Self Sown Seedlings

[C And D]

I love to grow seedlings in the same pots as momma plant

It's not always that easy,
top dressing does Not Help
extra water does help indeed, but all that extra water may not benefit momma

I sometimes call it the "Best Year Ever" growing style
If the plant was in the wild, and had the best year ever of rain and growing conditions, this would be the result.

I get so many seeds of certain plants that I don't even bother collecting them, no one wants to buy them since they can buy full grown plants for so cheap.
Well instead of collecting them, I just sprinkle them back into the same pot or another pot that has good soil and will get extra water, like a grafted cactus. I try not to mix seeds, nor put the wrong seeds in a pot that would cause confusion in the future, since some seedlings are very hard to tell what they are until they get a couple years old.

Turbinicarpus schmiedickeanus klinkerianus
This is an odd case that the seedlings were taking water away from momma by creating a mat of roots on the surface that kept the water from soaking down far enough for momma

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South America Cactus are maybe some of the easiest cactus to grow from seed in So. Cal
I had pots like this for about 8 Neoporteria species.
Neoporteria occulta

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I have a couple more old photos I can retrieve

How about you, any lot with self sown seedlings

[keith]

yea I think I posted a picture in the seed grow section. Sometimes they grow better just not as many. I also sell seeds on ebay and make about 2 dollars a year don't even know why I bother really ?

Just for fun I guess.

[iann]

That's what I call taking over!

[7george]

Seedlings like those are very healthy and I would like to have big plants started this way.
And I also do spreading extra seeds over pots. But my home air is very dry and just very few germinate and survive this way.

Some stray seedlings.

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Found a photo.

[AaronR]

Very cool thread and photos! Where I come from they call these volunteers. Awesome. I would love a few pots like these one day but I have years and years to wait... just can't bring myself to buy adults, it takes all the fun and accomplishment outta it.

I'll be following this one!

[DaveW]

Yes it's surprising how much better seedlings seem to grow around the mother plant than if you set them separately. Only trouble in our greenhouses is you can not be sure open pollination has not taken place and they are hybrids particularly if you only have one plant of the species, because even self fertile plants will outcross before self fertilising. You really need to isolate the plant at flowering time to be sure.