How do I grow Mamms from Seed?

I am interested in growing some plants ffrom seed this spring, and I am not sure how to go about it. What containers, soil, lights, and so on.

Thanks for your help.

I though there would be information in this section, but there's lot of stuff but no simple guide to growing from seed.

This is what I do, which seems to be fairly successful.

Step 1 - mix my compost - I use about 30% general potting mix, 30% horticultural grit, and 30% finer volcanic grit. I mix it slightly damp.
Step 2 - sterilise the compost - I put it in an old biscuit tin and put it in the oven checking the centre with a thermometer until it reaches around 85C. Then let it cool, and hopefully it hasn't totally dried out, else it will be difficult to wet again after sowing.
Step 3 - I wash the pots thoroughly, usually just in hot water with washing up liquid. Let them dry.
Step 4 - Put the compost into the pots and lightly tamp down to give a fairly even surface. Then sow the seeds, again fairly evenly.
Step 5 - Put the pots to soak in water that I have previously boiled and when cool have added an anti-fungal sterilising tablet.
Step 6 - when thoroughly soaked, take out let drain for a short time and put into a clear polythene sandwich bag, and tie the tops securely - I tend to favour the ziplock sort of tie rather than a plastic coated wire one. Depending on the pot size, I sometimes put 2 pots in one bag. I use 2" square pots for 10-15 seeds.
Step 7 - Then the bagged pots go into my propagator, which I set for 23C, and I have a grow-light which is on from 6am to 6pm.

Then wait.....usually the first seed comes up in 7-10 days and then over 8-12 weeks depending on species, and something you can't really predict, the viability of the seed.

It may sound complicated, but its not really, its just ensuring that everything is as weed and moss and fungus free as possible and they get enough heat and light.

I know that many enthusiasts in the UK use this approach, in general, with individual variances which suit them best. In other climates, you might need to take care about excess heat, and where the propagator is put, because if placed in full sun, young seedlings can easily boil in the bags. I tend to take them out of the bags after about 6 months, but some growers I know keep them there for 12 months or so.

After these basics, its down to your own experiences and see what works best for you in your environment. Some people I talk with don't want to invest in all the equipment until they've had some success, in which case I just suggest a small seed tray, with a clear lid, and no ventilation holes, put some labels in on their side to segregate each type of seed, and maybe put the tray on a bright window sill. But the basics of sterilisation, heat and light do have to be followed no matter what.

Thanks Chris, that was just what I was looking for. These "anti-fungal sterilising tablet" I can't think of anything in the US like that what do we use Stateside?

The tablets I use for this are known to me as Chinosol. The chemical is Oxyquinoline sulfate, and though I don't know what brand names are used in the USA, I did find this page on which you might find something you recognise - https://www.drugs.com/international/oxyquinoline.html
I can buy it on eBay from Germany, and I saw when I checked just now that there is also something called NeoChinosol, classed as an antiseptic, but don't know if that'd work as well. I have heard that there are concerns about the toxicity of chinosol, which might have given rise to a substitute.
If you have sterilised compost and water, you might wonder why more is needed. Basically the seed itself might not have been cleaned, as it can be difficult, and obviously you can't boil or otherwise heat treat it. Some people don't like using chinosol and suggest that it might actually inhibit germination, but I haven't found that in practice.

there are probably as many recipes for growing cacti from seeds as there are people growing them....lol
1) your climate zone you live in dictates to some degree how you proceed.
2) I only use mineral substrate. Tezontle (a kind of lava rock) but you also could use crashed red bricks, filled in with quartz sand (just to fill in the spaces between the lava pebbles to avoid that the seeds fall into the cracks). I put this into small transparent plastic container with lid.
3) then I put demineralized water on it (just enough to get everything really wet but w/o excess water).
4) then I put the seed on top of it, put the lid on and let them stand in a bright place but no direct sun.
I don't pre treat the seeds or substrate nor do I wash or sanitize the containers (as long as they are new. If used, I soak them in diluted bleach for some time). Since ancient times, Chinosol was used as a fungicide but a) I found it unnecessary if using a 100% mineral substrate and b) there is literature that shows Chinosol can actually be detrimental to germination.
5) as to temperature: I sow year round. Where I live min. temp. during winter nights some 12°C and max. temp. in summer 42°C. It works at any temperature, although some species have special requirements and some even need stratification for a period of time.
6) as soon as the first spines become visible, I take off the lid.
This method works very well for me, but I suggest you just experiment on you own. My experience is, the simpler, the better the method works.

As Harald I use a purely mineral substrate. But since I tend to sow a lot of different species and I find plastic bags very untidy, I group my 5 cm square pots in plastic boxes that get wrapped all around with kitchen cling-film. A trip to your local stationery chain store will likely yield boxes in appropriate sizes (I suggest carrying 4 empty pots in your pocket to test for size - that's what I did!). Another thing I do differently is sowing in bone-dry compost and soaking the pots after putting in the seeds in a 1,5% solution of hydrogen peroxyde. The cling-film is removed anywhen from a few months to a year after sowing. If I sow in the spring, it will be under the benches in the greenhouse, in the winter under fluorescent or LED lights (I am currently testing these). In any case, NEVER EVER let the sun shine on the bags or wrapped boxes, if you don't want to cook your seedlings!

I agree with jfabiao. The ancient practice of using ziplocks as mini greenhouses is not very tidy. I do it as can be seen on the pictures:
https://servimg.com/view/20292098/3
https://servimg.com/view/20292098/2

Just found this thread and found a few things I can add. First, I have found sowing in ziplock bags to have benefits, as I'm busy I can sow, all carefully sterilised etc, then not even look at the bags for a few months. Opening the bags to add air can be done, but follow initial sterilisation proceedures inc cleaning hands before proceeding. As far as fungicide goes I use a mild Phosaic acid ( variously marketed as Fongarid, Rid A rot etc). It is even sugested to have some feeding benefits and has not affected germination that I can tell. I also use a final top spray before bagging up of a Hydrogen peroxide solution ( about a 20/1 mix of the normal 3% solution). This also helps kill any fungus spores on the seed itself, and its etching effect can increase germination in some species. This seems to be the effect for me anyway. Yes ziplock bags are a bit untidy and prone to deflating but I transition into a closed "propagator' as soon as appropriate, and then harden up seedlings from there. I find this gives the best of both worlds.