I got 1000 seeds from Icaros, and attempted to germ about half the bag in a small tray.

Here's what came up about a month or so later!

I got a 1000 my self. be carefull and protect them from direct sunlight, they seem a bit burned judging by the brownish tint.

yes a few of them are definitely looking burned, but I do have them under a shaded cloth.

Pigment does not equal burned, that can show up under very low light levels in seedlings.

Burned literally results in a physical scar that never goes away, or dead seedlings.
If they grow fine but have a pigment then it is nothing to worry about, but often it means they need more food.
Once they get established they should begin to grow fast, one year from seed they should be about a foot tall if fed well.
I've seen the vigorous ones grow to three feet tall from seed in a little over two years.

They are looking good to me so far.

That's good to know Albert. Do you have any recs on food for cactus?

Thanks for the info Robert! I am pretty sure the shade cloth is at least 50% shade. I think there are some dead seedlings in there because parts of the tray have dried up and the seedlings in those areas look dried out and dead. Any tips for transplanting? Also I am hoping they will grow OK in clusters because I have some spots in the tray with 10 sprouted cacti the size of my finger print, and I don't think I will be able to separate them when the time comes.

I agree Albert sunburn in fact is more like a scar but too much light can cause the brownish tint in seedlings, as for food: I thought they had enough nutrients within the seed for a couple of months.
I would really like to see a tricho that can grow one foot in their first year! usually the first year growth is quite slow.As for food i give them biobizz biobloom and fish emulsion.
here are pictures of my actual icaro setting, with the macro pics i can tel some of mine are brown also, wonder if thats food or the effect of a 200wcfl lamp i had on them for 2 days...
https://www.dmt-nexus.me...aspx?g=posts&t=24838
and here some khores started 2 years ago +or - by the way the picture is 2 months old now in the new setting(much more light, they grew at least cm)
https://www.dmt-nexus.me...aspx?g=posts&t=24056

Mods sorry I posted this in the wrong forum can it be moved to the ethnobotanical section? Thanks

oneistheall your 2 year old garden is very inspiring, and I hope mine is as nice as yours down the road. Also your Icaro seedlings are looking fantastic! That box is packed to the brim. I want to buy some more seeds and get myself a box like that! I'll try maybe germinating them indoors next time with a humidity dome and some cfl lighting.

Seeds for cacti are very small and store very little nutrition, once they germinate they are hungry but don't like strong fertilizer solutions because they are sensitive when they are young. A popular work about raising these cacti does claim that they do not need much fertilizer when they are young, but that has not be my experience.

I like a 20:20:20 type fertilizer and use it at one quarter to one half strength, fairly often like once a week.

I have seen the reddish pigment under pretty low light levels.

I seldom grow peruvianus types, I don't find them to be very desirable and they tend to be weak, they often grow slow. A few clones out there of them do grow about three feet a year in the right conditions, when well fed and given lots of light and not too much heat, RS0004 and SS01 are good examples of that.

hybrids, which I prefer, tend to the fastest growing in my experience, in a batch of seedlings it is not uncommon to find a specimen or two that is more vigorous than the others, it is these type of vigorous seedling that I have seen grow to about a foot tall in a year from seed. But I have also noted that many factors limit growth, food, light, roots space, pH of medium, heat etc.

One year ago I had seedlings that were about an inch tall, they were a couple of months old, now they are about ten inches tall, though one was a foot tall till I cut it yesterday because it was growing prostrate and I didn't want that.

Albert, thx for the input.Just ordered ss01xjuuls + ss02xjuuls and from an other vendor peruvianus huancobamba short spined.Ahh and started a couple of weeks ago some bridgadesii from yet an other vendor... is SS02 (bridgesii) short or long spine var.?
will try some fert, very diluted.

SS02, this is a bridgesii selection but is somewhat unique. It often bears pairs of spines and sometimes on older plants new growth does not have any spines. The spines tend to be up to about three centimeters or about an inch and a half, not exactly long or short.

The clone was found in a collection of a man in the Bay Area of the USA, that mans last name was Gay, he did go to south america and collect things and did trade and purchase a bunch as well, but how and where he got the plant known as SS02 is not known.

It is fast growing and very water tolerant, roots easily and is quite active. Some of the offspring of this plant are incredibly fast growing. It is a very nice clone for breeding and sacramental use.