Lophophora Williamsii

I started my remaining seeds (18 of them) about a week ago and so far I've got 9 baby sprouts! Seems like taking them outdoors overnight really helped with the germination speed and rate! I read that they germinate better with a cold shock at night. This baby is a day or two old, with a pin head for size reference. Photo was taken with a macro lens.

Wow! Cool photo!

Thanks @emch ! ☺️ My lil clip-on macro lens is finally earning its keep. It didn't really fit my previous phone.

I'm with Eileen on that Silvia, W😘W great photo👍

Thank you, @crabby58 ! 😁 #close-up #upclose

From seed. Started 10/31/20, sprouted 1-3 weeks later. These have been the most difficult seedlings I've dealt with so far, compared to gymnos, feros, trichs, and echinops that I started around the same time. Germination rate was okay, but then the sprouts kept dying off, so I finally transferred the remaining 7 into a grittier mineral soil. 🤞😬 Anybody have any first-hand experience/advice?

Cute little buggers. Side note, it’s snowing at my house in Vegas 😱

Maybe that’s why you don’t find many in the stores. They’re more difficult to grow. 🤔🌞

@sunlovin WHAAAAT?? Yikes, at least it won't stick around! Hope the cold doesn't kill anything! 🥶 Are you there now? It's fricking cold here, but not quite THAT cold. Northern AZ is getting it pretty bad, though.

@sunlovin LOL I think the lack of availability is more due to the illegal nature of the plant. 😆 The seeds are pricey, but available, but the plant itself is downright impossible to get except through shady channels. But yes, it is known to be a slow grower (I got your link, will read in a sec). I guess they grow way faster if grafted, but I'm interested in them as cute specimens, not as a drug, and grafted cacti are way NOT CUTE to me. 🙅🏻‍♀️😅

I wish I were there to protect them. The radar says it’s snowing at my house so there goes my unhardy plants. 😩

I know, those grafted cacti rot so easily. I wish they would graft on to better stock. I’m trying to pull off my grafted tops and get them to root themselves.

@sunlovin weather reports say ambient temperatures in Vegas are well above freezing, so maybe they'll be okay, as long as the snow doesn't accumulate for any amount of time..? 🤞😬

@sunlovin agreed, I thought grafted cacti were supposed to be easier than ungrafted, but they're always SO rot prone for me! What are you trying to un-graft? The only ones I know won't survive on their own are the brightly colored gymnos and presumably other chlorophyll-lacking things.

I hope so. Maybe it will be wet snow and not freeze. 🤞

I lost plants last time it snowed, 2 years ago, I have a whole lot of new ones since. 😳

@sunlovin I just ordered a bunch of cacti from DenverCactusCo on Etsy. They specialize in cold hardy cacti. Plus I found a couple other sellers while comparison shopping who specialize in the same. Maybe some cute cold hardy specimens would be a good investment for you?