New to growing and had a few questions regarding my seeds

[Miranda93]

Hello everyone, so I have gotten really into all the exotic succulent plants and how neat they look, not to mention I have reptile vivs I would eventually love to plant some in.
So I came across the beautiful pictures of "rare beauty succulents" and "mixed rare succulents" (I'll try to post pics when I figure out how).
So my first question is:
When will I see seeds starting to progress? Like any litlle roots or anything. I know succulents are very slow growing but I have never seen any kind of seed/seedling time frame. Just curious if there's any kind of idea.
2nd question:
Will coco choir be a bad medium? I know it retains water but it CAN also dries very quickly too.
3rd question:
Sun or no sun for seeds? Do they just need warmer temps or actually sun?
4th question:
Like most all seeds, do the succulents need the trapped humidity inside the windowsill greenhouse dome I'm using?
Thank you for all who give some advice. I really appreciate it.

[shimaza1]

Let me preface this by saying I'm a beginner as well, but I thought I could give some input from what I've learned so far.

I'm not sure what type of succulents you're referring to, but germination of my cacti and mesemb species was within two weeks - some as little as a couple days. But I do understand that some species can take months or take more than one attempt to make them germinate.

I do add some coco coir to my "general" cactus/succulent mix as the organic component, but I'm not sure if 100% coir would be good for growing succulents/cacti seedlings or adults. The soil should be fast draining, so a gritty or mineral based soil would be best.

My seedlings are under 100% artificial light and heat mats, and I've seen no problems. But, a lot of people grow their seedlings on window sills, too. The light is important, but general rule of thumb: cacti seedlings like less light compared to other succulents.

Cacti like humidity when they're young, and mine seem to be doing well in closed baggies, but other succulents (like mesembs) tend to do better in open air after germination.

Hope that helps.

[Miranda93]

OK. Thanks so much for the reply. It helped alot. I tried a few seed pots/trays/baggies but around a month ago and I haven't noticed any seeds breaking open or roots of anything so I'm wondering if they have been killed. But I've also started a jiffy windowsill greenhouse now.

Would anyone know if the chlorine in my water could be negative on my seeds? I have some dechlorinator but completely didn't think at first anything about my water. I just started my windowsill dome around a week ago so we'll see how that works. Maybe better luck.

[toadstar]

I've never noticed any negative effects from chlorine on my seeds/seedlings (that may depend on the concentration) but if you let your water sit out for several minutes, much of it should dissipate.

[shimaza1]

The seeds may not germinate if they're old. Different species have varying shelf lives in terms of their seeds staying viable.

[7george]

3rd question:
Sun or no sun for seeds? Do they just need warmer temps or actually sun?

I believe - yes; Temps to germinate and grow might be different for diff. species;

4th question:
Like most all seeds, do the succulents need the trapped humidity inside the windowsill greenhouse dome I'm using?

- Yes, 100% humidity during first weeks or months;

I do add some coco coir to my "general" cactus/succulent mix as the organic component, but I'm not sure if 100% coir would be good for growing succulents/cacti seedlings or adults. The soil should be fast draining, so a gritty or mineral based soil would be best.

I use fully mineral mix for my cacti seeds, it's much less problematic than organic or mxied ones.