope this helps you! Happy Growing :)

Thanks for all the help, I have a few more questions, now that my little babies have started to germinate. What should my watering schedule look like or what conditions should I maintain? What about air flow/ when should I begin to uncover them? And how much, if any, sunlight should they be getting?

If you have no mold than there's no need to uncover yet. By about 2-3 month mark is when I uncover. It honestly just depends on what's going on in the container. My Ferocactus are uncovered now. Along with a couple other containers that had mold growing. As soon as I uncover the mold stops. I just have to remember to keep moist everyday. Instead of having them covered and not having to worry about them as much. I still have three covered. I will uncover those last three in a month or so. I don't like to keep them covered longer than three months because I feel like they start to need air circulation. Everybody does it different I'm sure. Whatever works:). As long as you keep them moist with some filtered light, they should be fine.

All my seedlings are in a north west frosted bathroom window. This would never be enough light for most mature cactus, but the seedlings don't need direct sun. You can see the window in the above pic. That's how much light they get till about 3:30-4:00pm then as the sun is going down they get some sun.

I don't know if you've seen this YouTube video, but this guy is germinating Astro seeds. I get the vibe he doesn't keep them covered long at all, but you can see he keeps them very moist because once you uncover the water evaporates pretty quickly:).

Video:)

Great! When I do uncover them, would you recommend I leave the container in some water to keep them moist then allow to dry a little before refilling the water? Or just use a spray bottle on them frequently?

I just use a spray bottle once or twice a day:).