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Only 2 seedlings of Cheridopsis peculiaris SB 770 survived this past summer.

They are growing very well now, so hopefully they'll get big enough to better survive a dry summer next year.

These fared a little better, Mitrophyllum grande from Lekkersing, Northern Cape, South Africa. The larger one is over 1in/2.5cm tall.

This 18 month old Mammillaria hernandezii seedling flowered for the first time a couple days ago.


At 12mm in diameter, it's the largest seedling of the bunch. The flower is a bit bigger than the stem.

Mammillaria hernandezii I don't have if you ever want to trade let me know . They all look good all the seedlings

keith wrote: ↑Mon Dec 19, 2022 3:08 pm Mammillaria hernandezii I don't have if you ever want to trade let me know . They all look good all the seedlings

Thanks keith, and yeah if you don't mind the tiny seedlings I can trade you a couple this spring.

That's cool I have small seedling plants ~ 2-5 yrs also. Spring time perfect most of my cactus are shriveled up now and mostly dormant although some are flowering. Even my 2022 cactus seedlings completely shriveled because i grow them outside in cold frames .

Great job with that Mammillaria hernandezii. I didn't have any germination but hoping for saboae complex flowers since the large flower relative to body size is amazing to see.

Do you have an update on your Pelecyphora strobiliformis? Just saw that you grafted your lone surviver did you ever sow more?

LateBloomer wrote: ↑Wed Mar 08, 2023 9:26 pm Great job with that Mammillaria hernandezii. I didn't have any germination

Thanks! My seeds germinate easily, but they are freshly harvested from my plants.

Do you have an update on your Pelecyphora strobiliformis? Just saw that you grafted your lone surviver did you ever sow more?

I still have the grafted plant. It has grown the mature tubercles now. I may try degrafting this year. I'll post a pic soon. I did sow more last year, just 3 of 10 germinated. I allowed them to go dormant for the winter, so they are not very photogenic right now! Plus rainy weather makes for not great pictures. I did find this picture, cropped to focus on the Pelecyphora, from January when I repotted these and other plants after they were knocked out of the pot by some animal. They were about 2 months dry at that point.

large flower relative to body size is amazing to see

I agree! Not from the saboae complex, but you might enjoy this anyway.

Mammillaria sanchez-mejoradae, first flower at two years after sowing (23 months to be exact.)


The stem is depressed into the pot from a dry winter rest, making the flower to stem size ratio all the more dramatic.

Yea I do like that. Mammillaria were so boring to me before I found these larger flower species. You have a nice collection

Since the last post on the mesembs I sowed in 2021, I've lost both Conophytum calculus ssp. vanzylii and C. ratum, as well the lone Didymaotus seedling. The rest are currently getting ready for summer dormancy. Except the Lithops.
Lithops gracilidelineata 'waldroniae', now 2 years old and ready for the spring.


Most of the cacti have been allowed to go dormant for the winter, so they are not quite awake yet. But I've kept this in the propagator ever since it was sown over 2 years ago
Discocactus horstii

The outdoors seedlings are starting to wake up.

Here's the first bloom on these Gymnocalycium bruchii 'niveum' WR 727, soon to be exactly two years old in a couple of days.


Stem detail and incoming bud on another seedling.

So how do you water your Lithops? I water mine year round in summer with 30C temps and winters in 5C temps. I only had 1 survivor from 10 seeds I got as a bonus.

LateBloomer wrote: ↑Thu Apr 13, 2023 2:48 pm So how do you water your Lithops? I water mine year round in summer with 30C temps and winters in 5C temps. I only had 1 survivor from 10 seeds I got as a bonus.

The seedlings above I now treat like my other flowering size Lithops and water according to their seasonal needs.

Late winter (early March around here) I water Lithops (the whole summer growing collection actually) lightly for the first time of the year. The lithops at this point have mostly pushed out their new leaves and the old leaves are in various states of desiccation, from rubbery to totally dry. This watering will usually jump start growth for the season.

The main growth period is spring and I water deeply every two weeks or so, until early summer, so from March to June here.

Despite being summer growing, I keep my lithops mostly dry during the summer. The heat makes my plants go dormant, shriveling a bit and refusing to plump despite watering. I guess the heat (40C is usual, but often exceeds 45C) is much harsher in my part of California than their native South Africa/Namibia! I do water lightly once a month during the summer just in case, June to August.

Late summer (end of September) I resume deep watering and continue watering every two weeks or so all through the fall, until November when they are done flowering.

From then on I keep them dry all through the winter (5C, but can go as low as 0C some nights) as they absorb their old leaves and push out new ones. Repeat the cycle at the end of winter.

Young seedlings are a bit more difficult for me, liking milder conditions than I can provide.

Another seedling has bloomed for the first time, Cochemiea saboae subsp. haudeana, at 2 years (and 3 months) old.





I repotted it a few months ago. For whatever reason I was expecting thicker, more tuberous roots. For scale, it was about 1in tall (2.5cm) from stem apex to root tips.

Amazing post; can't wait for mine to bloom. This is my favorite complex and the other saboae complex are all on equal standing to me.
You did a great job

LateBloomer wrote: ↑Wed Jun 14, 2023 7:43 pm Amazing post; can't wait for mine to bloom. This is my favorite complex and the other saboae complex are all on equal standing to me.
You did a great job

Thanks! The Longiflorae series really is special.