How to grow cacti from seed

You will need

  • Cacti seed
  • One large and several small terracotta pots
  • Free-draining compost or cactus compost
  • Silver sand
  • Newspaper
  • Sheet of glass
  • Pencil (to prick out)
  • Seed tray
Do it: all year round
Takes just: 20 minutes to sow

Overview

Raising cacti from seed is simple and rewarding, and to add to the fun, most companies and cacti nurseries now offer seed mixtures, so you're never quite sure what you're going to grow.


How to do it

Filling pot with compost

1

Fill a broad terracotta pot with a moist, gritty, loam-based compost, such as John Innes. Firm down and make the surface level.


Sowing cacti seeds

2

Scatter your mixed cactus seeds over the surface of the compost, taking care not to sow them too thickly.


Sprinkling sand over cacti seeds

3

Gently sprinkle a thin layer of silver sand over the seeds, covering the whole surface of the compost.


Covering cacti seeds with sheet of glass

4

Leave the pot in a greenhouse or on a warm windowsill, covered with a sheet of glass and a layer of paper.


Pricking out seedlings

5

Remove the glass once seedlings develop - these will be large enough to prick out by next spring.


Watering pricked-out cacti

6

Next spring, gently tease out individual cacti, and plant out in a tray of gritty compost. Water well.


Transplanting cacti

7

As they grow taller, carefully transplant some of the larger cacti into bigger pots to give them room.


Planting up cacti

8

Finally, plant individually into small terracotta pots. Water and feed, and repot annually as they grow.


Adam's tip

Be patient! These cacti took a year to reach this size from a summer sowing.



Discuss this project

Talkback: How to grow cacti from seed
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Carlaj 24/11/2011 at 15:27

My teenage son has developed a passion for cacti. I hadn't thought about growing cacti from seed but having read how easy it is I shall give it a try and involve Danny too.