Grow Golden Barrel Cactus
Echinocactus grusonii is one of the mainstays of desert landscapes. They are best planted close together among large rocks or boulders. Here is how to grow them from seed.
Steps
- The seeds aren't in the bright yellow flowers. Seeds are found in the fruit under the flower.
- Several months after the flower dies off and only the pod remains, gather the pods just before they dry out.
- The pods will come off with a slight twist, leaving the fiber/cotton on the cactus.
- Use a razor knife to slice the tops off the pods and slice down one side of the pod to expose the seeds.
- Using a little shovel-like tool about the size of a Popsicle stick, scrape the seeds out of the pod.
- Place the seeds in some water to soak overnight.
- Fill germination trays with a well blended mixture of 60% peat moss/40% vermiculite and one to one part of number two coarse sand.
- Use a horse syringe to suck the small seeds and some of the water into the syringe.
- With the syringe, distribute the seeds evenly in the germination tray, shaking the syringe so the seeds don't settle at the bottom and all come out at once.
- Place the trays in full sun and keep the soil moist until the seeds germinate in approximately 4 to 6 weeks. They will look like small pencil erasers, red in color not green.
- When the small cacti start to sprout tiny needles, use a pair of tweezers to transfer them from the propagation trays into 5 cm (2 inch) pots filled with the same soil mix used in the germination trays.
- Allow the small cacti to grow for about one year.
- After a year move the cacti to 10 cm (4 inch) Pot a Spiny Cactus Without Getting Pricked and allow them to grow for another year or two.
- During the second to third year of development in the 10 cm pots, the cacti have enough needles to ward off most of normal landscape creatures and are sufficiently established to grow in their final settings.
Tips
- Plants can also be grown from fully dried out seeds. If anyone has information about the optimum time to collect seeds, post your information here.
- Visit http://www.rsigrowers.com/ for more information about Golden Barrel Cactus.
- After the flower dies off and the pods are ready to harvest, the pods will be damp inside and not full of moisture.
- For those who plan to use a large number of Echinocactus grusonii in their landscaping, get the plants when they are small and space them out enough to allow growth. It is much more affordable to gather and plant them at this stage than to wait until they are the size of a gallon or five gallons.
- The seeds are black, but some might have a slight red color to them.
- Echinocactus grusonii and most other barrels will produce hundreds of pods each season.
