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Germinating Mammillaria theresae seed

I'm going to again try to germinate some Mammillaria theresae seed.

So far, I haven't been able to get these seeds to germinate for me, but I want to finally get over the hump with these seeds that known for being one of the trickier species to germinate.
I've done some reading up on the subject and have found that these seeds have Phenolic Compounds in their seed coats that inhibit germination.

It is believed that these inhibiting agents are water soluble, and that these chemical compounds are washed away after subsequent and sustained precipitation in their natural habitat.

I've heard that older seed, up to seven or eight years old, germinates far better than fresh seed does.

Some growers pot up the seed and continue to refresh the planting media every six to eight weeks, after a drying period, until the seeds finally germinate.

I've read that these seeds respond better to a slightly acid pH, and that might be because they grow in moss covered rocky regions in Mexico.

A night time temperature drop is likely to give better germination results is another thing I came across in my reading.

One grower even recommended that I try GA3 to try to stimulate these seeds out of their dormancy and speed up their germination time.

Another grower suggested succinic acid be used to break the seeds dormancy.

So I was wondering if any of you growers that have had success with M. theresae germination would be willing to share the techniques that you employed to achieve your favorable results.

Mammillaria theresae Link 1

Mammillaria theresae Link 2

dvg

---------- Post added at 07:44 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:43 PM ----------

Okay, so I ended up soaking 70 M. theresae seeds, all of them from Mesa Garden.

20 seeds arrived to me this year, 30 seeds were from 3 years ago and the other 20 seeds were from 4 years ago.

And I decided to treat these seeds differently than I've treated this species seed in the past.

Usually, I'll sow seeds in small pots and place the pots into sealed ziplock bags and keep those under lights in our basement.

But this time, because I wanted to keep track of the seeds better, I decided to sow these in a paper towel, enclosed in a zip lock bag.

And to keep their growing conditions slightly acidic, taking into account that these cacti grow in among and on moss covered rocks, I placed rehydrated dead Chilean sphagnum moss inside the ziplock bags, (all three of them) and under the papertowel, using the paper towel as a barrier between the moss and the seeds.

These bags are sitting on a heating pad during the day and moved to a cooler place at night.

If these seeds germinate in these conditions, so much the better, but if some do and some don't, then I'll dry out the reluctant seeds after two or three weeks and start the process all over again at a later date.

Hopefully after a few cycles of this treatment, more and more seeds will be coaxed out of their chemical induced dormancies.

I wasn't able to locate any succinic acid, but have phoned around looking for it and might get some yet.

And when I can get my hands on some, I'd like to give that a shot as well.

dvg
 
As I was checking in on my M. theresae seeds today and transferring all of the seeds into new paper towels, in an attempt to remove the Phenolic Compounds from the seed coats that inhibitits seed germination, I noticed these.

IMG_4565-1.jpg


IMG_4568-1.jpg


I have two M. theresae seeds that have germinated and possibly a third, shown on top in the second picture.

All of the germinated seeds were from the four year old seed batch. The newer seeds haven't germinated yet.

I'll continue to monitor the progress of these seeds over the next week or so and hopefully I'll find a few more eager new recruits. :lol:

But so far, so good. :cool:

dvg
 
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Very nice! M. theresae are beautiful plants. Looks like you're doing well with the germination. The phenolic compounds and ABA are usually soluble in water, and as you said, some types of gibberellin may help as well.
 
Thanks Adamtekium,

Today, I was pleased to find two M. theresae seeds had sprouted in the new batch of seeds that I received less than a month ago.
IMG_4578-1.jpg


And another seed in the old batch has sprouted as well, bringing the total up to three sprouted for that group of seeds.
IMG_4591-1.jpg


I knocked the seed cap off of the seed shown above while transferring it and this is a peek at the same seed without it's little helmet.
IMG_4611-1.jpg


So far I haven't had any seeds from the 2008 seed batch germinate.

But maybe one of these three amigos, will decide to make a move for it in the next day or so.
IMG_4583-1.jpg


Out of all three batches I've only had 5 seeds germinate.

5 out of 70 seeds isn't a very high germination rate, but considering I've never been able to get any of these cactus critters to hatch for me before, I'll gladly take that.

Still a few more days left until I dry out the seeds again for another future cycle....so far so good.

dvg
 
Happy to report that another M. theresae hatchling was found among the newest batch of seeds today.

This seed, still retains an imprint left from it's protective seed coat.
IMG_4613-1.jpg


dvg
 
Nice photos.
 
Thanks Sketch213,

Three more seeds have germinated today, bringing the total up to 9 seeds out of 70, so just above 10%.

And two seeds have germinated, the first two to do so from the 2008 seed batch. Here is a pic of those two together, although one has only managed to open it's seed coat a crack, seemingly a bit reluctant to venture out just yet.
IMG_4652-1.jpg


I'm wondering if the acidity from the sphagnum moss is helping to counteract the inhibiting chemicals in the seed coats, or if the damp papper towels are the real tools of value here.

So far though, 4 seeds from the newest seeds have germinated, 2 seeds from the 2008 seed batch and 3 seeds from the 4 year old seeds have germinated.

Here is a M. theresae seedling, lounging under the lights, kicked back in relaxation on a pillow of perlite. :cool:
IMG_4641-1.jpg


dvg
 
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It seems like everytime I've been checking in on the Mam theresae lately, they have been rewarding me with hatchlings...kinda like goin' out to the hen house. :-D

Today four more cacti-chicks emerged from their shells including three from the 2008 seed batch, bringing the total for that batch up to five, all hatched within the last two days.

A pic from today, with four new hatchlings and one from yesterday, in various stages of undress. :blush: ;)
IMG_4706-1.jpg


The hatch rate is now 13 seeds out of 70, so just one seed shy of 20%.

It will be interesting to see what tomorrow brings....

dvg
 
Wow! This just keeps getting better and better.

Six more hatchlings to report today: three from the new seed batch and 3 more from the 2008 seed batch.:boogie:

IMG_4715-1.jpg


So far now 19 out of 70 seeds have germinated, with the breakdown as follows:

New seed batch (received Jan, 2011) 7 out of 20 germinated

2008 seed batch 8 out of 30 germinated

Four year old seed batch 4 out of 20 germinated.

Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings.

dvg
 
  • #10
To be honest, when I started this experiment, I was hoping to get some seeds germinated, but I wasn't sure how many would come up, but I thought that if 2 or 3 seeds sprouted, that would be good enough for me.

I had no idea that these seeds would germinate as well as they have.

There were five more seeds sprouted yesterday.
IMG_4742-1.jpg


And a closer look at four of those seeds.
IMG_4753-1.jpg


Today, two more sprouted, bringing the total up to 26 out of seventy seeds sprouted.
IMG_4779-1.jpg


New seed batch... 9 out of 20 seeds germinated

2008 seed batch...12 out of 30 seeds sprouted

4 year old seed batch...5 out of 20 seeds popped

Maybe something of interest, but of the remaining seeds, a majority of them are smaller than the seeds that have already germinated.

This might indicate that the smaller sized seeds are either less viable than the larger seeds, or maybe even completely sterile.

I'll keep this propagation attempt going a few more days longer or until the seeds stop hatching.

dvg
 
  • #11
6 more sprouted seeds to report today.................................................................And the same 6 seeds from a different angle.
IMG_4791-1.jpg
IMG_4818-1.jpg


Newest seeds...11/20

2008 seeds...16/30

4 yr old seeds...5/20

Total...32/70 seeds sprouted so far

dvg
 
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  • #12
There was nothing to report yesterday, as no seeds had germinated.

So I again changed out the paper towels, as I have been doing every third day since I started this experiment.

Today however, there were two more hatchlings from the 2008 seed batch, bringing the total for that batch up to 18/30 seeds sprouted.
IMG_4923-1.jpg


Thus far, 34 out of the 70 seeds have germinated and it looked like at least one more will be on it's way for tomorrow's inspection.

dvg
 
  • #13
One more seed from the 2008 M. theresae batch has germinated, bringing the total for that seed batch up to 19/30 and even more impressive was that this single germinated seed raised the overall germination rate up to 50% with 35 out of the total 70 seeds having sprouted.
IMG_4941-1.jpg


The seed batch that I received in Jan. 2011 had 11 of it's 20 seeds germinate and the four year old seed batch only had a 25% germination rate with 5 of it's 20 seeds sprouting.

There may be a few final stragglers that germinate over the next day or two, but barring anything spectacular occuring, this will probably be my last update for this seed sprouting attempt.

It was an eye opening experience for me as I was surprised at the much higher than expected germination rate for these seeds.

If any of you would like to try this method out, you might also be excited with the overall germination success rate experienced with these usually reluctant seeds.

dvg
 
  • #14
The vast majority of these seedlings have developed into little green blobs.

There were a couple of losses, apparently from clumsy fingers damaging fragile roots during the transferring process, but a very high percentage of the sprouted seeds were successfully transferred into their newly potted up homes.

Here is a group of pots with some of those little green M. theresae blobs, with up to two or three seedlings in a pot.
IMG_4969-1.jpg


This is the pot from the lower left hand corner of the above photo. There are three seedlings in the pot, but only two of them are visible, with the third fairly well hidden next to the black mass, just left of centre and above the left pictured seedling.
IMG_4986-1.jpg


And a couple more seedlings with their party hats still visible, but soon to be discarded completely.
IMG_4963-1.jpg


It'll be interesting to see how they are all doing in about six months time from now.

dvg
 
  • #15
Wow, they are adorable! I googled this plant and I cant believe how beautiful the flowers are. You have good taste ;)
 
  • #16
Thanks Carnivoure12,

I'm starting to think that these seeds need pure water to wash away the Phenolic chemical compounds that act as inhibiting agents to prevent premature germination.

I asked Steven Brack of Mesa Gardens how he germinates his M. theresae.

He told me that he puts the seeds in pots outside and just waits. It takes many months, he said, and then after a really good rainstorm a few will pop up.

But he also said that he seldom if ever gets any seeds to germinate in their second year of being in the pots.

I was letting my seeds in the paper towels slowly dry out. The sphagnum moss had been removed from the bags.

But I was stil getting germination with the barely damp towels. Yesterday I noticed two seeds that looked like they were splitting, just very slightly.

So I changed out the paper towels again to new ones and transferred the seeds over to the new towels and rewet them, but I didn't add any sphagnum moss to any of the bags.

This morning, much to my surprise, I had four newly spouted seeds, 2 seeds from the 2011 batch, 1 seed from the 2008 seed batch and even 1 seed from the 4 year old batch decided to join the party as well.

IMG_5040-1.jpg


So maybe just the changing out of the towels every third day and keeping the seeds damp with distilled water is the key to germination here.

Thus far, the germination rates for the M. theresae seeds has been as follows:

Seed that arrived in 2011 order...14 of 20 sprouted...70%

Seed from 2008 seed batch.......21 of 30 sprouted...70%

Seed from 2007 seed batch........6 of 20 sprouted...30%

Total germ rate overall...............41 of 70 sprouted...58.6%

It looks like another one may be popping tomorrow, so I'll continue trying to coax these seeds on, as long as they continue to cooperate with me.

dvg
 
  • #17
Well those M. theresae seeds continue to sprout and surprise me.

I checked in on them today and five more had decided to join their brethern majority in the land of the living, versus their previous state of limbo in suspended animation. :lol:

The sprouted seed tally now stands at:

2011 seed batch........16 of 20...80%

2008 seed batch........23 of 30...76.7%

2007 seed batch.........8 of 29...40%

Overall germination....47 of 70...67.1%

It looks like with some seeds still being viable but reluctant to germinate, that this might be a survival strategy for this species, ensuring that some seeds can still sprout at a later date, even if a drought happened to wipe out the majority of seeds that were quick to germinate.

dvg
 
  • #18
A couple M. theresae seedlings with their helmets by their sides. ;)

IMG_5520-1.jpg


dvg
 
  • #19
Wow! they grow quite fast! You always have some cool little analogy for everything :)
 
  • #20
Thanks Daniel! :)

A Mammillaria theresae seedling starting to show some of it's developing tubercles.

IMG_5673-1.jpg


I ended up getting a 70% overall germination rate with these seeds and 80% success with both the 2011 and 2008 seed batches...pretty good for a species that is known to be difficult to start from seed.

dvg
 
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