my seedlings

[cjbaker]

Thanks Dan! I'll start letting them dry out a bit more now.

[cjbaker]

I'm afraid an addiction may be developing here, I sowed 17 new types of mesemb and one type of cactus from Mesa Garden seed last week. All but 3 have some germination. Reading the forums has been inspiring and instructive. It took about 3 months for the seeds to come (including a lost delivery), but that's another story.



^ sown 7/6/2014 (pots are in the same order as above, plus 13 and 17)

[name, pot number]
Aloinopsis rosulata 2
Aloinopsis rubrolineata 5
Aloinopsis thudichumii 7
Antimima fenestrata 8
Antimima turneriana 9 (hasn't yet germinated, not shown)
Argyroderma mix 10 (hasn't yet germinated, not shown)
Cheiridopsis mix 11
Cheiridopsis vanzylii 12
Conophytum mix 13 (only one germinated so far)
Dinteranthus vanzylii 14
Fenestraria rhopalophylla aurantiaca 15
Gibbaeum album 16
Ophthalmophyllum mix 17 (black pot) (only one germinated so far)
Pleiospilos mix 18
Sceletium joubertii 19 (number faded)
Sceletium sp SB661 Brandrivier 20 (hasn't yet germinated, not shown)
Titanopsis mix 21
Epithelantha micromeris 22 (still in baggy, not shown)

A few of the mesembs I sowed this Winter are doing very well: Aloinopsis schooneesii, mixed Lithops species, and mixed Titanopsis species. The rest have all died: mixed Conophytum species and Fenestraria; only one Gibbaeum ever germinated and it succumbed after the first adult leaves appeared. The cacti are generally doing very poorly; they're out of their baggies in mostly shade and are kept moist, they have tiny roots and little growth but a few are struggling along and I've had my first two grafting successes.


^ Titanopsis primosii, sown in Feb.

^ Titanopsis sp. (calcera, I think), sown in Feb.

^ Aloinopsis schooneesii, sown Dec. 2013. I'm utterly amazed at how hard it is to get the bottom leaves to shrivel, this was taken after 3 weeks on my rooftop in full sun with not a drop of water.

^ Two successfully grafted cactus seedlings. I had seen pictures but it is still amazing how fast they grow. The root end of an A. asterias did not take on the stock in the back, but the pink head end is pumping up in the front. I've mixed up the ID of the one on the left, but I think it's a Turbinicarpus jauernigii.

My latest technique is to let mesembs germinate in baggies, and as soon as many have germinated, take them out into partial shade and spray daily, until the first adult leaves appear. Then they move to full sun, and the watering just about stops. As noted though, this seems to be working great for a few genera, but not others. It is now clear that my Conophytums were tortured to death by being put in full sun a month after germination; they sheathed over and never grew, dying one by one, between Feb. and July. My new technique for Conophytums (hopefully more than one will germinate) will be to keep them in bright full shade, and always moist. Lithops, on the other hand, go straight into full sun after germination is complete, as I believe I've seen suggested by iann, and this has been working well. With the others, I suppose I'll play it by ear; I've only planted 1/2 of each packet. As always, I would be grateful for any tips.

[iann]

Sowing winter growing mesembs in DC in July. Ambitious Actually, it should be late enough in the year that they'll be OK.

Mesembs are pretty amazing, how they manage with no water in the hottest parts of the year. When it cools down, your Aloinopsis will suck down the extra leaves quite quickly so long as you don't give it too much water. Overall though most mesembs near less water than a cactus. If it's any consolation, my A. schooneesii never goes that colour. Plenty of heat in my greenhouse, but UV levels here will be a lot lower than on your roof.

I've grown Conophytum seedlings through their first summer in the sun. But that's in England, and I sowed them at the start of winter under lights, and it is still stressful for the thirsty little ones. Works well for big ones like bilobes, and Ophthalmophyllums should behave about like Lithops. Just watch out for boiling them when it gets too hot.

I've sown Fenestraria in the summer in direct sun and they were rampant. Gibbaeums might be tricky while it is still hot, and probably Sceletium too although I've never grown that from seed. G. album might be a good one to try first because it doesn't sheath and will take some summer water without trouble. A lot of these mesemb seedlings start out in a grow or die mode, so they do OK for the first few months, but you have to leave them mostly or completely dry in summer after that. I find it very difficult mentally not to water something so lush baking in the sun, and the lack of continuous summer heat here doesn't help to keep them completely dormant.

[cjbaker]

Thank you very much for the comments and advice. I suppose the Aloinopsis must now have their stomata completely closed day and night, and shrinking in fall will indicate they have started opening at night again. I'm looking forward to the new growth, they have appeared static for weeks now.

Hopefully they'll survive the rest of July and August in grow or die mode, and then beef up this Fall. It has actually been a fairly cool summer, as they go here, forecast for tonight is 70F (21C).

[hoteidoc]

Nice job, CJ! Grow mostly CH cacti, but there are a few Titanop & Aloinop's that are 0F tolerant! Also just like their "warty/knobby" features. Germination & subsequent growth has been much spottier that with most of the cacti. Am using baggie method, but don't know if there is difference in freshness of seeds or in time of removal for bags.

[cjbaker]

Nice job, CJ! Grow mostly CH cacti, but there are a few Titanop & Aloinop's that are 0F tolerant! Also just like their "warty/knobby" features. Germination & subsequent growth has been much spottier that with most of the cacti. Am using baggie method, but don't know if there is difference in freshness of seeds or in time of removal for bags.

Thanks, hoteidoc! I'd love to get into cold-hardy cacti, I sowed some Escobaria sneedii this past winter with the intent of putting some in various spots in the garden to see if any will take. Any luck with that species? At what age do you put them out? I was going to do a tiny raised bed with my course soilless mix.

As for the mesembs I'm also still a beginner, in this past round I used some ziplock baggies and some non-sealing baggies and the three pots with no germination were all in non-sealing baggies. Not really sure if this detail is important, but in any case my germination still seems to be spotty too. All the seeds were just ordered from MG, so they should be fresh. If you're used to cacti seedlings, then with mesembs I assume you might tend towards insufficient sun and too much water for the "subsequent growth" part, though I can't say I've had consistent success myself.

[hoteidoc]

Actually have 2 strains of sneedii (396 & 397) from MG going, CJ - 397 had much better germination. They're coming up on a year now, @ 1 1/2" with lots of offsets & out on parially shaded back deck in their original plastic tubs. Plan to get them into terracotta "troughs" over next couple of weeks (need a dry spell cuzz raining every 2 - 4 days!). Another good species is Escobaria leei -- also doing well. Alplains is another good source of a lot of CH varieties. If you haven't run across it, Leo Chance's Cactus & Succulents for Cold Climates is an excellent reference with lots of suggestions to try, especially moisture tolerate species for here in NE! -- sort of my CH "bible" & am trying virtually anything suggested!

[cjbaker]

Actually have 2 strains of sneedii (396 & 397) from MG going, CJ - 397 had much better germination. They're coming up on a year now, @ 1 1/2" with lots of offsets & out on parially shaded back deck in their original plastic tubs. Plan to get them into terracotta "troughs" over next couple of weeks (need a dry spell cuzz raining every 2 - 4 days!). Another good species is Escobaria leei -- also doing well. Alplains is another good source of a lot of CH varieties. If you haven't run across it, Leo Chance's Cactus & Succulents for Cold Climates is an excellent reference with lots of suggestions to try, especially moisture tolerate species for here in NE! -- sort of my CH "bible" & am trying virtually anything suggested!

Thanks, I'll put Chance's book on my wish list! The sneedii offsets are encouraging: as my surviving cactus seedlings have dwindled, I'll have to graft them and hope for abundant pups to experiment on. Everyone around the city seems to have opuntias in their garden, not to ruffle any feathers but they're just not my thing! Must have been too many glochids in my fingers as a kid.

[hoteidoc]

Weren't mine either, but they live! And while I'm getting other species established, I'm easy to satisfy

[cjbaker]

Here's an update on some of my mesemb seedlings sown from Mesa Garden seed on July 6th, along with a few more (including some from cactusstore) sown August 4th:



^ These are the ones that are out in full sun. The larger ones have already been transplanted, three per pot of the various Aloinopsis and Pleiospilios species, which had excellent germination and survival rates. One Sceletium joubertii is in full sun as an experiment.



^ These are the ones that remain in partial shade. The bottom row is the three Aloinopsis species, which I'm growing for comparison with their sunnier siblings. The Antimima fenestrata, Gibbaeum album, and the two Sceletium species are also here, because they seem to be more prone to drying out in full sun, even when kept wet. I've been moving more of them into the sun as they grow and the weather cools down.

The July 6th planting of Fenestraria and Conophytum both withered one by one within two weeks of germination, just like the previous two batches of each I planted last winter, despite being in baggies for the first week and bright full shade for the second. A second planting of Fenestraria (my 4th try so far) did the same thing. A second batch of Conophytum from cactusstore sown August 4th showed 17 sprouts, now down to 10. The single germination from the Opthalmophyllum mix is dead, awaiting their second try. Cheiridopsis mix and Gibbaeum mix from cactusstore showed no germination.

And here are my Aloinopsis schooneesii sown last December 13th, being transplanted for the first time, showing their fat roots:

[iann]

Crazy roots on those Aloinopsis! Soil probably too wet for your deaders. Or maybe too hot at night although I've sown Fenestraria in summer without problems.

[cjbaker]

Crazy roots on those Aloinopsis! Soil probably too wet for your deaders. Or maybe too hot at night although I've sown Fenestraria in summer without problems.

Thank you, I just sowed more Conophytum and will try keeping the soil dryer. I'll definitely try Fenestraria again in my next MG order (and hopefully Frithia if they have some this time).

[iann]

I sow Conophytums in winter. I aim for slightly moist soil rather than wet, but I do start them in 100% humidity for the first few weeks. In summer they want to be dormant, but little ones can't manage it so they have to grow or die. Nights above about 60F are very stressful for them and they'll likely die. 40F is a good night temperature for them to grow. The same should be true for Fenestraria, but they grow well for me in summer. Nights don't often stay above 60F here though. Frithia are different, they love it warm.

[cjbaker]

I sow Conophytums in winter. I aim for slightly moist soil rather than wet, but I do start them in 100% humidity for the first few weeks. In summer they want to be dormant, but little ones can't manage it so they have to grow or die. Nights above about 60F are very stressful for them and they'll likely die. 40F is a good night temperature for them to grow. The same should be true for Fenestraria, but they grow well for me in summer. Nights don't often stay above 60F here though. Frithia are different, they love it warm.

That's great to know. I've started letting my 10 surviving Conophytum seedlings dry out a bit more, and the ones I sowed last week are already outdoors, outside of the baggies. Nighttime forecasts for the coming week range from 57 to 63F, but the average here does not reach 40° until Nov. 18th. If they prefer that temperature, then I suppose they can tolerate some frost (32F)? Otherwise maybe I'll put them in the fridge over night, since the temp should be just about ideal

I've read about several mesembs such as Titanopsis being very cold-hardy in dry conditions, but the "dry conditions" part confuses me a bit: don't the winter-growers prefer to grow and be watered when it is cold? I currently have a small collection that lives outdoors, and I bring them in when rain is forecasted, while leaving them out by mistake is their watering. Can I continue this into freezing temperatures for the winter growers?

[iann]

Most, probably all, Conophytums can tolerate some frost but most people don't freeze them. I try to keep mine frost free but don't panic if they go a little below. Winter isn't a good time for them to grow here, too little sun so they stretch and bloat very easily. Summer dormancy is short in England, almost optional for many species, and they grow well in autumn. Many are flowering now, most are in full growth, and only a few are still asleep n this unusually warm September. I watered them all tonight and that will be all of them completely awake I think.

Titanopsis calcarea is very cold-hardy, certainly 10F, probably quite a bit colder. It is not a winter grower, it certainly won't survive a DC winter outdoors. Maybe under cold snow but not rain and not much in the way of melting snow. Good growing is once the real dog days are over but before everything freezes. Growing in habitat most likely continues with frosty nights but days would still be hot and dry. I leave mine out in the greenhouse to freeze but I won't water from maybe October until March. Spring and summer watering is just occasional to keep them ticking over.

The real winter-growing Titanopsis species are not so hardy, perhaps 20F and even that can kill them. I know! Winter growers need very little water, it just goes a long way when conditions are cooler. These need some protection from the cold. I water them regularly in spring and autumn, rarely in summer and winter.

I see you're also trying Aloinopsis for cold hardiness. Not all are equally hardy! A. schooneesii is perhaps the hardiest? Some of the more warty ones are not even hardy to 20F in my experience, although Mesa Garden suggests otherwise. Possibly they need warm days and low humidity, perhaps only tolerating very brief cold.