Mosly Mesemb Sowing Project

[El Funko]

OK, I'm about to begin a project to grow several Mesemb species (and a few others) by seed, once my order from Mesa Garden arrives. I thought I would post my plans beforehand, to take advantage of the collective wisdom and experience of the group, and to verify that my plans are viable.

I started this new obsession last spring with a Lithops mix that I bought on Etsy. I received what was supposed to be 100 seeds, and as of this week have over 100 seedlings, many of which are just splitting with their first adult leaf sets. Emboldened by my success (but with enough past failure to be cautious), I've decided to try to grow more Mesembs - I just can't resist them.

Here's what I've got on order:

Astrophytum asterias 'Superkabuto'

Aloinopsis:
A. luckhoffii CM232
A. orpenii
A. schooneesii
A. schooneesii Shalom, Willowmore
A. villetii Nelswerwe, Loeriesfontein

Conophytum:
C. piluliforme Poortjieskloofdam
C. meyerae 'pole-evansii' Eenriet
C. flavum LAV 26294A Doringwater, n Steinkopf
C. ursprungianum SB635 Lokenburg

Lapidaria margaretae SB1798 Eendoorn

Pleiospilos, sp mix

Titanopsis:
T. calcarea
T. hugo-schlechteri Pofadder
T. -sp mix

full cactus-succulent mix
hardy mesemb mix, from many genera

A couple of other pertinent points:

• - I'm in Upstate New York State, zone 5a.
  - I have an outdoor cold frame set up (but will likely bring it in before winter. We regularly get 150-200 inches of snow).
  - I have large indoor windows, facing East with no obstruction (once the leaves fall shortly). We keep the house at 68*F day and 62*F at night. Our baseboard heaters are right in front of the windows, so it doesn't get too much cooler there.
  - I'm planning to set up a cacti table in my unheated but attached garage for the winter. It's a walk-out basement where my house's mechanical systems are located, so it does stay above about 50*F. But with my wife's car coming in and out during the winter, there will be times after the overhead door has been open for a minute or two that it might briefly dip into the 30's.

SO, here's my current plan:

• - I'll set up a 10 gallon fish tank in my attached/unheated garage. I have a hinged cover and lights that we used when we had pets in there. I'll probably use a couple of CFL bulbs in the 20 W range. I'll put white paper/cardboard around the outside.
  - I'll have another set of lights - 4 x 4ft T5 hung over the table for the cacti.
  - Lights will be on a timer, probably 12-14 hours for the propagator and 8-10 for the cacti.
  - I'm kicking around the idea of putting a heating mat under/in the propagator, on a timer to come on while the lights are on.
  - I'll sow the Aloinopsis, Conophytum, Pleiospilos, Titanopsis, and Mesemb mix in pots with a mix of organic potting soil, pumice, chicken grit (granite), and Turface (modified Al's Gritty Mix with more organics).
  - I'll sterilize the pots with bleach/water, and cook the soil mixture in the microwave. I'm not planning any other chemical usage, but I do have an anti-fungal that I can spray if needed.
  - I'm planning to use the baggy method.
  - I have a rain barrel that I use for all my watering, but since this is going to be in the winter, I'll have to put some aside in buckets for use later.
  - The Astros and Cacti/Succulent mix will be in a domed seed propagator in my house, in front of the East window. I'll probably set up another small light above that.

My questions:

• - What temperatures should I be shooting for in the garage propagator? I'm guessing it will be around 45-50 at night, and 70s while the lights/heating mat are on. This seems about right for the Conos, how about the others?
  - Is the gritty mix appropriate for seed germination, or should I be using more organic/less grit?
  - How about lighting times? Seem OK?
  - How about my plan not to use chemicals?
  - I'm hoping to get away without having to use a thermostat, but will have a thermometer that records high/low.
  - Should I only sow a portion (1/2?) of each packet in case I need to start over? Or should I hold off on some Spring growers to sow later?
  - I don't know what I don't know... Thoughts?

Thanks in advance for any assistance! I'll keep a log and post pictures here as we progress.

[iann]

Mesembs don't need it especially warm to germinate. 45-50F at night and 70sF by day is fine. If germination seems poor, then maybe look closely at the temperature and see if it is getting too hot or too cold. I never use chemicals. Mesembs are easy to germinate and won't rot if your growing conditions are right. If the conditions are poor then all the chemicals in the world won't save you. Sterilisation is helpful, but remember that rainwater is an excellent source of algae so unless you boil it the sterilisation is fairly pointless. Use baggies for germination, but not too long afterwards. You can keep them in there for months, but unless the soil is just barely moist they will swell up and explode.

One thing to consider is that even small mesembs seedlings will thrive in direct sun. It isn't essential, but don't grow them in deep dark conditions that a Gymnocalycium seedling could just survive, and plan on introducing them to the real thing when it is available next year.

Expect well over half the seed to germinate. Sometimes it seems like more than 100% germinates! So judge how many you want and sow accordingly. Inevitably you will get either too many or too few of each species, it seems to be a deep-seated natural law.

[El Funko]

Thanks Ian. I hadn't been aware of the risk of rainwater, but that makes perfect sense. I'll boil before I use/store it.

I guess I'm torn between propagating in the house in front of the East window where the temps would be more consistent, but not as low as what Mesembs might like (and supplementing with lights), or going with the lights in the garage and lower temps. But thinking about the great success I had with the Lithops that I sowed indoors in March, the natural light method may be better. I'd also likely pay more close attention to them in my dining room than my garage.

Speaking of the Lithops, I thought I'd post a few pics here too:

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File Oct 02, 10 26 42 AM.jpeg (77.24 KiB) Viewed 1558 times

File Oct 02, 10 26 56 AM.jpeg (102.94 KiB) Viewed 1558 times

[El Funko]

And another question, this time about the Lithops. I just saw a post from a ways back where Ian says they should be sown in deeper pots since their taproot all grows in the first year. These guys are just around 7 months old now. Unfortunately, I sowed them in takeout containers that only have about 4 cm depth of substrate. Should I be taking the ones which have split out to re-pot in a deeper pot with courser mix, and treating them as adults as far a light/water go.

[iann]

You can transplant at this stage if you don't mind losing maybe 10% of them. Definitely time to back off on the watering. At 7 months, you're probably strangling the true leaves inside those blobs. Let them dry out a bit and see what manages to pop through.

[El Funko]

Mesa was apparently short on Conophytum, so I only ended up getting one packet of those. They're also out of the Astros. I sowed on 10/10, and just removed everything from the baggies last night. Looks like almost 100% germination for the most part, but I left the Conos that I did get in the bag, since only a handful have germinated. Here's the list:

Aloinopsis:
A. luckhoffii CM232
A. orpenii
A. schooneesii
A. schooneesii Shalom, Willowmore
A. villetii Nelswerwe, Loeriesfontein

Conophytum meyerae 'pole-evansii' Eenriet

Lapidaria margaretae SB1798 Eendoorn

Pleiospilos, sp mix

Titanopsis:
T. calcarea
T. hugo-schlechteri Pofadder
T. -sp mix

full cactus-succulent mix
hardy mesemb mix, from many genera

This is my winter setup in the garage. I have a four bulb T12 fixture (6500*), hung over my workbench. I cut some leftover white melamine boards to fit on three sides. The seedlings are in a 10 gallon fish tank with sand and heating pads buried in the sand. Temps are around 63*F (17 C) at night and 75 (23) in the day. Lights and heat are on 14 hours. The fish tank has a glass top to keep humidity up. I have a thermometer/hygrometer unit in there that records daily high/low:

Winter Setup

File Oct 23, 9 28 04 AM.jpeg (42.36 KiB) Viewed 1471 times

Closeup of the propagator with most of the pots. I set them in about 1" (2.5 cm) of water in the bottom:

File Oct 23, 9 26 57 AM.jpeg (79.13 KiB) Viewed 1471 times

Another water trough with the rest of the seedlings. The Conos are in the baggie in the back:

File Oct 23, 9 27 28 AM.jpeg (58.12 KiB) Viewed 1471 times

[iann]

Believe it or not, 17C at night is too warm for good Conophytum germination. 7C would be better. Anyway, as cool as you can manage. Warm days are OK. but don't go made trying to provide extra heat for them, room temperature is OK.

[Aiko]

Indeed. I sow most of my mesembs in the middle of March, just after (most of) the frosty nights basically have passed in an unheated greenhouse. The nights are sill cold very close to frost (0C), other nights are maybe 5C, but during the day it will get warmer when the sun starts to get out (20C to 25C, maybe?). It is the difference of very cool nights and moderately warm days that make sure I get any germination going, probably.

Nice set up, though. But keep the temperature at night at a good chilly temperature!

[El Funko]

As the nights get cooler, so do the temps. Last night was 34*F (1*C), so I expect the garage got down to the low to mid 50s (10 - 12 *C). So I'll check my thermometer later today to get the high/low for the past day. There are four or five Conos that have germinated out of 25. That may ultimately be OK, but if I can get more, why not?