Garden chat & photos for torts and people ♫ ♫

Yvonne G

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No problem. You could create a mini green house in a warm window. You would in essence put the seed trays in a shallow wooden box. Line the box with plastic, place the trays in the box and then cover the trays with a clear plastic. That will help keep the seeds moist.
Another idea is to buy a big plastic container of Spring Mix and use the empty container as a seed starting greenhouse.
 

Oxalis

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I know I'm really late here, but....
I have been trying for 2 years to get seeds to grow here, with horrible success.

The only thing I can come up with is that most seed packages say "keep consistently moist". When first planted, I watered morning and evening, but I think they still dried out between waterings.

So next year I'm going to plant where a sprinkler can be turned on slow all day. I don't know if it will work, but it's my last ditch effort.
My husband got a drip hose that attaches to our rain barrel so his veggies could get a constant flow of water in the hot summer.
 

Pearly

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Hey Guys! Trying to make a quick come back to TFO after a long „family leave of absence”. I’m still here, my torts and garden are doing great. I have missed you Guys!!! IMG_9788.jpg this Spring I’ve been seeing Monarch caterpillars all over my garden. Not too many butterflies yet, but I see few of different species daily. IMG_9789.jpg This one had some problems with his left wing (looked like it had never fully „unfolded”. I tried to keep him safe and dry on my front porch in a big planter. Created little mini havitat there for him. IMG_9790.jpg but unfortunately he didn’t make it. He (yes, I thought of this butterfly as of a boy for some reason) got on my hand twice! It was like a magic! Feeling some sort of a connection with a ... butterfly! But WHY NOT?! [emoji6]
 

Oxalis

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Hey Guys! Trying to make a quick come back to TFO after a long „family leave of absence”. I’m still here, my torts and garden are doing great. I have missed you Guys!!! View attachment 272003 this Spring I’ve been seeing Monarch caterpillars all over my garden. Not too many butterflies yet, but I see few of different species daily. View attachment 272005 This one had some problems with his left wing (looked like it had never fully „unfolded”. I tried to keep him safe and dry on my front porch in a big planter. Created little mini havitat there for him. View attachment 272006 but unfortunately he didn’t make it. He (yes, I thought of this butterfly as of a boy for some reason) got on my hand twice! It was like a magic! Feeling some sort of a connection with a ... butterfly! But WHY NOT?! [emoji6]
We missed you too! Hope you're doing OK. My husband and I have planted lots more milkweed in our yard and our local park this spring. We're hoping to see a lot more monarchs this year!
 

Len B

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I've had this plant for several years and has never bloomed until this spring, in fact it is the first cactus to bloom here this year.Picture 006 copy.jpg Picture 004 copy.jpg I'm planning on rooting some pads from this plant next month and now I have a good chance of getting some seeds to plant also.
 

Yvonne G

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Len B

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I know I'm really late here, but....
I have been trying for 2 years to get seeds to grow here, with horrible success.

The only thing I can come up with is that most seed packages say "keep consistently moist". When first planted, I watered morning and evening, but I think they still dried out between waterings.

So next year I'm going to plant where a sprinkler can be turned on slow all day. I don't know if it will work, but it's my last ditch effort.
I'm not sure what types of seeds you are planting but this might help them to germinate. I have found that I get a better percentage of germination with cactus seeds by leaving them in the fruit and cutting it in half or quarters and then putting it back together and planting it so its still together after planting. The fluids in the fruit keep the seeds moist and they grow out between the sections. I see no reason if you added some other kind of seeds why they wouldn't stay moist also. Here is a pic of a fruit from last year and one from this year and you can see that this years seed are not viable yet so they wont compete the other seeds.Picture 008.jpg I haven't tried this with a different kind of plant seed, but I'm going to.
 

Len B

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Opuntia santa rita
Thanks, I have it in a pot because I'm not sure how it will do in the ground over winter here. That's why I want to start some new plants from this one, just to see how hardy it really is. The cold doesn't bother it but it's under a overhang and the soil stays pretty much dry. I like it and don't want to kill it but will sacrifice a few pads.
 

KarenSoCal

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I'm not sure what types of seeds you are planting but this might help them to germinate. I have found that I get a better percentage of germination with cactus seeds by leaving them in the fruit and cutting it in half or quarters and then putting it back together and planting it so its still together after planting. The fluids in the fruit keep the seeds moist and they grow out between the sections. I see no reason if you added some other kind of seeds why they wouldn't stay moist also. Here is a pic of a fruit from last year and one from this year and you can see that this years seed are not viable yet so they wont compete the other seeds.View attachment 272389 I haven't tried this with a different kind of plant seed, but I'm going to.
Thank you for that suggestion!

However, the seeds I was referring to are desert grazing mixes from Desert Seed Store and other vendors. There's no fruit to put them in.

Some of them are planted only 1/4 in deep, and our desert heat and sun dries them almost immediately. I think I'll try a sprinkler on a timer...maybe 2 min every hour.
 

Yvonne G

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A while back I posted about adding some dirt to a new cactus bed and getting a lot of tomato and squash volunteers. Well, it looks like the squash isn't squash, but rather some sort of wild gourd or melon. The flower is very small, not a large squash flower. I've been adding the leaves to my babies' food mixture so I hope it's not toxic.
 

KarenSoCal

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A while back I posted about adding some dirt to a new cactus bed and getting a lot of tomato and squash volunteers. Well, it looks like the squash isn't squash, but rather some sort of wild gourd or melon. The flower is very small, not a large squash flower. I've been adding the leaves to my babies' food mixture so I hope it's not toxic.
I hope so too! Have you tried to ID it?
 

Yvonne G

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I've been worried that so much rain this year might make my cacti rot. So far, so good.

The first three pictures, then the fourth is the group photo, are my favorite flowers (can't say the same for the plant itself. It's AWFUL!!!!):

cactus 5-23-19 a.jpg cactus 5-23-19 b.jpg cactus 5-23-19 c.jpg cactus 5-23-19 d.jpg

This is a type of opuntia:
cactus 5-23-19 e.jpg

This is my saguaro. I got it as a tiny baby and nursed it until it was big enough to plant in the dirt. It's about 25 years old and a little over 5' tall:
cactus 5-23-19 f.jpg

This one is the prettiest color. When the sun is shining it blooms bright red, but we've had overcast for the past couple weeks:
cactus 5-23-19 g.jpg

This is the spineless opuntia with the organ pipe in the back:
cactus 5-23-19 h.jpg

I'm always confused if this one is an aloe or an agave. At any rate, it's right in the middle of my proposed new driveway:
cactus 5-23-19 i.jpg

This one came from @Turtulas-Len . It's only a year and a half old and was started from one little pad:
cactus 5-23-19 j.jpg
 

Oxalis

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I've been worried that so much rain this year might make my cacti rot. So far, so good.

The first three pictures, then the fourth is the group photo, are my favorite flowers (can't say the same for the plant itself. It's AWFUL!!!!):

View attachment 272868 View attachment 272869 View attachment 272870 View attachment 272871

This is a type of opuntia:
View attachment 272872

This is my saguaro. I got it as a tiny baby and nursed it until it was big enough to plant in the dirt. It's about 25 years old and a little over 5' tall:
View attachment 272873

This one is the prettiest color. When the sun is shining it blooms bright red, but we've had overcast for the past couple weeks:
View attachment 272874

This is the spineless opuntia with the organ pipe in the back:
View attachment 272875

I'm always confused if this one is an aloe or an agave. At any rate, it's right in the middle of my proposed new driveway:
View attachment 272876

This one came from @Turtulas-Len . It's only a year and a half old and was started from one little pad:
View attachment 272877
As usual, your cactuses are very impressive!!
 
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