Seeds and growing cactus

[TriciaStringer]

So I saw a cactus growing on the side of the road. I stopped and asked the closest store (Hispanic) if I could get some pads. The kind man went and cut them for me. Now tell me what to do with them. Also I am having horrible luck with getting seeds. I ordered hibiscus seeds from amazon two months ago. I still haven’t gotten them. I ordered campanula seeds from Walmart. They got lost in transit and are now out of stock. So today I ordered some organic plants and seeds off of Etsy. I sure hope they make it here.

Also, are these the hostas everyone plants?

 

[Tom]

Let the pads sit out in the open for a week or so. Get them out of the plastic bag ASAP. After that, stick the pads upright about halfway in some dry dirt that drains well. High sand content soil. Good luck finding dry dirt outside in LA. You want the hottest, full sun place you can find on your property.

Water them only after a month, if it hasn't rained 15 times in that month…

Order seeds from Tyler and Sarah at tortoisesupply.com.

Or from https://www.groworganic.com

 

[Maro2Bear]

And yes on the Hosta. Nice grab of the cactus pads. Good luck.

 

[TriciaStringer]

Let the pads sit out in the open for a week or so. Get them out of the plastic bag ASAP. After that, stick the pads upright about halfway in some dry dirt that drains well. High sand content soil. Good luck finding dry dirt outside in LA. You want the hottest, full sun place you can find on your property.

Water them only after a month, if it hasn't rained 15 times in that month…

Order seeds from Tyler and Sarah at tortoisesupply.com.

Or from https://www.groworganic.com

Hahahaha! It has rained, not drizzled or sprinkled, RAINED every day this week. We shall see how this works. Can I buy organic top soil that is kept inside and is dry and add sand to it?

I have lots of grass seeds and broadleaf weed seeds planted and getting started. I'll check out groworganic.com.

Another question, by out in the open, do you mean in the air conditioned cool house or outside? I'm thinking inside.

 

[Toddrickfl1]

I grabbed a pad yesterday from a neighbor but I didn't know you had to do anything special. Neighbor said just place it on top of some dirt? If it doesn't work I'll try what Tom said

 

[Tom]

Hahahaha! It has rained, not drizzled or sprinkled, RAINED every day this week. We shall see how this works. Can I buy organic top soil that is kept inside and is dry and add sand to it?

I have lots of grass seeds and broadleaf weed seeds planted and getting started. I'll check out groworganic.com.

Another question, by out in the open, do you mean in the air conditioned cool house or outside? I'm thinking inside.

I know ALL about LA rain. Last time I was there, it rained more in 6 minutes than it did here in CA for two years. Not exaggerating.

Yes on the potting soil and sand.

In my dry climate I set the pads outside on top of a wire dog crate in the shade. They will literally last a year that way. 110 F in the summer and 29 F in winter. In your climate, in doors in the AC might work better. I'd try some pads in each place to see what works.

 

[Len B]

You might be better off just laying them on the ground and letting them root that way. I do it up here (sometimes by accident) where we have a lot of wet weather at times and never had a pad go bad when not planted with the cut end in the ground.When you look at the pad every dot where the little spines may be is capable of producing roots.

 

[Len B]

About the hosta plants they are all the same. if you start seeds from a plant you like, what sprouts may not resemble the mother plant at all, when starting from seeds you never know what you may get.

 

[TriciaStringer]

I know ALL about LA rain. Last time I was there, it rained more in 6 minutes than it did here in CA for two years. Not exaggerating.

Yes on the potting soil and sand.

In my dry climate I set the pads outside on top of a wire dog crate in the shade. They will literally last a year that way. 110 F in the summer and 29 F in winter. In your climate, in doors in the AC might work better. I'd try some pads in each place to see what works.

Good news, the weather is saying the next six days sunshine! Which also helps with our night box too. I need to paint it.

 

[TriciaStringer]

I know ALL about LA rain. Last time I was there, it rained more in 6 minutes than it did here in CA for two years. Not exaggerating.

Yes on the potting soil and sand.

In my dry climate I set the pads outside on top of a wire dog crate in the shade. They will literally last a year that way. 110 F in the summer and 29 F in winter. In your climate, in doors in the AC might work better. I'd try some pads in each place to see what works.

I know all about that kind of rain. In 2016 we got 18” in less than eight hours. 90% of our town flooded. We were one of the few lucky ones. We woke up and our daughter said, “The lawn mower is drowned.” I had left it near the tortoise enclosure. My husband jumped out of bed and ran outside. Sweetheart had just his head sticking up out of the water. Terrifying.

 

[mrnewberry]

I usually just bury them 1/3-1/2 the way down the pad. However much I think they will need to stand upright. They like sun and don’t plant them in a wet spot.

 

[ColaCarbonaria]

Let the pads sit out in the open for a week or so. Get them out of the plastic bag ASAP. After that, stick the pads upright about halfway in some dry dirt that drains well. High sand content soil. Good luck finding dry dirt outside in LA. You want the hottest, full sun place you can find on your property.

Water them only after a month, if it hasn't rained 15 times in that month…

Order seeds from Tyler and Sarah at tortoisesupply.com.

Or from https://www.groworganic.com

Tom, why do you say to age the pads? Do they break down a little bit for th torts or is that just what you do? My neighbor has plenty and I’ve used it before just need to get better at cleaning it. I think I had more needles in my hands than th cactus had to begin with...

 

[Tom]

Tom, why do you say to age the pads? Do they break down a little bit for th torts or is that just what you do? My neighbor has plenty and I’ve used it before just need to get better at cleaning it. I think I had more needles in my hands than th cactus had to begin with...

I only age the pads long enough to let the end scar over if I intend to plant them. If you are feeding them to a tortoise, no need to age them.

And you don't need to remove the small spines or glochids. The tortoise can eat them with no problem at all. I don't know how, but they do. In the wild they just walk right up and eat the fully spindled versions. Even species that are not native to areas with cacti do it. Farmers in Madagascar use fully spined opuntia to keep local wildlife out of their pastures, and the radiata there just walk up and eat it, spines and all.

 

[Toddrickfl1]

I grabbed a pad yesterday from a neighbor but I didn't know you had to do anything special. Neighbor said just place it on top of some dirt? If it doesn't work I'll try what Tom said

The pad that I just laid down in some dirt has some new growth already and its been raining here everyday.

 

[CarolM]

The pad that I just laid down in some dirt has some new growth already and its been raining here everyday.

I think i need to try that. Mine have been sitting for around two years and have never sprouted. Maybe i also need a sunnier spot.

 

[Sesel]

The pad that I just laid down in some dirt has some new growth already and its been raining here everyday.

I think i need to try that. Mine have been sitting for around two years and have never sprouted. Maybe i also need a sunnier spot.

I have found that the cactus pads get roots fairly quickly here by just placing it in a container with some water at first.







The difference between the 1st & last photo is about a month. Don't know if it's our climate or the type of cactus~