Growing a cactus or any other succulent from seed is not as challenging as you may think. In fact, germinating an average succulent seed is not too different than germinating a vegetable seed. There are exceptions of course – some varieties take longer to germinate than other plants, but below are some guidelines that work for us. It’s always good to read up a bit on the specific kind of plant you’re trying to grow, as some seed varieties have unique requirements.
Steps:
- The type of soil you use for planting the seeds is not as important as the soil you’ll use when you transplant the succulent into it’s pot when it gets past the seedling stage. You can use a commercial cactus soil or increase the drainage properties of an all-purpose potting soil with perlite and/or vermiculite and/or grit or pumice.
Some growers recommend sterilizing the soil in an oven or microwave (oven at 150C for half hour or microwave on high for about 3 minutes – moisten the soil lightly first) to get rid of any pathogens which may cause fungus on the soil or seedlings. If the soil has already been pasteurized (should say on the bag), this is not as necessary. - Water your soil evenly. It shouldn’t be sopping wet, but should be evenly moist throughout.
- After preparing your pot or growing tray with the soil, sprinkle or evenly distribute the seeds on the surface and cover very lightly with a layer of soil or sand. This covering can be slightly more if the seeds are large (a general rule of thumb is the smaller the seed, the less coverage on top.) Lightly mist the surface.
- Now put your pot in a sealed plastic bag or, alternatively, your pot or growing tray can go in one of those cheap small plastic seed growing tray / clear cover “mini-greenhouses” available at hardware stores, nurseries, Wal-Mart, etc. Humidity is good for succulent seeds/seedlings, even though as adult plants most succulents like their environment drier (in the wild they will often germinate during the rainy season.)
- We find a grow light and heat mat (both of which can be found relatively inexpensively online or at the types of stores listed above) work well to control the light and warmth on your seeds optimally. If you don’t have these, you can put your pot/bag or growing tray/cover in a sunny spot. Some attention will have to be paid if using the sun as your light/heat source so as not to cook your seeds.
- Once your succulent sprouts, which can take anywhere from a few days to several weeks (or even months in a few species), begin to expose it gradually to air outside the bag/plastic cover air by opening it’s bag/cover for increasingly longer lengths of time each day. Important: the soil will dry out faster once it is exposed, so you’ll need to keep a closer eye on it and make sure it doesn’t dry out.
- Keep the soil your new baby plants are in from drying out completely. Even though these are succulents, when they are young plants they will need more water than when they are grown.
- Once your succulent is a few months old, it can be transplanted to it’s own pot. The longer you can wait, the better, as the younger a seedling the more delicate the root structure.
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